Carver County, Minnesota

Carver County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 91,042. Its county seat is Chaska. Carver County is named after the explorer Jonathan Carver, who in 1766-67, traveled from Boston to the Minnesota River, and wintered among the Sioux near the site of New Ulm.

Carver County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 376 square miles (970 km²), of which 354 square miles (920 km²) is land and 22 square miles (57 km²) (5.8%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in Minnesota by land area and third-smallest by total area.

Carver is one of seven southern Minnesota counties with no forest soils; only prairie ecosystems of savannas and prairies can be found in Carver County. It is also one of 17 Minnesota counties where savanna soils dominate.

Lakes

Carver County is home to seven lakes, 235 acres or larger. Carver's largest and most notable lake is Waconia Lake. The lake is Minnesota's 73rd largest lake and the Twin Cities' second largest lake, with an area of 2,996 acres.