Lake Champlain is a 120-mile freshwater lake between Vermont and New York that reaches into Québec. For thousands of years it was a boundary and a travel route between Abenaki and Mohawk lands. After French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in July 1609 and named it for himself, it became one of the most fought-over waterways in North America, with major battles in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Canals, steamboats and lumber then turned it into a commercial highway, and today it is a protected lake of national importance.
By Vermont Lake Collection · Last reviewed: October 2026
The Short Answer
Who named Lake Champlain?
French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who reached the lake in July 1609, wrote the first account and drew the first map of it, and named it after himself.
What did the Abenaki call Lake Champlain?
Pitawbagok (also written Bitawbagok or Petonbowk), usually translated as "the lake in between" or "middle lake," because it lay between Abenaki and Mohawk territory.
What battles were fought on Lake Champlain?
The best known are the capture of Fort Ticonderoga (May 1775), the Battle of Valcour Island (October 11, 1776) and the Battle of Plattsburgh, also called the Battle of Lake Champlain (September 11, 1814).
Is Lake Champlain a Great Lake?
No. A 1998 federal law briefly called it one on March 6, 1998, but the designation was withdrawn later that month.
How Lake Champlain Formed
The lake is young in geologic terms. As the last glaciers retreated, the Champlain Valley held glacial Lake Vermont (about 15,000 to 13,000 years ago), then was flooded by saltwater from the Atlantic, forming the Champlain Sea (about 13,000 to 9,000 years ago). As the land rebounded from the weight of the ice, the sea drained away and Lake Champlain became a freshwater lake about 9,000 years ago.
Today it runs 120 miles from Whitehall, New York, north almost to the Canadian border, is up to 12 miles wide and 400 feet deep, holds more than 70 islands, and drains north through the Richelieu River to the St. Lawrence.
The Lake Between: Abenaki and Mohawk Names
People have lived around the lake for roughly 11,000 years, since soon after the glaciers left. By the time Europeans arrived, the lake formed a border between the Abenaki to the east and the Mohawk of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy to the west, and it served as an eastern gateway into Confederacy lands.
That position shows in its names. The Abenaki name, Pitawbagok, is usually translated as "the lake in between" or "middle lake." One Mohawk name, Kaniatarakwà:ronte, means "a bulged lake" or "lake with a bulge in it." The Abenaki presence on the lake continues today.
1609: Samuel de Champlain Arrives
In July 1609, Samuel de Champlain traveled south onto the lake with Indigenous allies. His journals give the first written description of the region, he drew the first European map of it, and he gave the lake his own name. His expedition ended in a clash with a Mohawk war party near the lake's southern end, an encounter often cited as the start of long hostility between the French and the Haudenosaunee.
A Water Highway for Armies
Before roads, the lake was the easiest route between Montréal and the Hudson River, and for well over a century armies fought to control it. The French and British built rival forts along its narrow southern end. Their ruins at Crown Point and the restored Fort Ticonderoga are still visible today.
May 1775: Ethan Allen and about 200 Green Mountain Boys, with Benedict Arnold sharing command, captured Fort Ticonderoga, then Crown Point and Skenesborough, one of the earliest American victories of the Revolution.
October 11, 1776, Battle of Valcour Island: Arnold's makeshift fleet of 15 vessels met a British force of 33 on the west side of Valcour Island, near present-day Plattsburgh. The Americans lost the battle and most of the fleet, but the fight delayed the British advance until winter. When the British tried again in 1777, their army was defeated at Saratoga, the turning point that brought France into the war. In 1997, archaeologists from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum located the gunboat Spitfire from Arnold's fleet on the lake bottom; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
September 11, 1814, Battle of Plattsburgh (Battle of Lake Champlain): Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough's outgunned American squadron defeated the British fleet in Plattsburgh Bay, and the British army under Sir George Prevost retreated to Canada. The victory denied Britain any claim to American territory during the peace talks that produced the Treaty of Ghent.
Steamboats, Canals and Lumber
Peace turned the lake into a trade route. The Vermont, the first steamboat on Lake Champlain, launched in Burlington in 1809, just two years after the world's second commercial steamer. The Champlain Canal opened on September 9, 1823, linking the lake to the Hudson River and New York City; the Gleaner of St. Albans was the first boat through. The Chambly Canal in Québec followed in 1843, opening a water route north to the St. Lawrence.
Burlington boomed. By 1873 it handled more than 170 million board feet of lumber a year, making it the third-largest lumber port in the United States. Adirondack iron ore also moved across the lake; during the Civil War, iron from the Adirondacks made up about a quarter of the nation's production. A railroad connected Burlington to Boston in 1849, and more rail lines along the shore gradually ended the era of commercial lake shipping.
Remembering and Protecting the Lake
In 1909, about 65,000 people, including President William Howard Taft, gathered for the 300th anniversary of Champlain's arrival, and the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse at Crown Point was dedicated soon after. In 1929 the first bridge across the lake opened between Crown Point, New York, and Chimney Point, Vermont; its replacement, the current Lake Champlain Bridge, opened in November 2011.
In 1954 the 222-foot steamboat Ticonderoga was hauled two miles overland to the Shelburne Museum, where you can still walk its decks. The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum was founded in 1985, and the Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserves opened shipwrecks, including Revolutionary-era gunboats, to divers.
The modern era has focused on water quality. Congress recognized the lake as a resource of national importance in 1990, the Lake Champlain Basin Program was created in 1991 to coordinate its care across Vermont, New York and Québec, and invasive zebra mussels, first found in 1993, remain a challenge. In March 1998 a federal law briefly declared Lake Champlain a "Great Lake"; the label was withdrawn within weeks, but the nickname stuck.
And Then There's Champ
No history of the lake is complete without its most famous resident. Read Champ, the Lake Champlain Monster for the legend, the 1977 Mansi photo, and the real fish that may explain the sightings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Lake Champlain?
In its current freshwater form, about 9,000 years. Before that the valley held glacial Lake Vermont and then the saltwater Champlain Sea.
How big is Lake Champlain?
About 120 miles long, up to 12 miles wide, with roughly 455 square miles of surface, a maximum depth of about 400 feet and more than 70 islands.
Why was Lake Champlain so important in early American history?
It was the easiest water route between Montréal and the Hudson River, so whoever controlled it could move armies and supplies between Canada and New York. That made it a battleground in the French and Indian War, the Revolution and the War of 1812.
What happened at the Battle of Valcour Island?
On October 11, 1776, Benedict Arnold's small American fleet fought a larger British fleet near Valcour Island. The Americans lost, but the delay pushed the British invasion back a year, setting up the American victory at Saratoga in 1777.
Where can I see Lake Champlain history today?
Fort Ticonderoga and the Crown Point ruins on the New York side, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum at Basin Harbor in Vergennes, and the steamboat Ticonderoga at the Shelburne Museum are good places to start.
Shop the Collection
Explore our Lake Champlain collection, including the Lake Champlain Scenic Tee and "Guarding the Harbor" Lighthouse Tee.