Lake Champlain#Islands

{{See|Champlain Sea}}

File:Lake Champlain by Sentinel-2.jpg

The Champlain Valley is the northernmost unit of a landform system known as the Great Appalachian Valley, which stretches between Quebec, Canada, to the north, and Alabama, U.S., to the south. The Champlain Valley is a physiographic section of the larger Saint Lawrence Valley, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division.{{cite web |title=Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S. |website=U.S. Geological Survey |url=http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/physio.xml |access-date=December 6, 2007 |archive-date=December 5, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205095639/http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/physio.xml |url-status=live }}

Lake Champlain is one of numerous large lakes scattered in an arc through Labrador, in Canada, the northern United States, and the Northwest Territories of Canada.{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lake-Champlain|date=|title=LAKE CHAMPLAIN|website=britannica.com|publisher=Britannica|author=Amy Tikkanen|access-date=2024-08-22}}

It is the thirteenth-largest lake by area in the U.S. Approximately {{convert|1269|km2|order=flip}} in area, the lake is {{convert|172|km|order=flip}} long and {{cvt|23|km|order=flip}} across at its widest point, and has a maximum depth of approximately {{convert|400|ft|fathom m|lk=out}}. The lake varies seasonally from about {{cvt|95|to|100|ft}} above mean sea level.{{cite web |title=Lake Champlain Lake Level – King St. Ferry Dock (1977–2006) |website=NOAA.gov |url=http://www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/climo/Lake_Champlain_BoxWhisker.png |date=May 3, 2012 |access-date=May 3, 2012 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924001855/http://www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/climo/Lake_Champlain_BoxWhisker.png |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Lake Champlain |url=https://atlas.lcbp.org/nature-environment/lake-champlain/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=Lake Champlain Basin Atlas |language=en-US}}

File:Lake Champlain.jpg

Lake Champlain is in the Lake Champlain Valley between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, drained northward by the {{convert|106|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} Richelieu River into the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, northeast and downstream of Montreal. The Champlain basin collects waters from the northwestern slopes of the Green Mountains and the eastern portion of the Adirondack Mountains, reaching as far south as the {{convert|32|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} Lake George in New York.

Lake Champlain drains nearly half of Vermont, and approximately 250,000 people get their drinking water from the lake.{{Cite news |first=John |last=Curran |title=State seeks dismissal of phosphorus lawsuit |url=http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100811/NEWS02/8110319/Vermont-urges-dismissal-of-suit-over-lake-phosphorus |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=1B |date=August 11, 2010}}{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes }}

The lake is fed in Vermont by the LaPlatte, Lamoille, Missisquoi, Poultney and Winooski rivers, along with Lewis Creek, Little Otter Creek and Otter Creek.{{cite web |url=http://sol.lcbp.org/images/Figures%20for%20Presentations/Fig5_P_Medalie2015_symb-tribs.png |title=2015 State of the Lake: Figure 5 |date=2015 |website=Lake Champlain Basin Program |access-date=August 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910215537/http://sol.lcbp.org/images/Figures%20for%20Presentations/Fig5_P_Medalie2015_symb-tribs.png |archive-date=2016-09-10 |url-status=dead}} In New York, it is fed by the Ausable, Boquet, Great Chazy, La Chute, Little Ausable, Little Chazy, Salmon and Saranac rivers, along with Putnam Creek. In Quebec, it is fed by the Pike River.

It is connected to the Hudson River by the Champlain Canal.

Parts of the lake freeze each winter, and in some winters the entire lake surface freezes, referred to as "closing".{{cite news |first=Matt |last=Sutkoski |title=Lack of ice cover might be affecting the ecology of Lake Champlain |url=http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/vermont/sutkoskibfp.pdf |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |date=January 22, 2012 |access-date=October 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003111356/http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/vermont/sutkoskibfp.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-03 |url-status=dead}} In July and August, the lake temperature reaches an average of {{cvt|70|°F|0}}.{{cite web |location=Lake Champlain at Burlington, VT |url=http://waterdata.usgs.gov/vt/nwis/uv?cb_00011=on&cb_00095=on&cb_62614=on&format=gif_default&site_no=04294500&period=&begin_date=2016-07-01&end_date=2016-10-02 |title=National Water Information System |website=U.S. Geological Survey (USGS 04294500) |access-date=October 2, 2016 |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922154043/https://waterdata.usgs.gov/vt/nwis/uv?cb_00011=on&cb_00095=on&cb_62614=on&format=gif_default&site_no=04294500&period=&begin_date=2016-07-01&end_date=2016-10-02 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/monthly?referred_module=sw&site_no=04294500&por_04294500_65128=1270506,00011,65128,2014-10,2015-10&format=html_table&date_format=YYYY-MM-DD&rdb_compression=file&submitted_form=parameter_selection_list |website=U.S. Geological Survey (USGS 04294500) |location=Lake Champlain at Burlington, VT |title=National Water Information System: Surface-Water Monthly Statistics for the Nation |access-date=October 2, 2016 |archive-date=November 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117020920/https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/monthly?referred_module=sw&site_no=04294500&por_04294500_65128=1270506,00011,65128,2014-10,2015-10&format=html_table&date_format=YYYY-MM-DD&rdb_compression=file&submitted_form=parameter_selection_list |url-status=live }}

The Chazy Reef is an extensive Ordovician carbonate rock formation that extends from Tennessee to Quebec and Newfoundland. The oldest reefs are around "The Head" of the south end of Isle La Motte; slightly younger reefs are found at the Fisk Quarry, and the youngest (the famous coral reefs) are in fields to the north.{{cite web |website=University of Vermont |author=Mehrtens, Charlotte, Professor of Geology |title=Chazy Reef |url=https://dec.vermont.gov/geological-survey/vermont-geology/Chazy |access-date=January 20, 2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604153831/https://dec.vermont.gov/geological-survey/vermont-geology/Chazy |url-status=live }}

File:Brooklyn Museum - Green Mountains, Lake Champlain - Winckworth Allan Gay - overall.jpg

The lake has long acted as a border between indigenous nations, much as it is today between the states of New York and Vermont. The lake is located at the frontier between Abenaki and Mohawk (Iroquois Confederacy) traditional territories. The official toponym for the lake, according to the orthography established by the Grand Council of Waban-aki Nation{{fact|date=January 2025}}, is Pitawbagok (alternative orthographies include Petonbowk{{cite book |author1=Hyde, Bruce |author2=Huden, John Charles |title=Indian Place Names of New England |publisher=Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation |year=1962 |url=https://archive.org/details/indianplacenames00hude}} and Bitawbagok),{{cite web |url=http://www.abenakination.org/whoweare.html |title=Abenaki |website=Abenakination.org |access-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100210185748/http://www.abenakination.org/whoweare.html |archive-date=February 10, 2010}} meaning "middle lake", "lake in between" or "double lake".

