^FORESTRY COMMISSIONER. 35 



The elevation of this region is about 1,400 feet above sea- 

 level, and about 800 feet above Lake Superior. The drainage, 

 however, is not to Lake Superior, but northward into the Rainy 

 river basin. 



The rough, broken surface is very favorable to the accumula- 

 tion of water in ponds and lakes of which there are 43 included 

 within or bounding the Burntside Forest. Most of these lakes 

 are irregular in outline and with rock bound shores. They drain 

 from one to another, in some cases by small rapid streams, falling 

 from rock to rock or boiling among the boulders, and in other 

 cases by deep, slow streams with an almost continuous level. 

 These lakes and connecting streams are of great importance to 

 the Reserve they have forced the rocky walls and levelled the 

 way for winter logging roads, and their flow carries the "drive" 

 in the summer; they make excellent firebreaks and afford ready 

 communication from one part to another; they are the favorite 

 resort of big game and hence the chief attraction and main ar- 

 teries of travel for the tourist and sportsman. 



TOWNSHIP 63-14. 



Burntside Lake, the largest bordering the Forest and said to 

 be the prettiest lake in Minnesota, has an elevation of 1,370 feet 

 above the sea, and drains east and north to the Rainy river. The 

 south-eastern portion of Township 63-14 drains directly into 

 Burntside lake, the principal stream being Tamarack creek 

 which is navigable for canoes for about 2 miles up its course. 

 The east central part of this township is drained through Crab 

 Lake into Burntside. Bottle lake in section 22 empties into 

 lake Saca in section 14 by a small stream which disapears for 

 some distance among boulders near the upper end, and is lost in 

 a swamp at its lower end from which the water seeps into lake 

 Saca. From Saca, a short stream with a stony, unnavigable 

 channel, leads to the southwest arm of Crab lake. 



From the northeast arm of Crab lake a stream flows into 

 Burntside lake. This Crab creek is navigable for canoes in the 

 upper portion for about three -fourths of a mile, and also in the 

 lower stream for over a mile, the balance of the channel being 

 stony and rapid. Phantom lake lying in sections 21 and 22, 

 drains westward by a small, stream, unnavigable in the Reserve, 

 which runs through a deep valley toward Vermilion lake. 



