Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake by surface area and the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world. There are 30,000 islands in the lake. Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater island in the world. Georgian Bay and Saginaw Bay are the two largest bays on the Great Lakes.
Early explorers listed Georgian Bay as a separate sixth lake because it is nearly separated from the rest of Lake Huron by Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula.
Georgian Bay is large enough to be among the world's 20 largest lakes.
Huron was the first of the Great Lakes to be discovered by European explorers.
Shipwrecks are scattered throughout the lake, with five bottomland preserves in Michigan and a national park in Ontario designated to protect the most historically significant ones.
