Lake Duluth

Lake Duluth was an ancient lake that existed in the western Lake Superior basin. It formed as the massive glaciers of the Wisconsin Glacial Stage receded approximately 14,000 years ago. At its peak, Lake Duluth drained southward into the Mississippi River.1

The city of Duluth, Minnesota, is situated on high rock bluffs that were once the shoreline of this glacial lake. The Great Lakes, including Lake Superior, were shaped by the movement of glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch, a process that began about one million years ago. The current configuration of the Great Lakes, including Lake Superior, is the result of these glacial activities and subsequent land uplift.21