The Mohawk name in modern orthography, as standardized in 1993, is Kaniatarakwà:ronte, meaning "a bulged lake" or "lake with a bulge in it".{{Cite web |url=https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/haudenosaunee-country-in-mohawk-2/ |title=Haudenosaunee Country in Mohawk |date=2015-02-04 |website=The Decolonial Atlas |language=en |access-date=2019-02-08 |archive-date=January 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119205757/https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/haudenosaunee-country-in-mohawk-2/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://atlas.lcbp.org/nature-environment/lake-champlain/ |title=Lake Champlain |website=Lake Champlain Basin Atlas |language=en-US |access-date=2019-02-08 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020055855/https://atlas.lcbp.org/nature-environment/lake-champlain/ |url-status=live }} An alternate name is Kaniá:tare tsi kahnhokà:ronte (phonetic English spelling Caniaderi Guarunte{{cite book |author=Hyde, Bruce & Pownall, Thomas |title=A Topographical Description of the Dominions of the United States of America |publisher=Ayer Publishing |year=1976 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOKCelPf1f4C |isbn=9780405077067 |access-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804085513/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOKCelPf1f4C |url-status=live }}), meaning "door of the country" or "lake to the country". The lake is an important eastern gateway to Iroquois Confederacy lands.

The lake was named after the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who encountered it in July 1609. While the ports of Burlington, Vermont, Port Henry, New York, and Plattsburgh, New York, today are primarily used by small craft, ferries and lake cruise ships, they were of substantial commercial and military importance in the 18th and 19th centuries.

File:Lac Champlain (Nouvelle-France) 1739.JPG map showing concessions and seigneuries on the coasts of the lake according to 1739 surveying.]]

{{unreferenced section|date=March 2017}}

New France allocated concessions all along Lake Champlain to French settlers and built forts to defend the waterways. In colonial times, Lake Champlain was used as a water (or, in winter, ice) passage between the Saint Lawrence and Hudson valleys. Travelers found it easier to journey by boats and sledges on the lake rather than go overland on unpaved and frequently mud-bound roads. The lake's northern tip at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec (known as St. John in colonial times under British rule) is just {{convert|40|km|order=flip}} from Montreal, Quebec. The southern tip at Whitehall (Skenesborough in revolutionary times) is {{convert|23|mi}} north of Glens Falls on the Hudson River and {{convert|70|mi}} north of Albany, New York.

Forts were built at Ticonderoga and Crown Point (Fort St. Frederic) to control passage on the lake in colonial times. Important battles were fought at Ticonderoga in 1758 and 1775. During the Revolutionary War, the British and Americans conducted a frenetic shipbuilding race through the spring and summer of 1776, at opposite ends of the lake, and fought a significant naval engagement on October 11 at the Battle of Valcour Island. While it was a tactical defeat for the Americans, and the small fleet led by Benedict Arnold was almost destroyed, the Americans gained a strategic victory; the British invasion was delayed long enough so the approach of winter prevented the fall of these forts until the following year. In this period, the Continental Army gained strength and was victorious at Saratoga.

At the start of the Revolutionary War, British forces occupied the Champlain Valley.{{Cite book |title=The American Revolution |last=Countryman |first=Edward |publisher=Macmillan |year=2003 |page=4}} However, it did not take long for rebel leaders to realize the importance of controlling Lake Champlain. Early in the war, the colonial militias attempted to expel the British from Boston; however, this undertaking could not be achieved without heavy artillery.Countryman (2003), p. 103 The British forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, were known to have ample supplies of artillery and were weakly-manned by the British. Thus, the colonial militias devised a plan to take control of the two forts and bring the guns back to the fight in Boston.

File:Lake Champlain Ferry.jpg, Lake Champlain]]

The necessity of controlling the two forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point placed Lake Champlain as a strategic arena during the Revolutionary War. By taking control of these forts, Americans not only gained heavy artillery, but control of a vast water highway as well: Lake Champlain provided a direct invasion route to British Canada. However, had the British controlled the lake, they could have divided the colonies of New England and further depleted the Continental Army.

The Continental Army's first offensive action took place in May 1775, three weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord.{{Cite web |url=http://www.lcmm.org/shipwrecks_history/history/history_revolution.htm |title=History of Lake Champlain: Revolutionary War |website=www.lcmm.org |access-date=April 28, 2016 |archive-date=January 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125212537/http://www.lcmm.org/shipwrecks_history/history/history_revolution.htm |url-status=live }} Ethan Allen, accompanied by 200 Green Mountain Boys, was ordered to capture Fort Ticonderoga and retrieve supplies for the fight in Boston. Benedict Arnold shared the command with Allen, and, in early May 1775, they captured Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point and the southern Loyalist settlement of Skenesborough. As a result of Allen's offensive attack on the Champlain Valley in 1775, the American forces controlled the Lake Champlain waterway.

The Continental Army realized the strategic advantage of controlling Lake Champlain, as it leads directly to the heart of Quebec.{{Cite book |title=The Iroquois in the American Revolution |last=Graymont |first=Barbara |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1975 |page=66}} Immediately after taking Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point, the Americans began planning an attack on British Canada. The American siege of Quebec was a two-pronged assault and occurred throughout the winter of 1775–1776.{{Cite book |title=The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy |last=Weigley |first=Russell |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1977 |page=47}} Brigadier General Richard Montgomery led the first assault up the Champlain Valley into Canada, while Benedict Arnold led a second army to Quebec via the Maine wilderness.

Despite the strategic advantage of controlling a direct route to Quebec by way of the Champlain Valley, the American siege of British Canada during the winter of 1775 failed. The Continental Army mistakenly assumed that it would receive support from the Canadians upon their arrival at Quebec. This was not the case, and the rebel army struggled to take Quebec with diminishing supplies, support, and harsh northern winter weather.{{Cite book |title=The Iroquois in the American Revolution |last=Graymont |first=Barbara |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1975 |pages=74}}

The Continental Army was forced to camp outside Quebec's walls for the winter, with reinforcements from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut allowing the soldiers to maintain their siege of the city. However, smallpox descended on both the sieging forces and their reinforcements and savaged the American force.{{Cite book |title=Thrust for Canada: The American Attempt on Quebec in 1775–1776 |last=Hatch |first=Robert |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1979 |location=Boston}} The reinforcements traveled hundreds of miles up the frozen Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence River, but were too late and too few to influence a successful siege of Quebec. In May 1776, with the arrival of a British convoy carrying 10,000 British and Hessian troops to Canada, the Continental forces retreated back down the Champlain Valley to reevaluate their strategy.{{Cite book |title=The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy |last=Weigley |first=Russell |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1977 |pages=23}}

File:Champlain Valley.jpg]]

"I know of no better method than to secure the important posts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and by building a number of armed vessels to command the lakes, otherwise the forces now in Canada will be brought down upon us as quick as possible, having nothing to oppose them...They will doubtless try to construct some armed vessels and then endeavor to penetrate the country toward New York." (Brigadier General John Sullivan to George Washington, June 24, 1776).

