Aurora Lake State Natural Area

Aurora Lake is a 94-acre undeveloped, shallow, soft water drainage lake located in an elongated pitted outwash basin. The bottom is primarily muck with a maximum depth of only 4 feet. The fertile water is dominated by wild rice and supports a diversity of submerged and floating leaved aquatic plants including common bladderwort, water-milfoil, pondweeds, waterweed, white and yellow water-lilies, and small bur-reed. The northern half of the lake consists of a quaking bog mat of sphagnum and sedges and contains the boreal bog orchid. Several islands of tamarack with spruce and red maple occur in the lake while the surrounding wet forest consists of tamarack and black spruce swamp and second-growth white birch. The fishery is northern pike, perch, and sunfish but is subject to winterkill. Bald eagles use the lake along with muskrat, beaver, and waterfowl. Aurora Lake is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1976.