Garden Island State Recreation Area is a 734-acre part of Minnesota’s state park system in Lake of the Woods near the Northwest Angle, 19 nautical miles from Zippel Bay State Park in an especially remote northern setting. It is known chiefly for its wildlife, with pelicans, cormorants, and gulls along the eastern shore and bald eagles nesting in the trees each year. Mammals regularly seen include deer, mink, beaver, river otter, fox, black bear, timber wolf, and snowshoe hare. Its importance lies in its isolation, island landscape, and rich animal life within Minnesota’s far northern waters.