Both British and American forces spent the summer of 1776 building their naval fleets, at opposite ends of Lake Champlain. By the October 1776, the Continental Army had 16 operating naval vessels on Lake Champlain: a great increase to the four small ships they had at the beginning of the summer. General Benedict Arnold commanded the American naval fleet on Lake Champlain, which was composed of volunteers and soldiers drafted from the Northern Army. With great contrast to the Continental navy, experienced Royal Navy officers, British seamen and Hessian artillerymen manned the British fleet on Lake Champlain. By the end of the summer of 1776, the opposing armies were prepared to battle over the strategic advantage of controlling Lake Champlain.

On October 11, 1776, the British and American naval fleets met on the western side of Valcour Island, on Lake Champlain. American General Benedict Arnold established the location, as it provided the Continental fleet with a natural defensive position. The British and American vessels engaged in combat for much of the day, only stopping due to impending nightfall.

After a long day of combat, the American fleet was in worse shape than the experienced British Navy. Upon ceasefire, Arnold called a council of war with his fellow officers, proposing to escape the British fleet via rowboats under the cover of night. As the British burned Arnold's flagship, the Royal Savage, to the east, the Americans rowed past the British lines.{{Cite book |title=Benedict Arnold's Navy: The Ragtag Fleet that Lost the Battle of Lake Champlain But Won the American Revolution |last=Nelson |first=James |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |year=2006}}

The following morning, the British learned of the Americans' escape and set out after the fleeing Continental vessels. On October 13, the British fleet caught up to the struggling American ships near Split Rock Mountain. With no hope of fighting off the powerful British navy, Arnold ordered his men to run their five vessels aground in Ferris Bay, Panton, Vermont. The depleted Continental army escaped on land back to Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence; however, they no longer controlled the Lake Champlain waterway.

The approaching winter of 1776–1777 restricted British movement along the recently controlled Lake Champlain. As the British abandoned Crown Point and returned to Canada for the winter, the Americans reduced their garrisons in the Champlain Valley from 13,000 to 2,500 soldiers.

File:Lake Champlain, Vermont.jpg]]

In early 1777, British General John Burgoyne led 8,000 troops from Canada, down Lake Champlain and into the Champlain Valley. The goal of this invasion was to divide the New England colonies, thus forcing the Continental Army into a separated fight on multiple fronts.{{Cite book |title=Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War |last=Ketchum |first=Richard |publisher=Macmillan |year=1997}} Lake Champlain provided Burgoyne with protected passage deep into the American colonies. Burgoyne's army reached Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence in late June, 1777. During the night of July 5, the American forces fled Ticonderoga as the British took control of the fort. However, Burgoyne's southern campaign did not go uncontested.

On October 7, 1777, American General Horatio Gates, who occupied Bemis Heights, met Burgoyne's army at the Second Battle of Freeman's Farm. At Freeman's Farm, Burgoyne's army suffered its final defeat and ended its invasion south into the colonies. Ten days later, on October 17, 1777, British General Burgoyne surrendered his army at Saratoga. This defeat was instrumental to the momentum of the Revolutionary War, as the defeat of the British army along the Champlain-Hudson waterway convinced France to ally with the American army.

Following the failed British campaign led by General Burgoyne, the British still maintained control over the Champlain waterway for the duration of the Revolutionary War. The British used the Champlain waterway to supply raids across the Champlain Valley from 1778 to 1780, and Lake Champlain permitted direct transportation of supplies from the British posts at the northern end of the lake.

With the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, the British naval fleet on Lake Champlain retreated up to St. John's. However, British troops garrisoned at Fort Dutchman's Point (North Hero, Vermont) and Fort au Fer (Champlain, New York), on Lake Champlain, did not leave until the 1796 Jay Treaty.{{cite web |url=https://lakechamplainlife.com/military-sites/ |title=Lake Champlain Historic Military Sites |website=lakechamplainlife.com |publisher=Lake Champlain Life |location=Alburgh, Vermont |access-date=July 24, 2017 |archive-date=July 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702164154/http://lakechamplainlife.com/military-sites/ |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://dmna.ny.gov/forts/fortsA_D/auFerFort.htm |title=Fort au Fer |publisher=New York State Military Museum |location=Saratoga Springs, New York |access-date=July 24, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803041539/https://dmna.ny.gov/forts/fortsA_D/auFerFort.htm |url-status=live }}

File:Dutton House Shelburne Museum.jpg, Shelburne Museum]]

File:Stagecoach Inn Shelburne Museum.jpg, Shelburne Museum]]

File:Sawmill Shelburne Museum.jpg]]

Eager to take back control of Lake Champlain following the end of the Revolutionary War, Americans flocked to settle the Champlain Valley. Many individuals emigrated from Massachusetts and other New England colonies, such as Salmon Dutton, a settler of Cavendish, Vermont.Shelburne Museum's Dutton House (Shelburne, Vermont) Dutton emigrated in 1782 and worked as a surveyor, town official and toll-road owner. His home had a dooryard garden, typical of mid-19th century New England village homes, and his experience settling in the Champlain Valley depicts the industries and lifestyles surrounding Lake Champlain following the Revolutionary War.

Similar to the experience of Salmon Dutton, former colonial militia Major General Hezekiah Barnes settled in Charlotte, Vermont, in 1787.Shelburne Museum's Stagecoach Inn Following the war, Barnes worked as a road surveyor; he also established an inn and trading post in Charlotte, along the main trade route from Montreal down Lake Champlain. Barnes' stagecoach inn was built in traditional Georgian style, with 10 fireplaces, a ballroom on the interior and a wraparound porch on the outside. In 1800, Continental Army Captain Benjamin Harrington established a distillery business in Shelburne, Vermont, which supplied his nearby inn.Shelburne Museum's Hat and Fragrance Textile Gallery These individual accounts shed light on the significance of Lake Champlain during the post-Revolutionary War period.

During the War of 1812, British and American forces faced each other in the Battle of Lake Champlain, also known as the Battle of Plattsburgh, fought on September 11, 1814. This ended the final British invasion of the northern states during the War of 1812. It was fought just prior to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, and the American victory denied the British any leverage to demand exclusive control over the Great Lakes or territorial gains against the New England states.

