Rose Lake covers a surface of 1315 acres and has a maximum depth of 90 feet.

[1] It rests in the Rove Formation, which is characterized by Animikie slates interrupted by diabase sills which form long, parallel, east-west ridges with shallow south rises and steep cliffs on the north.

[2] Rose Lake Mountain, on the ridge to the south, was originally surveyed at 1997 feet above sea level.

[7] Logging reached the eastern shore of Rose Lake around 1929, but ended shortly thereafter when the General Logging Company suffered setbacks due to the Brule Lake Fire of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression.

[8] Rose Lake is in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area within the USA and the Crownland of Ontario Canada.