by WisCartography

Kelly Lake

About this Map

When I started this lake map project, my goal was to create maps that would look great framed and hanging on a wall while still containing plenty of useful and interesting information. I generally use a vintage-inspired style, relatively simple symbols, and a watercolor-like palette, with the idea that these maps should feel at home in a lake house, cottage, restaurant, or just about anywhere with a connection to the lake. At the same time, I want them to be maps you can actually spend some time exploring, with lake depths, fish species, roads, landmarks, access points, and other local details.

I think the Kelly Lake map turned out particularly well in meeting those goals. Kelly Lake is the centerpiece, a 367-acre lake in Oconto County with a broad main basin and a more intricate northern shoreline of bays and points. Detailed bathymetric contours show the changing underwater landscape, including a pronounced deep-water basin reaching approximately 41 feet.

I also included neighboring Long Lake and Round Lake, which add both geographic context and, frankly, make the whole map more interesting to look at. The three lakes fit together nicely on the page and give the finished map a balanced composition that I really like.

There’s plenty of local detail as well. Around Kelly Lake I mapped familiar landmarks including the Holiday Inn, Joe’s Kelly Lakeside Restaurant, Kelly Lake Motel, Kelly Lake Kwik Stop, Sunset Cottages, Holt Park Campground, and the lake’s boat access points. Roads, homes, wooded areas, parks, resorts, and other features help show how the lake fits into the surrounding Oconto County landscape.

Kelly Lake also supports a popular fishery that includes Northern Pike, Walleye, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Crappie, and other species, several of which are illustrated on the map.

This is one of those maps where I think the pieces came together especially well. Kelly Lake provides plenty of interesting bathymetry and shoreline detail, Long and Round Lakes fill out the surrounding geography, and the local landmarks give it a strong sense of place. The result is informative without feeling cluttered, and, most importantly for what I originally set out to do with this series, I think it simply looks great on the wall.