Three US Naval ships have been named after this battle: {{USS|Lake Champlain|CV-39}}, {{USS|Lake Champlain|CG-57}} and a cargo ship used during World War I.

Following the War of 1812, the U.S. Army began construction on "Fort Blunder": an unnamed fortification built at the northernmost end of Lake Champlain to protect against attacks from British Canada. Its nickname came from a surveying error: the initial phase of construction on the fort turned out to be taking place on a point {{cvt|3/4|mi}} north of the Canada–U.S. border. Once this error was spotted, construction was abandoned. Locals scavenged materials used in the abandoned fort for use in their homes and public buildings.

By the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842, the Canada–U.S. border was adjusted northward to include the strategically important site of "Fort Blunder" on the US side.{{Cite journal |last=DZIUBAN |first=STANLEY W. |date=1968 |title=FORT BLUNDER: A Vignette of American History |journal=The Military Engineer |volume=60 |issue=393 |pages=46–48 |issn=0026-3982 |jstor=44557158}} In 1844, work was begun to replace the remains of the 1812-era fort with a massive new Third System masonry fortification, known as Fort Montgomery. Portions of this fort are still standing.

File:Champlain1902.jpg

In the early 19th century, the construction of the Champlain Canal connected Lake Champlain to the Hudson River system, allowing north–south commerce by water from New York City to Montreal and Atlantic Canada.

In 1909, 65,000 people celebrated the 300th anniversary of the French discovery of the lake. Attending dignitaries included President William Howard Taft, along with representatives from France, Canada and the United Kingdom.{{cite book |author=Hyde, Bruce |title=My Turn: Get ready to celebrate the 400th |publisher=The Burlington Free Press |date=January 3, 2008}}{{cite web |url=http://www.hrmm.org/quad/1909champlain/contents.html |title=1909 Champlain Tercentenary Celebration of the Discovery of Lake Champlain |publisher=Hrmm.org |access-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403060314/http://www.hrmm.org/quad/1909champlain/contents.html |archive-date=April 3, 2009}}

In 1929, then-New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt and Vermont Governor John Weeks dedicated the first bridge to span the lake, built from Crown Point to Chimney Point.{{cite web |url=http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/history.html |title=Vermont History Timeline |date=August 26, 2010 |website=historicvermont.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911184311/http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/history.html |archive-date=September 11, 2011 |url-status=dead}} This bridge lasted until December 2009. Severe deterioration was found, and the bridge was demolished and replaced with the Lake Champlain Bridge, which opened in November 2011.

On February 19, 1932, boats were able to sail on Lake Champlain. It was the first time that the lake was known to be free of ice during the winter at that time.{{cite news |url=http://www.bartonchronicle.com/index.php/reviews/books/110-asurpriseoneverypage |work=Barton Chronicle |access-date=August 21, 2009 |title=A surprise on every page |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510020229/http://www.bartonchronicle.com/index.php/reviews/books/110-asurpriseoneverypage |archive-date=May 10, 2009}}

Lake Champlain briefly became the nation's sixth Great Lake on March 6, 1998, when President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which was led by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont and reauthorized the National Sea Grant Program, contained a line declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. This status enabled its neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources. However, following a small uproar, the Great Lake status was rescinded on March 24 (although New York and Vermont universities continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).{{cite web |url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030298.htm |title=Geography – Lake Champlain, The Sixth Great Lake? |date=March 2, 1998 |website=About.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423232132/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030298.htm |archive-date=April 23, 2013 |access-date=July 12, 2013}}

In 1609, Samuel de Champlain wrote that he saw a lake monster {{cvt|5|ft|m}} long, as thick as a man's thigh, with silver-gray scales a dagger could not penetrate. The alleged monster had {{cvt|2.5|foot}} jaws with sharp and dangerous teeth. Native Americans claimed to have seen similar monsters {{cvt|8|to|10|ft}} long. This mysterious creature is likely the original Lake Champlain monster.{{cite book |first1=Ralph Nading |last1=Hill |title=Lake Champlain: Key to Liberty |year=1976 |publisher=Countryman Press |location=Woodstock, Vermont}}{{rp|20}} The monster has been memorialized in sports teams' names and mascots, e.g., the Vermont Lake Monsters and Champ, the mascot of the state's minor league baseball team.{{cite web |url=http://vermont.lakemonsters.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t462 |website=Vermont Lake Monsters, The Official Site of Minor League Baseball |title=Home Page |year=2011 |access-date=October 11, 2011 |archive-date=January 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125074936/http://vermont.lakemonsters.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t462 |url-status=live }} A Vermont Historical Society publication recounts the story and offers possible explanations for accounts of the so-called monster: "floating logs, schools of large sturgeon diving in a row, or flocks of blackbirds flying close to the water".{{cite web |url=http://vermonthistory.org/documents/GreenMountaineer/VermontsVeryOwn.pdf |title=Vermont's Very Own Monster |website=Vermont Historical Society |access-date=October 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420225544/http://vermonthistory.org/documents/GreenMountaineer/VermontsVeryOwn.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2012}} In 2022, it was reported that a feature dramatic film, Lucy and the Lake Monster, was in the works about a young orphan girl and her grandfather looking for Champ.{{cite news |last1=O'Brien |first1=Kelly |title=Champ to star in new book and film series |url=https://www.wcax.com/2022/04/16/champ-star-new-book-film-series/ |access-date=23 April 2022 |agency=CBS |publisher=WCAX-TV |date=April 16, 2022 |ref=Channel 3 |archive-date=April 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428111358/https://www.wcax.com/2022/04/16/champ-star-new-book-film-series/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Champ to get top billing in 'Lucy and the Lake Monster' film |url=https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2022/03/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster.html |access-date=24 March 2022 |publisher=Adirondack Almanack |date=March 7, 2022 |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421055440/https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2022/03/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=McKinstry |first1=Lohr |title=Lead sought for "Lucy and the Lake Monster" |url=https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/lead-sought-for-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/article_28560232-ba63-53da-b942-24740ccc162d.html |access-date=24 March 2022 |issue=Front Page |publisher=Press Republican |date=November 14, 2021 |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515060929/https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/lead-sought-for-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/article_28560232-ba63-53da-b942-24740ccc162d.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Indiegogo campaign starts for Champ movie 'Lucy and the Lake Monster' |url=https://suncommunitynews.com/news/95611/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/ |access-date=24 March 2022 |issue=Front Page |publisher=Sun Community News |date=February 25, 2022 |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515060929/https://suncommunitynews.com/news/95611/indiegogo-campaign-starts-for-champ-movie-lucy-and-the-lake-monster/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Hartwig |first1=Melissa |title=Search for Champ with 'Lucy & the Lake Monster' |url=https://aiptcomics.com/2022/04/15/champ-lucy-lake-monster-cryptid/ |access-date=23 April 2022 |publisher=AIPT Comics |date=April 15, 2022 |archive-date=April 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423052844/https://aiptcomics.com/2022/04/15/champ-lucy-lake-monster-cryptid/ |url-status=live }}

