NATHAN INVINCIBLE

Lakes of the Ottawa National Forest

I love getting out to explore new places.  Ever since I began my U.P. journey 15 years ago, I've been digging into new hills, shorelines, waterfalls, and trails.  None has been as prolific as the region's vast numbers of inland lakes.  Lake Superior is great and all, but the interior of the U.P. is full of smaller lakes to explore.  

This is particularly true of the Ottawa National Forest, which happens to be one of my favorite places to visit and explore.  The Ottawa claims to have over 500 named lakes and ponds, which is quite a lot more than I imagined.  How long would it take to paddle them all?  Has it been done?  And more to the point, is it even possible?  If anyone is going to find out, it'd be me. 

As of November 6, 2021 I have visited 120 different lakes in the Ottawa National Forest.  I've also paddled on several dozen others elsewhere in the U.P., but those don't count towards this goal.  Almost 400 to go!?  I have a lot more than I thought remaining.  Turns out there are all sorts of tiny named lakes out there left to discover.  To count towards my goal, I either have to paddle on the lake (obviously), swim in it, or snowshoe/ski on it in winter.  That last one is easier said than done considering the vast majority of back roads in the Ottawa aren't plowed, making lakes tough to access.

​

A lot of lakes are completely inaccessible by road even in the summer.  Fortunately I built a packraft so even those lakes can't escape me for too long.  The most difficult lakes will be private ones.  Can't really get around that too easily unless I can hike in through CFA or Ottawa land or Misery Paddle Tour my way in via wetlands or rivers.  Don't tempt me...

​

Here's a list of the lakes I've been to so far.  Hit me up if you've ever visited some of the rarer ones.  

I'm always interested to hear how people got on out there!

​

1. Allen Lake

2. Anderson Lake

3. Arc Lake

4. Balcomb Lake

5. Bass Lake

6. Beatons Lake

7. Beitner Lake

8. Bender Lake

9. Big Lake

10. Big African Lake

11. Big Bateau Lake

12. Bob Lake

13. Bond Falls Flowage

14. Brush Lake

15. Buck Lake

16. Bud Lake

17. Chamberlain Lake

18. Chief Edwards Lake

19. Cisco Lake

20. Clark Lake

21. Clear Lake

22. Clearwater Lake

23. Club Lake

24. Cougar Lake

25. County Line Lake

26. Courtney Lake

27. Crooked Lake

28. Cub Lake

29. Deadman Lake

30. Deer Lake

31. Deer Island Lake

32. Dorothy Lake

33. East Bay Lake

34. Echo Lake

35. Elsie Lake

36. Erickson Lake

37. Estes Lake

38. Fisher Lake

39. Fishhawk Lake

40. Florence Lake

41. Forest Lake

42. Frog Pond

43. Fuller Lake

44. Gasley Lake

45. Germain Lake

46. Glare Lake

47. Glimmerglass Lake

48. Glitter Lake

49. Golden Lake

50. Hager Lake

51. Hannah Webb Lake

52. Harding Lake

53. Hay Lake

54. Hehe Lake

55. Helen Lake

56. Hemlock Lake

57. High Lake

58. Howe Lake

59. Indian Lake

60. Irish Lake

61. Jay Lake

62. Jingle Lake

63. Killdeer Lake

64. Kunze Lake

65. Kvidera Lake

66. LaCrosse Lake

67. Lake Gogebic

68. Lake On-Three

69. Lake Sainte Kathryn

70. Lake Thirteen

71. Lake Twentyeight

72. Liluis Lake

73. Lindsley Lake

74. Little African Lake

75. Little Nesbit Lake

76. Little Wolf Lake

77. Long Lake

78. Loon Lake

79. Louise Lake

80. Lower Dam Lake

81. Mamie Lake

82. Marion Lake

83. Mattie Lake

84. Moon Lake

85. Mountain Lake

86. Morley Lake

87. Mule Lake

88. Nesbit Lake

89. Norway Lake

90. Paulding Pond

91. Penegor Lake

92. Perch Lake

93. Poor Lake

94. Prickett Lake

95. Quiver Lake

96. Record Lake

97. Robbins Pond

98. Robinson Lake

99. Rock Lake

100. Rookery Lake

101. Roost Lake

102. Sandy Lake

103. Silk Lake

104. Skyline Lake

105. Snap Jack Lake

106. Spree Lake

107. Sucker Lake

108. Sudden Lake

109. Tanlund Lake

110. Taylor Lake

111. Tepee Lake

112. Thousand Island Lake

113. Toots Lake

114. Very Sudden Pond

115. Victoria Reservoir

116. Violet Lake

117. Weary Lake

118. West Bay Lake

119. Winslow Lake

120. Wolf Lake