Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain (/ʃæmˈpleɪn/; French: Lac Champlain; Abenaki: Pitawbagok;[3] Mohawk: Kaniatarakwà:ronte) is a natural freshwater lake in North America mainly within the borders of the United States (in the states of Vermont and New York) but also across the Canada–U.S. border into the Canadian province of Quebec.

The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of Clinton County and Essex County. Most of this area is part of the Adirondack Park. There are recreational facilities in the park and along the relatively undeveloped coastline of Lake Champlain.

The cities of Plattsburgh, New York and Burlington, Vermont are on the lake’s western and eastern shores, respectively, and the Town of Ticonderoga, New York is in the region’s southern part. The Quebec portion is in the regional county municipalities of Le Haut-Richelieu and Brome-Missisquoi. There are a number of islands in the lake; the largest include Grand Isle, Isle La Motte, and North Hero, all part of Grand Isle County, Vermont.

The Champlain Valley is the northernmost unit of a landform system known as the Great Appalachian Valley, which stretches between Quebec, Canada, to the north, and Alabama, US, to the south. The Champlain Valley is a physiographic section of the larger Saint Lawrence Valley, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division.

Lake Champlain is one of numerous large lakes scattered in an arc through Labrador, in Canada, the northern United States, and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the thirteenth largest lake by area in the US. Approximately 490 square miles (1,269 km2) in area, the lake is 107 miles (172 km) long and 14 miles (23 km) across at its widest point,[1] and has a maximum depth of approximately 400 feet (120 m). The lake varies seasonally from about 95 to 100 ft (29 to 30 m) above mean sea level.

Lake Champlain has been described as the sixth largest lake in the United States.

The Wikipedia articles List of largest lakes of the United States by area and List of largest lakes of the United States by volume list it as the 13th-largest lake by area and the 14th-largest by volume. While the source of the claim that Lake Champlain is the sixth-largest lake in the United States is unclear, it possible to recreate the sixth-place ranking by omitting the two larger man-made lakes, Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea; the two larger non-freshwater lakes, Great Salt Lake and Lake Pontchartrain; Iliamna Lake in Alaska; Lake of the Woods, which extends into Canada; and Lake Okeechobee, which has much lower volume.