A pollution prevention, control and restoration plan for Lake Champlain{{cite web |url=http://www.lcbp.org/about-us/management-plan/ |website=Lake Champlain Management Plan |title=About Us |access-date=2015-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906054858/http://www.lcbp.org/about-us/management-plan/ |archive-date=2015-09-06 |url-status=dead}} was first endorsed in October 1996 by the governors of New York and Vermont and the regional administrators of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In April 2003, the plan was updated, and Quebec signed on to it. The plan is being implemented by the Lake Champlain Basin Program and its partners at the state, provincial, federal and local levels. Renowned as a model for interstate and international cooperation, its primary goals are to reduce phosphorus inputs to Lake Champlain, reduce toxic contamination, minimize the risks to humans from water-related health hazards and control the introduction, spread, and impact of non-native nuisance species to preserve the integrity of the Lake Champlain ecosystem.

Senior staff who helped organize the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 recall that International Paper was one of the first companies to call upon the brand-new agency, because it was being pressured by both New York and Vermont with regard to a discharge of pollution into Lake Champlain.{{cite web |website=EPA Alumni Association |title=EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the opening months of the new agency in 1970 |url=http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=16 |edition=Video |access-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011072603/http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=16 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |website=EPA Alumni Association |title=EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the opening months of the new agency in 1970 |url=http://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/605EA9C8EF2DD115.pdf#page=3 |edition=Transcript |page=3 |access-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-date=October 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011224944/http://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/605EA9C8EF2DD115.pdf#page=3 |url-status=live }}

Agricultural and urban runoff from the watershed or drainage basin is the primary source of excess phosphorus, which exacerbates algae blooms in Lake Champlain. The most problematic blooms have been cyanobacteria, commonly called blue-green algae, in the northeastern part of the lake: primarily Missisquoi Bay.{{cite book |author=Watzin, M.C. |title=Monitoring and Evaluation of Cyanobacteria in Lake Champlain: Summer 2006. |publisher=Lake Champlain Basin Program |year=2007}} [http://www.lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=213] Abstract online {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123105657/http://www.lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=213|date=January 23, 2009}}

To reduce phosphorus runoff to this part of the lake, Vermont and Quebec agreed to reduce their inputs by 60% and 40%, respectively, by an agreement signed in 2002.{{cite web |website=Lake Champlain Management Plan |url=http://www.lcbp.org/PDFs/missbay_agreeEN.pdf |title=Missisquoi Bay Phosphorus Reduction Agreement, August 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226035705/http://www.lcbp.org/PDFs/missbay_agreeEN.pdf |archive-date=February 26, 2012}} While agricultural sources (manure and fertilizers) are the primary sources of phosphorus (about 70%) in the Missisquoi basin, runoff from developed land and suburbs is estimated to contribute about 46% of the phosphorus runoff basin-wide to Lake Champlain, and agricultural lands contributed about 38%.{{cite book |author1=Troy A. |author2=Wang D. |author3=Capen D. |title=Updating the Lake Champlain Basin Land Use Data to Improve Prediction of Phosphorus Loading. |publisher=Lake Champlain Basin Program |year=2007 |url=http://www.lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=211 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313022418/http://lcbp.org/publication_detail.aspx?id=211 |archive-date=March 13, 2009}}

In 2002, the cleanup plan noted that the lake had the capacity to absorb {{cvt|110|MT|ST|abbr=off|order=flip}} of phosphorus each year. In 2009, a judge noted that {{cvt|218|MT|ST|abbr=off|order=flip}} were still flowing in annually: more than twice what the lake could handle. Sixty municipal and industrial sewage plants discharge processed waste from the Vermont side.{{cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Sewage: Judge sides with CLF, throws out Montpelier permit |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=4A |date=July 9, 2009}}

In 2008, the EPA expressed concerns to the State of Vermont that the lake's cleanup was not progressing fast enough to meet the original cleanup goal of 2016.{{cite book |author=Page, Candace |title=EPA scolds state on efforts to clean up Lake Champlain |publisher=The Burlington Free Press |date=June 3, 2008}} The state, however, cites its Clean and Clear Action Plan{{cite web |url=http://www.anr.state.vt.us/cleanandclear/ |title=Vermont Clean and Clear Action Plan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614051701/http://www.anr.state.vt.us/cleanandclear/ |archive-date=June 14, 2012 |website=anr.state.vt.us}} as a model that will produce positive results for Lake Champlain.

In 2007, Vermont banned phosphates for dishwasher use starting in 2010. This will prevent an estimated {{cvt|2|-|3|ST|MT|abbr=off}} from flowing into the lake. While this represents 0.6% of the phosphate pollution, it took US$1.9 million to remove the pollutant from treated wastewater: an EPA requirement.{{Cite news |first=Joel Banner |last=Baird |title=Detergents must soon be phosphate free |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=1A |date=June 26, 2010}}

Despite concerns about pollution, Lake Champlain is safe for swimming, fishing and boating. It is considered a world-class fishery for salmonid species (lake trout and Atlantic salmon) and bass. About 81 fish species live in the lake, and more than 300 bird species rely on it for habitat and as a resource during migrations.{{cite web |url=http://www.lcbp.org/Atlas/HTML/nat_plants.htm |title="Lake Champlain Basin Atlas: Plants and Animals", 2004 |website=Lake Champlain Management Plan |access-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926005603/http://lcbp.org/Atlas/HTML/nat_plants.htm |archive-date=September 26, 2010}}

By 2008, at least seven institutions were monitoring lake water health:

1. Conservation Law Foundation, which in 2002 appointed a "lakekeeper" who reviews the state's pollution controls
2. Friends of Missisquoi Bay, formed in 2003
3. Lake Champlain Committee
4. Vermont Water Resources Board, which hired a water quality expert in 2008 to write water quality standards and create wetland protection rules
5. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, which in 2007 appointed a "lake czar" to oversee pollution control
6. Clean and Clear, an agency of the Vermont state government, established in 2004
7. The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit group which focuses on biodiversity and ecosystem health.{{cite book |author=Page, Candace |title=Lake Champlain gets another watchdog |publisher=Burlington Free Press |date=December 14, 2008}}

In 2001, scientists estimated that farming contributed 38% of the phosphorus runoff. By 2010, results of environmentally-conscious farming practices, enforced by law, had made a positive contribution to lake cleanliness. A federally-funded study was started to analyze this problem and to arrive at a solution.{{Cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Lake Champlain cleanup effort focuses on Rock Rive6 |work=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=1B |date=July 6, 2010}}

