Covering over 95,000 square miles (246,049sq km), the Great Lakes of North America make up the largest expanse of fresh water on the planet, with a total surface area bigger than Texas. Straddling the border between Canada and the United States, they hold around 80% of the continent’s freshwater and 20% of the world’s. But these five gigantic lakes – Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario – are just as abundant with hidden histories as they are with the wet stuff. From their origin stories to tales of shipwrecks, piracy and ghost towns, here are 30 great facts about the Great Lakes.

That's nearly 10% of America's population and roughly 30% of Canada's. The shorelines of the lakes touch eight states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin), one province (Ontario) and 40 tribal nations across the continent. Major cities on the lakes include Toronto, Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee, which have all prospered over the years thanks in part to the Great Lakes' long history of cargo shipping.

More than 3,500 species of animals and plants inhabit the Great Lakes basin, including over 170 species of native fish. The biggest of these is the lake sturgeon, which can grow up to six feet (1.8m) long and weigh 136kg (300lbs). Among the dunes, forests, wetlands and prairies surrounding the lakes, deer, otters, grey wolves, black bears, beavers and Canadian lynx are just some of the mammals that roam.

Combined, the Great Lakes contain 22.7 quadrillion litres (six quadrillion gallons) of water – that's 22,700,000,000,000,000. More than half of that comes from Lake Superior; so huge that it holds more water than all of the other four Great Lakes put together and can retain water for nearly two centuries. In theory, you could flood the entirety of North and South America in one foot (30cm) of water with the contents of Lake Superior alone. But depth isn't the only remarkable thing about these lakes: stretch out their shorelines and you could wrap them almost halfway around the Earth.

Though the exact age of the Great Lakes remains undetermined, it’s widely believed they formed during the Pleistocene epoch as glaciers repeatedly advanced and retreated. Over time, this carved out deep depressions which began filling with water some 14,000 years ago. Lake Erie reached its present level around 10,000 years ago, Lake Ontario 7,000 years ago and Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior 3,000 years ago. On Kelleys Island in Ohio, it’s possible to visit the Glacial Grooves Geological Preserve, where you can visibly see the scars left behind in the limestone after the glaciers receded. They are the largest accessible glacial grooves in the world.

But the Great Lakes area has been inhabited from as far back as 10,000 BC, with at least 17 different Indigenous tribes known to have originated in the region. As colonisation and 'New World' exploration gained traction, the 14th and 15th centuries saw the first Europeans arriving at the lakes, with Frenchmen Jacques Cartier, Etienne Brule and Samuel de Champlain generally credited as the earliest non-native discoverers of the Great Lakes.

Love this? Follow our Facebook page for more travel inspiration

The heritage of the Great Lakes is so tightly intertwined with the Native American peoples that their names largely originate from their languages. Erie, for instance, is taken from the Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning 'long tail' (a nod to the lake’s shape). Lake Huron is named after the Wyandot tribe, who were known as Hurons by early French explorers, while Lake Michigan hails from the Ojibwe word mishigami ('great water'). Ontario comes from the Wyandot word ontari'io, meaning 'lake of shining water'. Superior is named from a French phrase, lac superieur – upper lake – given it lies north of Lake Huron.

Lake Superior is connected by the St Marys River to Lake Huron, which then flows into Lake Michigan through the Straits of Mackinac. Lakes Erie and Ontario are joined by the Niagara River and its famous eponymous waterfall, with Lake Ontario eventually meeting the Atlantic Ocean via the St Lawrence River. These interdependent relationships are what have allowed the Great Lakes to thrive as a billion-dollar shipping hub, transporting goods and materials such as iron ore to various important ports in North America for centuries.

These are America's most beautiful rivers

The only Great Lake not to have edged into Canada, Lake Michigan borders Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana and is the second-largest of the lakes by volume (1,180 cubic miles/4,920 cubic km). However, given their connection via the Straits of Mackinac, Lakes Michigan and Huron are considered to be one lake hydrologically, as their water levels are equal to one another.

In fact, the Great Lakes are speckled with more than 35,000 islands, including many which are uninhabitable. But the world’s largest inland island is Lake Huron’s Manitoulin Island (fans of Race Across The World will recognise it from the most recent series), which spans 1,068 square miles (2,766sq km) and is home to around 13,000 people. Lake Superior also has its own mammoth island, Isle Royale, which has several smaller lakes within it – very meta.

