Lake Ontario, NY

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. The lake is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and by the U.S. state of New York. It has the smallest area of all the Great Lakes and is the only one that does not border Michigan.

Lake Ontario (43.7° N, 77.9° W) is the eastern-most and smallest in surface area (7,540 square miles, 19,529 km²) of the Great Lakes, although it exceeds Lake Erie in volume (393 cubic miles, 1639 km³). It is the 14th largest lake in the world and has a shoreline 712 miles (1146 km) long.

Lake Ontario has an elevation of 246 feet (75 m) above sea level. Its length is 193 miles (311 km), and its width is 53 miles (85 km). Tha average depth is 283 feet (86 m), with a maximum depth of 802 feet (244 m).

Its primary inlet is the Niagara River (from Lake Erie) and primary outlet is the St. Lawrence River. Other major rivers which flow into it include the Don River; Humber River; Trent River; the Cataraqui River; the Genesee River; the Oswego River; the Black River; and the Salmon River. Other notable geographic features include Hamilton Harbour, the Bay of Quinte, the Toronto Islands, Irondequoit Bay and the Thousand Islands. The Bay of Quinte separates most of Prince Edward County from the north shore except for a 2 mile (3km) stretch of land connecting it to the mainland. The largest island on the lake is Wolfe Island located near Kingston at the St. Lawrence River entrance. It is accessible by ferry from both Canada and the U.S.

A portion of the Great Lakes Waterway passes through the lake, which is accessible from upstream by the Welland Canal and from downstream by the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Trent-Severn Waterway for pleasure boats connects Lake Ontario at the Bay of Quinte to Georgian Bay of Lake Huron passing through the inland Lake Simcoe. The Rideau Waterway, also for pleasure boats, connects Lake Ontario at Kingston to the Ottawa River at Ottawa. The Oswego Canal connects the lake at Oswego to the New York State Canal System, with outlets to the Hudson River, Lake Erie, and Lake Champlain.