Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain (French, Lac Champlain), lake in eastern North America, in the United States and Canada. The lake straddles part of the boundary between New York State and Vermont and extends about 10 km (6 mi) into Quebec Province. The fourth-largest freshwater lake in the United States, it has an area of about 1,116 sq km (431 sq mi) and is about 195 km (121 mi) long. The Champlain Canal, a part of the New York State Barge Canal system, links the lake with the Hudson River. Lake Champlain is also connected with the St Lawrence River, in Quebec, by the Richelieu River and the Chambly Canal. The lake has numerous islands, including Grande Isle, Isle La Motte, and Valcour Island.

Located in a picturesque valley between the Adirondack and Green mountains, Lake Champlain has many summer and winter resorts. The principal cities on the lakeshore are Burlington, Vermont, and Plattsburgh and Crown Point, New York.

The first European to visit the lake was Samuel de Champlain, in 1609. Important land battles of the French and Indian War and the American War of Independence were fought at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and an early naval encounter of the War of Independence occurred near Valcour Island in 1776, when a British force led by Guy Carleton defeated the Americans under Benedict Arnold. During the War of 1812 the Americans defeated (September 14, 1814) the British in a decisive naval engagement near Plattsburgh.