Possessing arguably the cutest name of any monument the world over, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore runs along the west coast of Lake Michigan and helps make up the planet’s largest collection of freshwater sand dunes. Sleeping Bear’s tallest bluffs tower 450 feet (137m) above the lake and offer sweeping views across the water. Bordering Lake Ontario, the Sandbanks Provincial Park boasts the world’s largest baymouth barrier dune formation and gorgeous sandy beaches.

Discover America's best beaches

It’s not just Scandinavia that benefits from this mesmerising light-show – America’s Midwest has seen its fair share of action too. According to National Geographic, up to 200 aurora episodes are visible from northern Minnesota’s Rainy Lake area every year, with sightings even reported as far south as Cleveland and Chicago. To have the best chances of spying the Northern Lights in the Great Lakes region, you’ll need a clear night and minimal light pollution – Headlands International Dark Sky Park, Voyageurs National Park and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore are prime spots.

One of the most catastrophic weather events to strike the Great Lakes region since records began, the Great Lakes Storm of 1913 combined winter blizzards with hurricane-force winds reaching 90 miles per hour (145km/h) in a devastating reign of terror that lasted from 7 to 10 November. It killed almost 300 people, destroyed 19 ships on four of the five Great Lakes and stranded at least another 20. The Lake Carriers’ Association report at the time said: "No lake master can recall in all his experience a storm of such unprecedented violence… and such fearful speed." Pictured here is some of the building damage caused by the storm in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ask anyone where to find Singapore and they’ll almost certainly tell you it’s in southeast Asia. But there was once a small town of the same name on the shores of Lake Michigan, before fire damage, deforestation (by timber pirates) and economic hardship led to it becoming abandoned towards the end of the 19th century. Over time, Singapore was gradually swallowed by sandy dunes and now not a trace of it remains. However, there is a lakeside ghost town in Michigan still very much open to visitors – the Fayette Historic Townsite (pictured), a former industrial community and now state park.

These are the eeriest ghost towns in America

Designated the USA’s 61st national park in 2019, Indiana Dunes rolls over 15 miles (24km) of Lake Michigan coastline and contains 50 miles (80.5km) of scenic walking trails. Incredibly biodiverse, this lakeside site is rich with wildlife, including more than 350 species of birds and over 1,100 species of flowers and ferns. It’s also renowned for its superlative beaches and swimming spots.

Check out more of the world's newest national parks

Thought pirates only sailed the open seas? Think again! Photographed here is the most notorious of all the Great Lakes pirates, ‘Roaring’ Dan Seavey. Seavey was a US Navy veteran who decided to turn his poor fortunes around by embracing a life of crime. Plundering large shipments of alcohol and venison, he’d sell the stolen cargo on for a profit and threaten anyone who tried to stop him with the business end of his cannon. He’s the only man known to have been formally charged with piracy on the Great Lakes, although history tells us there have been others.

Affectionately named Bessie in urban myths, Lake Erie’s resident monster is supposedly a 40-foot-long (12.2m) sea serpent first spotted in 1793. Sightings of Bessie have predominantly been reported along the lake’s Ohio coast, with descriptions ranging from a dog-like head to human arms. It may all sound rather far-fetched, but the legend of Lake Erie’s serpentine inhabitant is actually rooted in First Nations culture. Referring to a snake-like water spirit called Oniare, the Iroquois tribe were the first to believe that something powerful was dwelling in the depths of Lake Erie.

Found on the southern beaches of Lake Erie, these deposits of smooth blue, brown, purple and clear glass are the remnants of industrial waste dumped in the lake by light-bulb insulator manufacturers. These pretty byproducts of pollution are objects of fascination for many beachcombers, who travel from all over North America to search for their own tokens to take home. The largest piece of beach glass ever recorded was found on Lake Erie’s shore in 2017, weighing 124.7kg (275lbs).

As well as the usual suspects fossil-hunters might expect to find on the shores of lakes, the Great Lakes are home to two unique ancient treasures. The Petoskey stone (pictured) and the Charlevoix stone can both be found around Lake Michigan, if you’re lucky enough. They come from two different species of coral, of which fragments have fossilised and turned into fascinating patterned rocks.

These are the most remarkable fossil finds from recent years

Agates – quartz rocks with rings of rainbow-like layers – have been declared the official gemstone of Minnesota, due to their regular presence around the Lake Superior basin. Stained orange by oxidised iron leached from rocks, Lake Superior agates are deemed to be some of the world's oldest of their kind, formed around one billion years ago when mineral-rich water seeped into air bubbles trapped inside lumps of cooled lava.

