Lake of the Isles is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 connected to Cedar Lake

Cedar Lake (Minnesota)

Cedar Lake is a lake on the west side of Minneapolis, north of Lake Calhoun and west of Lake of the Isles. The lake is surrounded by parkland on the west side, while the east side borders the Kenwood residential area. The north side is bordered by the Cedar Lake Trail and the BNSF Railway...

 and Lake Calhoun

Lake Calhoun

Lake Calhoun is the biggest lake in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and part of the city's Chain of Lakes. Surrounded by city park land and circled by bike and walking trails, it is popular for many outdoor activities...

. It is home to winter ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...

 and hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

, as well as a New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...

 celebration featuring roasted marshmallow

Marshmallow

The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...

s and hot chocolate

Hot chocolate

Hot chocolate is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar...

. The lake has an area of 109 acre (0.44110774 km²), 2.86 miles (4.6 km) of shoreline, and a maximum depth of 31 feet (9 m).

Lake of the Isles is known for its two wooded islands, its long north arm, and the stately houses of the Kenwood, Lowry Hill and East Isles neighborhoods which surround it. The two wooded islands are protected wildlife refuges which contain virgin woods. Exploring or landing on either Mike's Island (to the north) or Raspberry Island (to the south) is prohibited, as marked by signs.

The lake was created in its current form in the early 20th century by dredging a small lake (called Wita Tomna meaning "Four Islands Lake" by the local Dakota people) and marsh complex. The dredged materials—mostly peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

 and silt

Silt

Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...

 -- were used to create about 36 acres (145,687 m²) of park land around the lake. Unfortunately, the settling of these materials and the pressure of urban development has led to an unstable shoreline and reduced water quality. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is in the middle of a multi-year project to stabilize the shoreline, renovate the parkland, and put in twelve stone lake access points.

Fish

The lake contains black bullhead

Black bullhead

The black bullhead, Ameiurus melas, is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid and/or very warm. It also has barbels located near its mouth, a broad head, spiny fins and no scales...

, black crappie, bluegill

Bluegill

The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...

, bowfin

Bowfin

The Bowfin, Amia calva, is the last surviving member of the order Amiiformes , and of the family Amiidae...

, common carp

Common carp

The Common carp is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction, but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered an invasive...

, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass

Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...

, northern pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, pumpkinseed

Pumpkinseed

The pumpkinseed sunfish is a freshwater fish of the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is also referred to as "pond perch", "common sunfish", "punkys", and "sunny".-Range and distribution:...

, tiger muskellunge

Tiger muskellunge

The tiger muskellunge is a carnivorous fish and is the usually sterile, hybrid offspring of the true muskellunge and the northern pike . It lives in freshwater and its range extends to Canada, the Northeast and the Midwest parts of the United States. It grows quickly; in one study tiger muskie...

, walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, yellow bullhead

Yellow bullhead

The yellow bullhead, is a species of bullhead catfish. Yellow bullhead are typically yellow-olive to slatey-black on the back and sometimes mottled depending on habitat. The sides are lighter and more yellowish while the underside of the head and body are bright yellow, yellow white, or bright...

, and yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

. Some fish consumption guideline restrictions have been placed on the lake's bluegill, carp, crappie, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, white sucker, and yellow perch due to mercury and/or PFOS contamination.