Biologists have been trying to control lampreys in the lake since 1985 or earlier. Lampreys are native to the area, but have expanded in population to such an extent that they wounded nearly all lake trout in 2006, and 70–80% of salmon. The use of pesticides against the lamprey has reduced their damage to other fish to 35% of salmon and 31% of lake trout. The goal was 15% of salmon and 25% of lake trout.{{cite news |author=Page, Candace |title=Lamprey wounds decrease |newspaper=Burlington Free Press |date=January 22, 2009}}

The federal and state governments originally budgeted US$18 million for lake programs for 2010. This was later supplemented by an additional US$6.5 million from the federal government.{{Cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Lake scores $6.5 million |url=http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100724001 |work=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |page=1A |date=July 24, 2010}}{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes }}

In 2010, the estimate of cormorant population, now classified as a nuisance species because they take so much of the lake fish, ranged from 14,000 to 16,000. A Fish and Wildlife commissioner said that the ideal population would be about 3,300, amounting to {{cvt|3|/km2|/sqmi|order=flip}}. Cormorants had disappeared from the lake (and all northern lakes) due to the use of DDT in the 1940s and 1950s, which made their eggs more fragile and reduced breeding populations.{{Cite news |first=Candace |last=Page |title=Cutting the cormorant population |work=Burlington Free Press |location=Burlington, Vermont |pages=1C, 8C |date=July 11, 2010}}

Ring-billed gulls are also considered a nuisance, and measures have been taken to reduce their population. Authorities are trying to encourage the return of black-crowned night herons, cattle egrets and great blue herons, which disappeared during the time DDT was being widely used.

In 1989, UNESCO designated the area around Lake Champlain as the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve.{{Cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+45&mode=all |title=MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory |website=www.unesco.org |access-date=May 10, 2017 |archive-date=November 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105180223/http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+45&mode=all |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Bendavid |first=Ike |date=May 25, 2021 |title=Wildlife Watch: Long-term effort underway to restore Champlain Valley floodplains |url=https://www.wcax.com/2021/05/25/wildlife-watch-long-term-effort-underway-to-restore-champlain-valley-floodpains/ |access-date=2021-05-26 |website=WCAX |language=en |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526141031/https://www.wcax.com/2021/05/25/wildlife-watch-long-term-effort-underway-to-restore-champlain-valley-floodpains/ |url-status=live }}

The Alburgh Peninsula (also known as the Alburgh Tongue), extending south from the Quebec shore of the lake into Vermont, and Province Point, the southernmost tip of a small promontory approximately {{cvt|2|acre|ha|0}} in size{{cite web |url=http://wikimapia.org/#lat=45.0129735&lon=-73.1926346&z=17&l=0&m=b&show=/2203373/Province-Point |title=Wikimapia – Let's describe the whole world! |access-date=January 26, 2011 |archive-date=August 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826041141/http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=45.0129735&lon=-73.1926346&z=17&l=0&m=b&show=/2203373/Province-Point |url-status=live }} a few miles to the northeast of the community of East Alburgh, Vermont, are connected by land to the rest of the state only via Canada. This is a distinction shared with the state of Alaska, Point Roberts, Washington, and the Northwest Angle in Minnesota. All of these are practical exclaves of the United States contiguous with Canada. Unlike the other cases, highway bridges across the lake provide direct access to the Alburgh peninsula from within the United States (from three directions), but Province Point is still accessible by land only through Canada.

File:Champlain bridge.JPG between New York and Vermont, demolished in December 2009]]

Three roadways cross the lake, two connecting New York and Vermont and one connecting two towns in New York:

• Since November 2011, the Lake Champlain Bridge has crossed the lake's southern part, connecting Chimney Point in Vermont with Crown Point, New York. It replaced the Champlain Bridge, which was closed in 2009 because of severe structural problems that could have resulted in a collapse.{{cite news |url=http://www.pressrepublican.com/archivesearch/local_story_290052622.html |title=Vital bridge at Crown Point closed |date=October 17, 2009 |first=Lohr |last=McKinstry |work=The Press Republican |access-date=October 31, 2009}}

:In 2009, the bridge had been used by 3,400 drivers per day,NYT article of December 12, 2009 (page A12) and driving around the southern end of the lake added two hours to the trip. Ferry service was re-established to take some of the traffic burden. On December 28, 2009, the bridge was destroyed by a controlled demolition. A new bridge was rapidly constructed by a joint state commitment, opening on November 7, 2011.{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-bridge-closed-demolition,0,1331812.story |title=Controlled explosions bring down Lake Champlain Bridge, unsafe NY-VT span was closed in Oct. |newspaper=LA Times |agency=Associated Press |date=December 28, 2009 |access-date=January 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231013016/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-bridge-closed-demolition%2C0%2C1331812.story |archive-date=December 31, 2009}}

• To the north, US 2 runs from Rouses Point, New York, to Grand Isle County, Vermont, in the town of Alburgh, before continuing south along a chain of islands toward Burlington. To the east, Vermont Route 78 runs from an intersection with US 2 in Alburgh through East Alburgh to Swanton. The US 2-VT 78 route technically runs from the New York mainland to an extension of the mainland between two arms of the lake and then to the Vermont mainland, but it provides a direct route across the two main arms of the lake's northern part.
• In the southern section of the lake, New York State Route 22 crosses the South Bay connecting Whitehall, NY and Dresden, Washington County, New York

File:LCTC ferries 2.jpg ferry slip at Grand Isle, Vermont]]

North of Ticonderoga, New York, the lake widens appreciably; ferry service is operated by the Lake Champlain Transportation Company at:

• Charlotte, Vermont, to Essex, New York (may not travel when the lake is frozen)
• Grand Isle, Vermont, to Cumberland Head, part of Plattsburgh, New York (year-round icebreaking service)

While the old bridge was being demolished and the new one constructed, Lake Champlain Transportation Company operated a free, 24-hour ferry from just south of the bridge to Chimney Point, Vermont, at the expense of the states of New York and Vermont, at a cost to the states of about $10 per car.{{cite web |url=http://poststar.com/news/local/article_e67d27be-6231-11df-a6b4-001cc4c03286.html |title=Bridge is costly, but ferry is more |author=Reisman, Nick |website=Poststar.com |date=May 18, 2010 |access-date=November 17, 2010 |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811032107/https://poststar.com/news/local/article_e67d27be-6231-11df-a6b4-001cc4c03286.html |url-status=live }}

{{cite web |title=Ferry At Champlain Bridge Set To Start Running |date=January 31, 2010 |url=http://www.wptz.com/news/22352789/detail.html |website=WPTZ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719011135/http://www.wptz.com/news/22352789/detail.html |archive-date=July 19, 2011}}

The most southerly crossing is the Fort Ticonderoga Ferry, connecting Ticonderoga, New York, with Shoreham, Vermont, just north of the historic fort.

