Map showing the location of the ELA in northwestern Ontario, near the geographical centre of North America. Traditionally the area was accessed by canoe using the myriad lakes and interconnecting waterways. Recreational canoe routes still criss-cross the region. Float planes are also frequently used in modern times. The area is characterized by exposed outcrops of this bedrock with a uniform consistency and a pinkish colour.
Overburden is generally thin to non-existent, particularly on the ridges.
Where it occurs in the valleys, it is typically sandy loam with highly variable gravel and cobbles. Soils are thin and rapidly leached. Winnange Lake has a maximum depth greater than 110 metres. The deepest waters of Teggau Lake are therefore at an elevation of approximately 208 metres A.S.L. Within individual drainage basins, the elevation change from highest hilltop to lake surface is typically in the range of 40 to 100 metres. However, it straddles a drainage divide between the Lake of the Woods drainage basin and the English River drainage basin, both of which eventually drain into the Winnipeg River and, ultimately, via Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River, into Hudson Bay.