Bear Head Lake State Park
| Bear Head Lake State Park | |
| Minnesota State Park | |
 Bear Head Lake from a trail in the campground
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| Country | United States |
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| State | Minnesota |
| County | Saint Louis County |
| Location | Ely |
| - elevation | 1,506 ft (459 m) |
| - coordinates | 47°47′43″N 92°4′12″W / 47.79528°N 92.07000°WCoordinates: 47°47′43″N 92°4′12″W / 47.79528°N 92.07000°W |
| Area | 4,373 acres (1,770 ha) |
| Biome | Laurentian Mixed Forest Province |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Management | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources |
  Location of Bear Head Lake State Park in Minnesota
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Bear Head Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, providing ready access to outdoor recreation in the Boundary Waters region. It boasts scenery similar to the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, with the added conveniences of road access, modern facilities, and motorboating. The most popular visitor activities are boating, fishing, swimming, and hiking. The park entirely surrounds 670-acre (270 ha) Bear Head Lake and three other fishing lakes. It was established in 1961 in Saint Louis County near Ely, Minnesota. The park also contains the woodlands surrounding the lakes, which gives an entire total of about 5,540 acres. The park also shares a large border with Bear Island State Forest.
In September 2010, Bear Head Lake State Park was voted "America's Favorite Park" in a major online poll. The little-known park, not even among Minnesota's most popular, won in a surprise landslide, capturing 28% of the more than 5.7 million votes. The strong showing was credited to the online fan community of mother and cub black bears, featured on a popular webcam, whose territory included the park.
Bear Head Lake State Park is located in Saint Louis County, 19 miles (31 km) southwest of Ely; and 18 miles (29 km) east of Tower. The park is located 6 miles south of the junction of State Highway 169 (MN 169) and County Road 128 in Eagles Nest Township. The park entrance is located on County Road 128. Elevation ranges from 1,450 to 1,590 feet (440 to 480 m). The Laurentian Divide crosses the southern end of the park.
The park completely surrounds Bear Head and four smaller lakes and includes partial shoreline of three others. 670-acre (270 ha) Bear Head Lake has 11.7 miles (18.8 km) of shoreline, an average depth of 12 feet (3.7 m), and a maximum depth of 46 feet (14 m). The northwest corner of the park includes 5.4 miles (8.7 km) of shore on Eagles Nest Lake No. 3, almost half of the 966-acre (391 ha) lake's shoreline. Blueberry Lake and Square Lake near the southeast corner are 53 acres (21 ha) and 17 acres (6.9 ha) respectively. Near the park road, Cub Lake covers 10 acres (4 ha) with a maximum depth of 38 feet (12 m) while 8-acre (3.2 ha) Norberg Lake reaches 29 feet (8.8 m) deep. 213-acre (86 ha) Grassy Lake straddles the eastern boundary, with 1.2 miles (1.9 km) of shoreline within the park; a quarter of its total. Numerous other ponds and bogs dot Bear Head Lake State Park. Although its statutory boundary covers 4,373 acres (1,770 ha), this figure omits lake surfaces, which would bring the total to 5,540 acres (2,240 ha).
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Wikipedia