Wood Lake Minnesota Map

About Wood Lake, Minnesota

Wood Lake is a locality in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, United States. It is a small community with a population of 368. The population density is 203.9 people per km². Wood Lake is located at 44.6527°N, 95.5383°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. ZIP code: 56297.

Wood Lake lies under a vast sweep of prairie sky, its flat expanse broken only by the quiet shimmer of the water itself. It lies 52.9 miles north-west of Brown, MN (from Brown, MN: bearing 304°T), and is situated 7.3 miles east-north-east of Cottonwood. The land here rolls with a subtle, almost imperceptible swell, a memory of ancient glaciers that carved the terrain into its present form. Fields of corn and soybeans stretch to the horizon, their green and gold hues shifting with the wind, a living testament to the deep, rich soil that defines this place. The air itself carries a clean, dry scent, sharpened by the distant whisper of wind through prairie grasses, and the sunlight, especially in the late afternoon, seems to possess a peculiar, golden quality, as if strained through a fine sieve of dust and time. The history of Wood Lake is written in the grain elevators that still stand, stark sentinels against the sky, remnants of a time when agriculture was the undisputed king of this territory. The local economy, though diversified somewhat, still hinges on the bounty of the land, with farming and related industries forming its backbone. This region, once a vital artery for the railroad, now hums with a quieter, more grounded energy, the rhythm of life dictated by the seasons and the ceaseless turning of the earth. While no grand monuments mark its past, the enduring character of Wood Lake is found in the stoic resilience of its people and the unvarnished beauty of its open landscapes, a stark and honest beauty that asks for no embellishment.

About This Wood Lake Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Wood Lake, Minnesota — switch between views using the small square in the bottom left-hand corner of the map. Coordinates: 44.652735, -95.53835. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service, with current observations and a 7-day forecast also powered by Open-Meteo. Real-time local news and world news feeds keep the page current, while a Wikipedia summary or an editorially written description provides background on Wood Lake and Yellow Medicine County.

Detailed location data for Wood Lake includes the ZIP code (56297), telephone area code (320), county seat of Yellow Medicine County (Granite Falls), and school district assignment (Lakeview School District). These are among the most commonly searched location details for any US city or town.

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity — ensuring the correct Wood Lake is identified even where the name is shared across multiple counties or states. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.