Lake Bemidji is a small glacially-formed lake, approximately 11 square miles (28,000,000 m2; 7,000 acres; 2,800 ha) in area, in northern Minnesota in the United States. Located less than 50 miles (80 km) downstream from the source of the Mississippi River, it both receives and is drained by the Mississippi, and is the northernmost point on the river.
The lake is located in southern Beltrami County, near the city of Bemidji, which sits on its southwestern shore. Due to the shape of Lakes Bemidji and Irving, according to folk legends, Lakes Bemidji and Irving were formed in Paul Bunyan’s footprint. The Ojibwe described the Lakes Bemidji and Irving collectively as a single lake being a bimijigamaa (lake that traverses another body of water), thus the Ojibwe name the lake as Bemijigamaag-zaaga’igan (Traversing Lake), since the lake is considered to traverse the Mississippi River.
On occasion in Ojibwe, the city of Bemidji is called Wabigamaang (at the lake channel/narrows), since part of the city is situated on the Lakes Bemidji-Irving narrows, located on the south end of Lake Bemidji.
Lake Bemidji resides in the upper Mississippi River drainage basin. Over 396,000 acres (160,000 ha) of the Upper Mississippi watershed drain into Lake Bemidji. The lake has roughly 15 miles of shoreline.
The littoral zone of Lake Bemidji covers roughly 28% of the total lake area. There are no invasive species known in the lake as of 2017.
The water clarity (assessed using a Secchi disk) ranges from 2.5 to 21.0, with a maximum reading usually obtained in early summer.Transparency is high in May and June and declines through August. The transparency then rebounds in October after fall turnover.This transparency dynamic is typical of a northern Minnesota lake. The lake has been classified as eutrophic by the Beltrami County Soil and Water Conservation District.
There are many fish species that inhabit Lake Bemidji, including: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, burbot, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, lake whitefish, largemouth bass, Lepomis sp., muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, tullibee (cisco), walleye, yellow bullhead, yellow perch, bowfin (dogfish), greater redhorse, redhorse, shorthead redhorse, white sucker, banded killifish, blackchin shiner, blacknose shiner, bluntnose minnow, brassy minnow, brook stickleback, central mudminnow, common shiner, fathead minnow, finescale dace, golden shiner, Iowa darter, Johnny darter, logperch, longnose dace, mimic shiner, spottail shiner, tadpole madtom...
The lake is a popular recreational and resort destination. Activities to do on and near the lake include fishing, boating, swimming, water-skiing, tubing, and hiking.
