Cormorant Lake (Minnesota)
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| Big Cormorant Lake | |
|---|---|
| Big Cormorant Lake | |
  Big Cormorant Lake | |
| Location | Becker County, Minnesota |
| Group | Cormorant Lakes |
| Coordinates | 46°44′30″N 96°06′14″W / 46.74167°N 96.10389°WCoordinates: 46°44′30″N 96°06′14″W / 46.74167°N 96.10389°W |
| Type | Lake |
| Primary outflows | Spring Creek |
| Basin countries | United States of America |
| Managing agency | Minnesota DNR |
| Max. length | 3.5 mi (6 km) |
| Max. width | 2.5 mi (4 km) |
| Surface area | 3,657 acres (1,480 ha) |
| Average depth | 30 feet (9.1 m) |
| Max. depth | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Salinity | Freshwater |
| Shore length1 | 18.7 mi (30 km) |
| Surface elevation | 1,158 ft (353 m) |
| Frozen | 5 Months |
| Islands | 1 |
| Sections/sub-basins | Pikes Bay, Blue Water Bay, Glyndon Bay, Spring Creek Bay, Nelson Bay, Viking Bay |
| Settlements | Cormorant Township |
| Website | www |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Big Cormorant Lake is located in northwestern Minnesota's Becker County, about an hour's drive due east of the Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota metropolitan area. Public access boat ramps are located on the northeast and west sides of the Lake.
The lake was named after the cormorant bird, a common bird in the region.[1] In 2015, the lake was discovered to be infested with zebra mussels, which threatens neighboring lakes. Cormorant Lake is situated near the towns of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, Lake Park, Minnesota, Audubon, Minnesota and the Cormorant Township.
History[]
The land that Big Cormorant Lake sits on was originally occupied by the Chippewa (Ojibwe), and the Sioux Native tribes.[2] The Cormorant Township organized on February 26, 1872, and the name Cormorant is translated from the original Ojibway naming of the lake.[3] In 1867, a treaty was signed establishing the White Earth Reservation, a large tract of land in the northern part of Becker County, to be home for the Chippewa Indians.[2]
Attractions and activities[]
Some of the most popular attractions on Big Cormorant Lake come in the form of restaurants. Hooligan's Lakeside, Cormorant Pub, Cormorant Inn, Zorbaz on Pelican Lake, the Roadhouse, and Pit 611 offer lake residents food and entertainment. Boutique shopping is also available in Cormorant Village.
For over 100 years, YMCA Camp Cormorant has offered spirit, tradition, leadership and exceptional facilities to campers. Founded in 1903, Camp Cormorant is one of the oldest overnight camps in the entire nation and continues to be a tremendous growing up experience for children and teens. The camp is nestled on 80 acres of wooded property with an extensive beach front on Big Cormorant Lake.
Boating, sailing, and fishing are the most common activities on Cormorant Lake.
Other activities on Big Cormorant include swimming, kayaking, wakesurfing, waterskiing, wakeboarding and standup paddleboarding during the summer, and ice fishing and snowmobiling during the winter.
In media[]
Cormorant Village went viral for electing a dog named Duke for four terms as Mayor.[4] Duke was a Great Pyrenees and passed away Feb 21, 2019.[5][6]
A popular YouTube channel named CBOYSTV films and is headquartered at Cormorant Lake. CBoysTV is an American comedy and motorsports channel consisting of 5 guys. Their channel has amassed over 1 million subscribers. [7]
Urban legends[]
Hairy Man of Vergas Trails[]
The Hairy Man of Vergas Trails is to be 8 feet tall and is often blamed for strange animal deaths.[8] He is said to wander the woods surrounding the Vergas Trails, and many claim run-ins with the creature over the years. This Urban Legend was featured on SyFy's "Haunted Highway"[9]
Wendigo[]
The Wendigo is a supernatural creature that prowls the thick forests looking to feast on human flesh. He's often described as gigantic - up to 15 feet tall - and some say he's too thin to be seen from the side. The source of the English word is the Ojibwe word wiindigoo.[10] This legend derives from similar Native American tales.[11]
Takaka Konishi[]
The Suicide of Takako Konishi Urban Legend resulted from a misunderstanding between Konishi and one of the Bismarck police officers with whom she had been speaking. The story was then misreported by the media, leading to the urban legend that she had come to the United States to search for the money in the film. In reality, Konishi had become depressed after losing her job at a Tokyo travel agency,[12] being unable to find another job, and also had begun to drink. Konishi had been seen wandering Detroit Lakes before she apparently decided to commit suicide by lying down in the snow after consuming two bottles of champagne. The urban legend surrounding her death is the basis for the 2014 film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. The Urban Legend stems from the idea that Takako Konishi was in search of the money hidden by Steve Buscemi's character in "Fargo".[13]
