In 1986, an agreement between the Christmas Lake Homeowners Association, the Minnesota DNR, the City of Shorewood, and longtime resident Bob Fayfield established a public access on Christmas Lake with parking for 7 vehicles with trailers. The agreement followed years of negotiations between the Association and the DNR. To finally resolve the matter and avoid the DNR taking land by force of law, Bob Fayfield generously acquired and then donated the land to the City of Shorewood which became the public access.
While we call it “the landing”, the public access includes the paved parking area and the boat ramp. The parking area is now a City of Shorewood park and the boat ramp is owned by the DNR.
Address: 5655 Merry Lane
The Christmas Lake Homeowner’s Association contracts with a 3rd party to operate an aquatic invasive species (AIS) inspection program at the public access. Under this program, all watercraft intending to enter Christmas Lake are inspected by DNR trained and certified AIS inspectors. These inspectors are also trained and certified to require and perform decontamination of any watercraft intending to enter the lake if they find any evidence of AIS contamination on or in the boat or its trailer, or if the watercraft or its trailer have recently been in waters infected by AIS. Watercraft and their trailers are also inspected when they are pulled from the lake at the landing to ensure that they are not carrying AIS such as Eurasian Watermilfoil.
Minnesota AIS laws say that you may not:
The Association owns the decontamination equipment at the public access. The third party providing the inspection and decontamination services does so under agreements with the City of Shorewood and the Association, and regularly reports its activities at the public access to the DNR.
The public access is open year-round.
It is monitored at all times by video cameras controlled by the City of Shorewood.
AIS inspectors are stationed at the public access from mid-April through October, weather dependent. When inspectors are present every watercraft must be inspected before entering Christmas Lake and, if necessary, go through an AIS decontamination process. Watercraft operators who refuse the inspection or decontamination can, by state law, be refused entry to the lake.
There are 7 parking spots for boats and trailers. The public access was designed from its inception to handle a limited number of vehicles and trailers to manage the boating pressure on the lake at a safe level. During the boating season, a gate at the entry to the public access may be used to avoid overcrowding of the parking lot and the lake. A Shorewood city ordinance specifies that a boat arriving at the public access may only launch if there is an open parking spot in the parking lot for the vehicle and trailer. Vehicles and trailers may not launch boats and then go park elsewhere. This ordinance applies to all watercraft intending to launch, without exception.
To reduce confusion and frustration, the City of Shorewood website has live feeds from the video cameras which show parking availability.
There is a portable toilet at the public access. Please use this facility, not the lake, for your personal needs. Trash cans and a receptacle for recyclables such as plastic bottles are also available.
The landing itself has a concrete base that extends into the water about the length of a boat trailer. Be careful not to go past the concrete base, especially in low water. Trailers have been known to drop off the end of the concrete which can make it nearly impossible to pull out a boat and can damage a trailer.
Also, please minimize the use of your boat motor to get on or off your trailer. Motor thrust in the water eats away at the lake bottom off the end of the concrete base creating a hole and then creates a sand bar which makes it more difficult for all users. Motor thrust also spreads silt and sand from the lake sediment layer out into the lake and onto the neighboring waterfront.
Boats must stay in no wake mode when departing or approaching the public access.
Please review all signs posted at the landing for important information.
Copyright 2024 Christmas Lake. All Rights Reserved
Contact: info@christmaslake.org