The third largest continent of our beautiful planet Earth - North America - surprises with an alliance of civilization and untouched nature. In the immediate vicinity of densely populated places, natural conditions remained in their original form: hot deserts, wild shores, fertile prairies, wild valleys. Here you can see the lakes of North America - the largest and most magnificent in the whole world.
The generosity of nature on the mainland is manifested in everything: trees surprise at an unprecedented height, volcanoes shake with powerful eruptions, geysers fascinate with boiling.
Glacier Legacy
Lakes of North America are mostly located in the north of the mainland. These are lakes of glacial-tectonic origin. In the distant past, losing ground, the glacier during the retreat left in the territory of Canada - the northernmost part of the continent - the tectonic depressions that formed the lakes. These lakes include the Big Bear, the Big Slave.
Captured by bears
The fourth largest lake in North America - the Big Bear Lake - resembles an irregular star in shape. Located on the north side of the Arctic Circle, the lake is surrounded by permafrost and tundra. This is the only direct stretch of coastline. On the other three sides, the coasts are indented by rocky peninsulas.
Situated in severe climatic conditions, Bear Lake sleeps for a significant part of the year under the thickness of ice that covers its surface in October. A pond becomes ice-free only in June, but the water remains icy throughout the summer season.
Despite a short navigation period, the lake is a transport artery, taking passenger and cargo ships into its waters. Through rivers, the lake is connected to other areas of Central and Northern Canada. Through the water surface of the Mackenzie River, connected to the tributary lake, you can reach the Arctic Ocean and get into the Great Slave Lake, from where the river originates.
Record holder of the continent
One more lake of the Lawrence Upland of Canada rightfully takes an honorable place in the register of natural wonders of North America. The Great Slave Lake surpasses all the counterparts of the North American continent in depth, which is 614 meters.
The pond got its name in time immemorial, when the Slave Indians inhabited its shores. The name of the tribe is consonant with the English word slave , meaning slave. So the name with a distorted meaning came into use.
Like many lakes in North America, Slave Lake is navigable for a short summer, and eight months a year is chained with ice shell. For many years, moving on hard ice in winter on foot and by road was the only way of communication between coastal settlements until an equipped road along the coast appeared.
The nature of the shores of the lake is very colorful. The once deserted northern shore of the lake is represented by tundra forests, which attracted thousands of gold prospectors during the gold rush.
The eastern and southern shores are surrounded by national parks, on the side of the roads of which you can meet a forest buffalo, which is threatened with extinction.
Relaxation
National parks, sailing regattas, sandy beaches - in the summer, entertainment on ice - in the winter. But the most popular Slave Lake gained among fishermen. A variety of lake inhabitants (trout, pike, whitefish, perch, Arctic grayling) in any season, in any weather, attracts lovers of quiet hunting here.
Mesmerizing beauty
Formed in the crater of an extinct volcano in southern Oregon more than 7,000 years ago, Crater Lake is the state’s main tourist attraction.
The volcanic past of the lake is clearly demonstrated by two islands in its water area, which are cones of volcanic ash. More than a century ago, based on the territory adjacent to the lake, the national park has the unofficial name of the pumice desert. Deprived of vegetation due to porosity, the surface of the park retained all traces of the volcanic past.
The magnificent dark blue waters of the most unusual lake in North America, reflecting, as in a huge mirror, on the surface of the water surface the peaks of the surrounding mountains, amaze the imagination from the first instant. The unity of the deep lake, the bare surrounding cliffs with a height of almost two thousand feet, of two picturesque islands causes a feeling of special beauty.
The lake has another unusual attraction: in a vertical position, protruding one and a half meters above the surface of the water, a ten-meter tree trunk floats in a certain direction of movement for more than a hundred years, without being subjected to structural changes over time.