page_title: Lake Erie
section_title: Islands
hierarchical_section_title: Lake Erie / Economy / Tourism / Islands
caption_attribution_description: English: Alvar on Kelley's Island, Ohio in Lake Erie
context_page_description: Lake Erie is the fourth-largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the eleventh-largest globally if measured in terms of surface area. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. At its deepest point Lake Erie is 210 feet deep.
  Situated on the International Boundary between Canada and the United States, Lake Erie's northern shore is the Canadian province of Ontario, specifically the Ontario Peninsula, with the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York on its western, southern, and eastern shores. These jurisdictions divide the surface area of the lake with water boundaries.
  The lake was named by the Erie people, a Native American people who lived along its southern shore. The tribal name "erie" is a shortened form of the Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning long tail.
  Situated below Lake Huron, Erie's primary inlet is the Detroit River. The main natural outflow from the lake is via the Niagara River, which provides hydroelectric power to Canada and the U.S. as it spins huge turbines near Niagara Falls at Lewiston, New York and Queenston, Ontario.
context_section_description: Lake Erie islands tend to be in the westernmost part of the lake and have different characters. Some of them include:
  Kelleys Island has activities such as beach lounging, hiking, biking, and viewing the deep glacial grooves in the bedrock limestone.
  Pelee Island is reached by ferry from Leamington, Ontario or by plane or ferry in Sandusky, Ohio and is the largest of the Lake Erie islands. The island has a unique ecosystem with plants rarely found in Canada such as wild hyacinth, yellow horse gentian, and prickly pear cactus. There are two endangered snakes including the blue racer and the Lake Erie water snake. Songbirds migrate there in spring, and monarch butterflies stop over during the fall.
  South Bass Island has the island-village of Put-in-Bay, Ohio which attracts young crowds who sometimes are prone to general merriment. It has been described as a party island with scenic rocky cliffs with a year-round population in the hundreds that grows during summer.
caption: Alvar habitat on Kelleys Island. South Bass Island visible in distance.
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