Total size is 444 square miles (1,150 km2), with a maximum depth of 33 feet (10 m) in the lower portion of the lake.

In the early 2022 fishing season an incident occurred, involving around 200 people laying on the ice sheet on Upper Red Lake.

Nanabozho fought him for three days to protect the forest, finally slapping Bunyan with a huge walleye.

The giant Bunyan was knocked onto his buttocks in the mud, the imprint of which formed Red Lake.

This is what gave the lake its distinctive shape and preserved the forests in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.