Lake Ballinger

Lake Ballinger is a freshwater lake with a surface area of 103 acres in southern Snohomish County, Washington. It is bordered by the cities of Mountlake Terrace to the east and Edmonds to the west. It is fed by Hall Creek at its north end and its outflow is McAleer Creek at its east end, going on to feed Lake Washington.The lake was formerly called McAleer Lake after logger Hugh McAleer, who was the previous owner of the lake and surrounding lands. It received its present name in 1901 when it was purchased by Richard A. Ballinger, future United States Secretary of the Interior, who named it after his father, Richard Ballinger.DescriptionLake Ballinger is a natural lake formed by the melting of the Puget Sound lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. It is fed primarily by Hall Creek, but is also fed by groundwater flowing from nearby Echo Lake as well as by surface runoff. It is just west of Interstate 5 in Mountlake Terrace and immediately north of the boundary between Snohomish and King Counties, three miles north of Seattle. Lying in the Puget Sound lowlands (around 2.7 miles east of Puget Sound itself), its surface elevation is 292 feet.