Four significant railroad crossings were built over the lake. As of 2021, only one remains.

• The "floating" rail trestle from Larabees Point, Vermont, to Ticonderoga, New York, was operated by the Addison Branch of the Rutland Railroad. It was abandoned in 1918, due to a number of accidents which resulted in locomotives and rail cars falling into the lake.{{rp|257}}
• The Island Line Causeway, a marble tailings and granite rock landfill causeway that stretched from Colchester (on the mainland) {{cvt|3|mi|km|spell=in}} north and west to South Hero, Vermont. Two breaks in the causeway were spanned by a fixed iron trestle and a swing bridge that could be opened to allow boats to pass. The Rutland Railroad (later Rutland Railway) operated trains over this causeway from 1901 to 1961, with the last passenger train operating in 1953. The railroad was officially abandoned in 1963, with tracks and trestles removed over the course of the ten years that followed. The marble tailings and granite rock causeway still remains, as does the fixed iron trestle that bridges the lesser of the two gaps. The swing bridge over the navigation channel was removed in the early 1970s.{{cite web |title=Island Line Rail Trail History |url=https://www.traillink.com/trail-history/island-line-rail-trail/ |website=TrailLink |publisher=Rails-to-Trails Conservancy |access-date=November 2, 2020 |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303023327/https://www.traillink.com/trail-history/island-line-rail-trail/ |url-status=live }}{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

File:Swanton-Alburgh VT Trestle.JPG

:Now called Colchester Park, the main {{convert|3|mi|0|adj=on}} causeway has been adapted and preserved as a recreation area for cyclists, runners and anglers. Two smaller marble tailings and granite rock landfill causeways were also erected as part of this line that connected Grand Isle to North Hero, and spanned from North Hero to Alburgh.{{rp|257}}

{{cite map |publisher=National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration |title=Lake Champlain New York – Vermont: Cumberland Head to Four Brothers Island |year=1992 |scale=1:40,000 |edition=23rd |location=Washington, D.C.}}

• The Alburgh, Vermont – Rouses Point, New York, rail trestle. From sometime in the late 19th century until 1964, this wooden trestle carried two railroads (the Rutland Railroad and the Central Vermont Railroad) over the lake just south of the US 2 vehicular bridge. The iron swing bridge at the center (over the navigation channel) has been removed. Most of the wooden pilings remain, greatly deteriorated, and can be seen looking south from the US 2 bridge. Part of the trestle on the Rouses Point side has been converted for use as an access pier associated with the local marina.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}
• The Swanton – Alburgh, Vermont rail trestle. Built in the same manner as at Rouses Point, it crosses the lake just south of Missisquoi Bay and the Canada–U.S. border, within yards south of the Vermont Route 78 bridge. It is still in use by the New England Central Railroad.{{cite web |website=Vermont Agency of Transportation |year=2006 |title=State Rail & Policy Plan, 2006 |url=http://rail.vermont.gov/sites/railroads/files/images/projects/br107/Vermont%20State%20Rail%20and%20Policy%20Plan.pdf |page=20 |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221528/http://rail.vermont.gov/sites/railroads/files/images/projects/br107/Vermont%20State%20Rail%20and%20Policy%20Plan.pdf |url-status=live }}

Lake Champlain has been connected to the Erie Canal via the Champlain Canal since the canal's official opening on September 9, 1823, the same day as the opening of the Erie Canal from Rochester on Lake Ontario to Albany. It connects to the St. Lawrence River via the Richelieu River, with the Chambly Canal bypassing rapids on the river since 1843. Together with these waterways, the lake is part of the Lakes to Locks Passage. The Lake Champlain Seaway, a project to use the lake to bring ocean-going ships from New York City to Montreal, was proposed in the late 19th century and considered as late as the 1960s, but rejected for various reasons. The lake is also part of the {{convert|740|mi|adj=on}} Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which begins in Old Forge, New York, and ends in Fort Kent, Maine.

Burlington, Vermont (pop. 44,743, 2020 census) is the largest city on the lake. The second and third most-populated cities/towns are Plattsburgh, New York, and South Burlington, Vermont, respectively. The fourth-largest community is the town of Colchester.

File:Lake Champlain 1.jpg

Lake Champlain contains roughly 80 islands, three of which comprise four entire Vermont towns (most of Grand Isle County). The largest islands:

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• South Hero Island, the largest, containing the towns of Grand Isle and South Hero, Vermont
• North Hero Island, containing the town of North Hero, Vermont
• Isle La Motte, containing the town of Isle La Motte, Vermont
• Valcour Island, New York
• Juniper Island
• Three Sisters
• Four Brothers{{cite web |last=Meyers |first=Jeff |url=http://www.pressrepublican.com/homepage/local_story_222221553.html |title=Four Brothers Islands a haven for a variety of birds » Local News |website=Press-Republican |date=August 10, 2008 |access-date=March 2, 2011 |archive-date=January 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122181034/http://www.pressrepublican.com/homepage/local_story_222221553.html |url-status=dead}}
• Savage Island
• Burton Island (State Park)
• Cloak Island
• Garden Island (Gunboat Island)
• Crab Island
• Dameas Island
• Hen Island
• Butler Island{{Cite web| title = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | access-date = 2024-08-07| url = https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/search/names | at=feature ID 1456692}}
• Carleton's Prize
• Young Island{{cite web |url=http://www.nasw.org/users/nbazilchuk/Articles/cormorants.htm |title=Cormorants on Lake Champlain |website=Nasw.org |date=July 3, 1996 |access-date=March 2, 2011 |archive-date=March 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313044114/https://www.nasw.org/users/nbazilchuk/Articles/cormorants.htm |url-status=live }}
• Providence Island{{cite web |url=http://www.nrb.state.vt.us/wrp/decisions/upw/1998/upw9802dec.pdf |archive-date=June 19, 2013 |website=nrb.state.vt.us |title=Decisions |date=1998 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619202731/http://www.nrb.state.vt.us/wrp/decisions/upw/1998/upw9802dec.pdf}}
• Stave Island{{cite web |url=http://www.historiclakes.org/explore/islands.html |title=A Tour of the Historic Lake Champlain Islands |author=Millard, Jim |website=Historiclakes.org |date=December 5, 2010 |access-date=March 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231064204/http://www.historiclakes.org/explore/islands.html |archive-date=December 31, 2010 |url-status=dead}}
• Sunset Island

{{div col end}}

File:The light house in lake Champlain in the dusk as seen from Burlington VT..jpg