White Sheets Cult[]
The White Sheets Cult is rumored to subsist within the trails 9 miles (14 km) south east of the lake. They are said to try to cause car crashes, and to kill cattle. The cult is rumored to have rituals in the woods.[14]
Real Jason Vorhees[]
The Real Jason Vorhees Legend. Now the legend is that the real Jason Voorhees was killed at Camp Cherith, 11 miles east of the lake, and is now buried in an unmarked grave, in the graveyard the sits next to Camp Cherith.[15]
Wildlife[]
Fish to catch[]
- Black Bullhead
- Black Crappie
- Bluegill
- Brown Bullhead
- Carp
- Green Sunfish
- Hybrid Sunfish
- Largemouth Bass
- Northern Pike
- Pumpkinseed
- Rock Bass
- Smallmouth Bass
- Walleye
- White Sucker
- Yellow Bullhead
- Yellow Perch
Invasive species[]
- Zebra Mussel[17]
- Eurasian Milfoil
- Spiny waterflea
- Starry Stonewort[18]
Climate[]
Because of its location in the Great Plains and its distance from both mountains and oceans, Cormorant Lake has an extreme humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa/Dfb), featuring long, bitterly cold winters and warm to hot, humid summers. Summers have frequent thunderstorms, and the warmest month of the year is July.[19]
Temperature and precipitation[]
| Climate data for Detroit Lakes, Minnesota (8 Miles West of Cormorant Lake) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 55 (13) |
59 (15) |
74 (23) |
98 (37) |
97 (36) |
100 (38) |
107 (42) |
101 (38) |
98 (37) |
90 (32) |
72 (22) |
60 (16) |
107 (42) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 19 (−7) |
26 (−3) |
37 (3) |
56 (13) |
69 (21) |
78 (26) |
82 (28) |
81 (27) |
71 (22) |
56 (13) |
38 (3) |
22 (−6) |
52.9 (11.6) |
| Average low °F (°C) | −2 (−19) |
3 (−16) |
17 (−8) |
31 (−1) |
45 (7) |
55 (13) |
60 (16) |
58 (14) |
47 (8) |
35 (2) |
21 (−6) |
5 (−15) |
31.3 (−0.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −45 (−43) |
−46 (−43) |
−40 (−40) |
−11 (−24) |
15 (−9) |
28 (−2) |
33 (1) |
32 (0) |
17 (−8) |
1 (−17) |
−28 (−33) |
−41 (−41) |
−46 (−43) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.76 (19) |
0.57 (14) |
1.15 (29) |
1.54 (39) |
2.97 (75) |
4.41 (112) |
4.03 (102) |
3.67 (93) |
3.02 (77) |
2.50 (64) |
1.10 (28) |
0.64 (16) |
26.36 (670) |
| Source: usclimatedata.com[20] | |||||||||||||
Ice In - Out[]
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Neighboring lakes[]
- Leaf Lake (Becker County Minnesota)
- Pelican Lake (Otter Tail County, Minnesota)
- Little Cormorant Lake
- Middle Cormorant Lake
- Upper Cormorant Lake
- Lake Ida
- Lake Maud
- Lake Nelson
Adjacent townships[]
- Cormorant Township (south)
- Lake Park Township (north)
- Audubon Township (northeast)
- Lake Eunice Township (east)
- Dunn Township, Otter Tail County (southeast)
- Scambler Township, Otter Tail County (south)
- Tansem Township, Clay County (southwest)
- Parke Township, Clay County (west)
- Eglon Township, Clay County (northwest)
See also[]
- List of lakes in Minnesota
References[]
- ^ Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 218.
- ^ a b "Becker County History". www.co.becker.mn.us.
- ^ "Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society". 1920.
- ^ "Duke the dog, four time mayor of Cormorant Village has died".
- ^ "Duke, The Beloved Dog Mayor Of Minnesota Village, Passes Away". NPR.org.
- ^ Hanson, Hilary (February 23, 2019). "Duke, Beloved Dog Mayor Of Small Minnesota Town, Has Died". HuffPost.
- ^ "With throttles wide open, small-town 'CBoys' achieve YouTube stardom". Star Tribune.
- ^ "Can you outrun the hairy man? Vergas to hold 5K fundraiser".
- ^ "6 Minnesota Urban Legends-Super Creepy". 103.7 THE LOON.
- ^ Brightman, Robert A. (1988). "The Windigo in the Material World" (PDF). Ethnohistory. 35 (4): 337–379. doi:10.2307/482140. JSTOR 482140. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-08.
- ^ Rathburn, Betsy (December 27, 2016). "6 Urban Legends In Minnesota To Keep You Awake At Night". OnlyInYourState.
- ^ Berczeller, Paul (5 June 2003). "Death in the snow". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ^ Staff, BMTN. "Urban legend about a mystery death in Minnesota inspires film released this week". Bring Me The News.
- ^ "Beware: Hairy man of Vergas is on the loose".
- ^ "Beware: Hairy man of Vergas is on the loose". Detroit Lakes Tribune.
- ^ "Fish Big Cormorant - Becker County, Minnesota".
- ^ "Zebra mussels in Becker County's Big Cormorant Lake". MPR News.
- ^ "2016 Becker County Aquatic Invasive Species Program Report" (PDF). www.co.becker.mn.us. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
- ^ Inc, Weather WX, Find Local. "Cormorant Lake MN Climate Averages, Monthly Weather Conditions". WeatherWX.com.
- ^ "Climate Detroit Lakes - Minnesota and Weather averages Detroit Lakes".
- ^ "Big Cormorant Lakes Association | Becker County Minnesaota".
- Lakes of Becker County, Minnesota
- Lakes of Minnesota