Burntside Islands SNA

62 Acres Located in Burntside Lake, approximately 8 miles W of Ely. Take MN Hwy 1/169 W of Ely for about 7 miles, turn N on Co Hwy 404 (Wolf Lake Road) and go about 2 miles to boat launching site on the right. Access is by boat only; rentals available in Ely. St. Louis County Twp 63N Rng 13W Sec 29 Type: Coniferous Forest ECS Subsection: Border Lakes

Description:

The Burntside Islands SNA features two adjacent islands in the south west part of Burntside Lake, located in the Border Lakes region of Minnesota. While the lake is used for recreation, with many of its 150 islands developed for summer homes, these two forested bedrock islands remain virtually undisturbed. Their virgin, old-growth Great Lakes pine forests are extremely rare outside of the BWCAW and Itasca State Park. Pine Island's 15-acre old-growth forest includes 300-year old red pines; look for the hollow centers in these older trees. Other pines date from the fires of 1862 and 1910. Dense understory, which retards production of new pines, marks areas that have not burned recently. The 49 acres of Snellman Island also support Great Lakes pine forest, spruce-fir forest, and aspen-birch forest, all undisturbed since logging at the turn of the century. The site was gifted by The Nature Conservancy.

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