This is just one of many intriguing secrets hidden in the waters of Lake Huron. As reported in 2014 by researchers from the University of Michigan, roughly 9,000-year-old hunting structures were discovered on an underwater ridge which would have once been an exposed plain. The V-shaped stone enclosure would have helped Native Americans herd migrating caribou crossing the Alpena-Amberley Ridge, before the area was flooded under 120 feet (347m) of water.

Three billion years ago, long before the Great Lakes existed, ancient seas once covered the North American continent – and a mind-bending remnant of this past now sits 80 feet (24.4m) below Lake Huron’s surface. The Middle Island Sinkhole was created when the bedrock of these ancient seas was partially dissolved, leaving behind fissures and caverns later submerged beneath Huron. Today, cold groundwater containing high levels of sulphur and little oxygen seeps out of the lake bottom from this hole, producing an environment scientists believe provides the perfect analogue for Earth’s primordial conditions.

Dubbed Michigan’s Little Bavaria, Frankenmuth was founded by Lutheran missionaries from the German province of Franconia during the 19th century. Its European heritage is evident in the timber-framed architecture, Bavarian-style inns and annual festivals, including Oktoberfest. These days, it has become most famous for its Christmas store, deemed to be the largest in the world.

You won't believe these places are actually in Europe...

The Canadian province of Ontario marks Great Lakes Day on 7 June, after a bill was passed in 2018 by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario proclaiming the day for the promotion of the lakes as a precious natural resource. In the US, an annual Great Lakes Awareness Day is held on the Monday of the first full week in May, focusing on the protection and conservation of the region. In 2019, the Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation declared that 22 April would be the tribe’s day of Great Lakes gratitude and celebration.

Historically, we know the Great Lakes have shown their teeth with fierce storms, but they are also capable of rip currents, tsunamis and rogue waves. This has led them to be regarded more as inland seas, which means it’s possible to surf on them if you know the best (and safest) places to go. The compact resort town of Luna Pier in Michigan, located on Lake Erie, is popular for surf breaks, as is the northwest coast of Lake Huron. Autumn and winter offer the optimum conditions to enjoy the sport.

Check out these incredible historic images of surfing in the USA

The Great Lakes are notorious among seafarers for being unpredictable and volatile. Since the 1600s, as many as 30,000 lives are thought to have been lost in shipwrecks – Lake Huron is even nicknamed 'the graveyard of ships', with 1,200 known wrecks in its depths. One of the deadliest sinkings in Great Lakes history was the steamship Erie, which caught fire and went down with 254 souls on its namesake lake in 1841. The greatest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Lakes was when the SS Eastland capsized in 1915, killing 844 passengers and crew.

The last ship to sink on the Great Lakes was also one of the most famous. On 10 November 1975 the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was lost to Lake Superior in a terrible storm. The freighter took the 29 lives of its entire crew with it when it went under, fuelling age-old suspicion that November is the most dangerous month to be sailing on the Lakes. The tragedy went on to inspire Gordon Lightfoot’s hit song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Check out these undersea treasures: the world's most incredible shipwrecks

There are many haunting mysteries lurking in the Great Lakes – and some are still unsolved. One of these is the disappearance of the 17th-century French barque Le Griffon, which went missing on its maiden voyage in 1679 on Lake Michigan. Native American tradition dictates that Le Griffon became a ghost ship; the eerie voices of its crew sometimes heard chanting on the wind. And although the wreck may have been discovered in 2018, what exactly caused it to founder remains a mystery.

It’s possible that Le Griffon fell foul of the Lake Michigan Triangle, a stretch of water connecting Ludington, Benton Harbor and Manitowoc where numerous shipwrecks and unexplained vanishings have been known to occur. This dead spot also might account for the mystery of the USS Keystone State, a Civil War-era steamer that disappeared on the lake in 1861 while transporting goods from Detroit to Milwaukee, only to be found at the bottom of Lake Huron in 2013.

Between Munising and Whitefish Point in Michigan lies a treacherous 80-mile (129km) stretch of shallow water nicknamed ‘Shipwreck Coast’, in reference to the estimated 300 ships and even more lives that have been lost here throughout history. Located in the south of Lake Superior, Shipwreck Coast is home to wrecks including the ironically-christened Superior, which was swept off-course and dashed upon the rocks in 1856, killing between 35 and 42 people onboard.

The wreck of the Superior is just one of many dive sites located off the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore that you can visit for yourself. This park, along with the likes of Fathom Five National Marine Park (pictured here) and Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, are among some of the most popular destinations for wreck-hunters in North America. But you don’t just have to be a dive enthusiast to see shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. For example, the rusting hull of the 1960 wreck SS Francisco Morazan can be spied from Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Now read on to explore North America's spookiest shipwrecks