Lake Itasca

Lake Itasca
Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan (Ojibwe)
The primary source of the Mississippi River on the edge of Lake Itasca
Lake Itasca Show map of Minnesota Lake Itasca Show map of the United States
Location	Itasca State Park, Clearwater County, Minnesota, US
Coordinates	47°13′05″N 95°12′26″W / 47.21806°N 95.20722°W / 47.21806; -95.20722
Type	Glacial
Primary inflows	Nicolet Creek, Elk Lake outlet stream
Primary outflows	Mississippi River
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	1.8 sq mi (4.7 km2)
Average depth	20–35 ft (6–11 m)
Surface elevation	1,475 ft (450 m)
Islands	Schoolcraft Island

Lake Itasca (/aɪˈtæskə/ eye-TASS-kə)^[1] is a small glacial lake, approximately 1.8 square miles (470 hectares; 1,200 acres) in area. It is located in Itasca State Park, in south-eastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north-central Minnesota, and is notable for being the headwater of the Mississippi River. It has an average depth of 20 to 35 feet (5 to 10 m) and is 1,475 feet (450 m) above sea level.

The Ojibwe name for the lake is Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan (Elk Lake). The first European explorers in the area were French Canadian and they named the lake Lac labiche (Doe Lake, often mistranslated as Elk Lake).^[2] The name was later changed by Henry Schoolcraft to "Itasca", coined from a combination of the Latin phrase veritas caput ("true head [of the Mississippi]").^[3][4] It is one of several examples of pseudo-Native American place names created by Schoolcraft.