Welcome to Minnesota’s ONLY Saltwater Lake

Minnesota may be the 'Land of Ten Thousand Lakes', but one of them is very different than the rest.

This unique body of water can be found along the Minnesota/South Dakota border, and how it gained its salinity in the first place is quite the story, indeed.

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Welcome to... Salt Lake?

If you're anything like me, when you hear "Salt Lake", your mind immediately goes to the state of Utah, with it's Great Salt Lake. And Minnesota's Salt Lake actually has more in common with it than you might imagine.

You can find the Minnesota Salt lake right along the South Dakota border, around a 15 minute drive, due west from the small town of Madison. It's fairly small too, at only 312 acres. Compared to Minnesota's largest lake, Lake of the Woods, which covers around 950,000 acres of surface area, Salt Lake is just a blip on the map.

How did it get its name? Well, as you've probably guessed, it's due to the high salinity levels found in the lake. It's the only alkaline soil lake in the state, meaning the salt found in the water is a by product of the alkaline soil that surrounds the lake.

Because of its unique nature, Salt Lake has several quirky oddities that make it stand out, including an abundance of Salt Grasses. These are typically found near large bodies of water like oceans. It's also one of the best places in the entire state for birdwatching, as over 140 species pass through on a yearly basis. And, to top it off, Salt Lake is home to a form of brine shrimp, which is a big reason for the huge diversity in birds that visit the lake.

Salt Lake has about 1/3 the salinity level as the ocean, but that's still more than any other lake in a state with over 10,000.

You can learn more about Salt Lake, Minnesota in the YouTube video below.

Story Sources: Minnesota Star Tribune