• Bluff Point Lighthouse, on Valcour Island near the New York shore, was built in 1871; it was manned by a full-time lightkeeper until 1930, making it one of the last lighthouses to be manned on the Lake
• Cumberland Head Light, which operated until 1934, is an historic stone lighthouse located on Cumberland Head which is privately owned
• Isle La Motte Light, on the northern end of the island, was originally red, but faded to pink over time; it is privately owned{{cite web |url=http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=669 |title=Isle La Motte, VT |website=Lighthousefriends.com |access-date=May 25, 2011 |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405204140/http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=669 |url-status=live }}
• Juniper Island Light is a cast-iron lighthouse that dates from 1846; in 1954, it was deactivated and replaced by a steel tower; it is privately owned
• On Point Au Roche, part of Beekmantown, New York, there is a privately owned, historic lighthouse
• Split Rock Lighthouse is located south of Essex, New York, near a natural boundary of the territory between the Mohawk and Algonquin tribes{{cite web |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/57578.html |title=Watchtowers on the Water |website=NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation |date=March 19, 2003 |access-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728023810/http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/57578.html |archive-date=July 28, 2011}}

File:Cgsburlington.JPG

All active navigational aids on the American portion of the lake are maintained by Coast Guard Station Burlington, along with those on international Lake Memphremagog to the east.

{{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/d1/staBurlington/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212022406/http://www.uscg.mil/d1/staBurlington/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 12, 2012 |date=March 5, 2009 |website=United States Coast Guard |title=USCG: Station Burlington, Vermont}}

Aids to navigation on the Canadian portion of the lake are maintained by the Canadian Coast Guard.{{cite web |url=http://www.marinfo.gc.ca/en/Balisage/BalisageAutomne.asp?lstVoyage=931 |title=BalisageAutomne |website=Canadian Coast Guard – Marinfo |author=Canadian Coast Guard |date=December 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513193000/http://www.marinfo.gc.ca/en/Balisage/BalisageAutomne.asp?lstVoyage=931 |archive-date=May 13, 2011}}

There are a number of parks in the Lake Champlain region, in both New York and Vermont.

Those on the New York side of the lake include Point Au Roche State Park, which park grounds have hiking and cross country skiing trails and a public beach; and Ausable Point Campground within the Adirondack Park. Cumberland Bay State Park is located on Cumberland Head, with a campground, city beach and sports fields.

There are various parks along the lake on the Vermont side, including Sand Bar State Park in Milton, featuring a {{cvt|2000|ft}} natural sand beach, swimming, canoe and kayak rentals, food concession, picnic grounds and a play area. At {{cvt|226|acre}}, Grand Isle State Park contains camping facilities, a sand volleyball court, a nature walk trail, a horseshoe pit and a play area. Button Bay State Park in Ferrisburgh features campsites, picnic areas, a nature center and a swimming pool. Burlington's Waterfront Park is a revitalized industrial area.

File:Vtdfgboat.JPG]]

Coast Guard Station Burlington provides "Search and Rescue, Law Enforcement and Ice Rescue services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year". Services are also provided by local, state and federal governments bordering on the lake, including the U.S. Border Patrol, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Vermont State Police,{{cite web |url=http://vsp.vermont.gov/about_us/divisions/field_force/marine_snowmobile |title=Marine and Snowmobile |website=Vermont State Police |access-date=August 27, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016004736/http://vsp.vermont.gov/about_us/divisions/field_force/marine_snowmobile |archive-date=October 16, 2015}} New York State Police Marine Detail,{{cite web |url=http://www.troopers.ny.gov/specialized_services/Marine_Detail/ |title=Marine Detail |website=New York State, Division of State Police |access-date=December 11, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110621083315/http://troopers.ny.gov/Specialized_Services/Marine_Detail/ |archive-date=June 21, 2011}} and Vermont Fish and Wildlife wardens.{{cite web |url=http://www.anr.state.vt.us/fw/fwhome/laws_info.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215190913/http://www.anr.state.vt.us/fw/fwhome/laws_info.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 15, 2005 |website=anr.state.vt.us |title=Vermont Fish and Wildlife |access-date=January 4, 2010}}

{{GeoGroup}}

• Champlain Sea, post-glacial predecessor to Lake Champlain
• Île aux Noix
• List of lakes of Vermont
• List of New York rivers
• List of rivers of Quebec
• List of rivers of Vermont
• Odziozo

{{Reflist}}

{{commons}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130303162032/http://bloomthemovie.org/bloomtheplightof.html Bloom: the Plight of Lake Champlain] (PBS film series)
• [http://video.vpt.org/video/1676674656 Champlain: The Lake Between] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612061937/http://video.vpt.org/video/1676674656/ |date=June 12, 2016 }}, Documentary produced by Vermont Public Television
• [http://www.echovermont.org ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611163928/https://www.echovermont.org/ |date=June 11, 2021 }}
• [http://www.ethanallenhomestead.org/ Ethan Allen Homestead Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111214059/http://www.ethanallenhomestead.org/ |date=January 11, 2010 }}
• [http://communitysailingcenter.org/ Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center] {{Webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20140311162053/http://communitysailingcenter.org/ |date=March 11, 2014 }}
• [http://atlas.lcbp.org/ Lake Champlain Basin Atlas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227220442/https://atlas.lcbp.org/ |date=February 27, 2021 }}
• [http://www.lcbp.org/ Lake Champlain Basin Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628113812/https://www.lcbp.org/ |date=June 28, 2021 }}
• [http://www.lcmm.org/ Lake Champlain Maritime Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506232136/https://www.lcmm.org/ |date=May 6, 2021 }}
• [http://www.celebratechamplain.org/ Lake Champlain Quadricentennial] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703172028/http://www.celebratechamplain.org/ |date=2009-07-03 }}
• [http://ijc.org/files/publications/Final_PoS_LakeChamplain-RichelieuRiver.pdf International flood study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216194400/http://www.ijc.org/files/publications/Final_PoS_LakeChamplain-RichelieuRiver.pdf |date=December 16, 2017 }}
• [https://shelburnemuseum.org/ Shelburne Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626052223/https://shelburnemuseum.org/ |date=June 26, 2021 }}
• [http://www.lakechamplainunited.com/ Lake Champlain United] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321110858/https://www.lakechamplainunited.com/ |date=March 21, 2021 }}
• [https://www.mychamplain.net/ Lake Champlain International] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016232601/https://www.mychamplain.net/ |date=October 16, 2020 }}

{{New York}}

{{Vermont}}

{{Quebec topics}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Biosphere reserves of the United States

Category:Borders of New York (state)

Category:Borders of Vermont

Category:Canada–United States border

Champlain

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Champlain

Category:Tributaries of the Saint Lawrence River

Category:Exclaves in the United States