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Lake Harriet is a lake in the southwest part of Minneapolis, just south of Bde Maka Ska and north of Minnehaha Creek. The lake is surrounded by parkland as part of the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes. The lake has an area of 335 acre and a maximum depth of 85 feet.
Recreational Facilities
Lake Harriet is popular for recreation. It offers sailing, two beaches, and a system of bike and pedestrian trails about 2.99 miles for the bike trail and 2.75 miles for the pedestrian trail. The trail and parkway system, part of the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway, connects with Bde Maka Ska on the north end of Lake Harriet, via William Berry Parkway, and with the Minnehaha Creek trail system at the southeast side of the lake.
The bandshell is used for concerts throughout the summer months. The bandshell complex also contains a picnic area and a seasonal outdoor restaurant, Bread & Pickle.
A preserved section of the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line runs between Bde Maka Ska and the Lake Harriet bandshell area.
Fishing
The lake contains black crappie, bluegill, golden shiner, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch. Some guideline restrictions have been placed on the consumption of bluegill, carp, crappie, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, white sucker, and yellow perch from the lake, because of contamination with mercury and PFOS.
In 1998, a dead female lake sturgeon weighing 105 pounds and 6.3 feet long washed ashore on the lake. Sturgeon were thought to no longer exist in the lake or the Minnehaha Creek watershed. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials speculated it may have been released into the lake when young by a fisheries employee during the mid-20th century. It is also possible the fish was a descendant of sturgeon which migrated into the lake thousands of years ago, prior to the formation of Minnehaha Falls