Lake Huron
The Great Lake of Georgian Bay and the world's largest freshwater island
Huron is the Great Lake of islands and bays — its convoluted shoreline, the longest of the five, wraps around Georgian Bay and the North Channel and cradles Manitoulin, the largest freshwater island on Earth. Second largest of the Great Lakes by surface area, it shares its waters and its lake level with Michigan through the Straits of Mackinac, so the two are technically one lake. Beneath its surface lie thousands of shipwrecks, and along its limestone shores stand the rounded white outcrops and turquoise shallows that give Georgian Bay its postcard fame.
Huron covers roughly 59,600 square kilometres and reaches a maximum depth of about 229 metres. Its northern reaches are studded with tens of thousands of islands strewn across Georgian Bay, where ancient glacier-scoured granite of the Canadian Shield meets the lake. The water is cold and clear, and the lake turns over twice a year as the seasons change. The shallow, sandy southern basin contrasts sharply with the rocky, deep north, and the lake's long shoreline shelters countless coves, beaches, and dune systems.
The Huron and Ottawa peoples — for whom the lake is named — lived and traded along its shores, and Samuel de Champlain's lieutenant reached Georgian Bay in 1615, making Huron one of the first Great Lakes seen by Europeans. The lake carried timber, ore, and grain through the great age of Great Lakes shipping, leaving its floor littered with wrecks now protected as an underwater preserve. Invasive species have reshaped its fishery, but its clear waters, island archipelagos, and the cliffs of the Bruce Peninsula make it a magnet for boaters and divers alike.