The Lake of the Woods watershed is an area of about 2,900 square miles (7,500 km), the northern limit of which is part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. Drainage is to Lake of the Woods, either directly or by the Rainy River. The watershed includes about 470 square miles (1,220 km2) of Lake of the Woods, one-third of the lake’s total area.
The watershed, a part of the plain of glacial Lake Agassiz, is an area of low relief and slopes generally northward. Details of topography may be obtained from U.S. Geological Survey 7 1/2-minute quadrangle maps, as indexed.
Surficial materials consist mainly of peat, lake-washed till, and beach deposits. Extensive wetlands typify much of the watershed. Bedrock is exposed in places near Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River.
Except where cleared for cultivation, most of the watershed is covered by coniferous forests. Harvest of forest products, agriculture, and fishing are major economic activities.
The 1970 population of the watershed was bout 6,600, concentrated chiefly along the Rainy River and the south shore of Lake of the Woods.
