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About this Map

This map of Plum Lake in Vilas County began as a commission from a customer named Michael, who was living, or at least wintering, in Florida at the time. While working on the map, I had a great time chatting with him and hearing stories about his childhood fishing with his grandfather on Plum Lake and other lakes around Sayner.

Michael told me that his grandfather bought a cottage on Plum Lake in the 1930s and would take the train overnight from Chicago to Sayner. I found that fascinating. It’s one of those little pieces of personal history that adds another dimension to a place and made this map especially enjoyable to work on.

Plum Lake itself is a wonderfully complicated lake to map. At approximately 1,057 acres, its long, irregular shoreline winds through broad basins, narrow passages, islands, bays, points, and sheltered coves. Detailed bathymetric contours reveal an equally complex underwater landscape, with deep holes, submerged ridges, steep breaks, broad shelves, and depths reaching approximately 57 feet.

Because of the lake’s elongated shape, I made this map a different size than most of the others in my series. The standard Plum Lake map is 13" x 22", which allowed me to maintain a large enough scale to show the level of detail I wanted without squeezing this sprawling lake into a format that didn’t really suit it.

As with my other lake maps, I wanted to show much more than depths and shorelines. The map includes fish found in the lake, subtle terrain shading, individual buildings, roads, forests, wetlands, streams, neighboring lakes, and plenty of local landmarks. All of those details help place Plum Lake within the larger Northwoods landscape rather than treating it as an isolated body of water.

And there is a lot of surrounding geography worth showing. Razorback Lake appears immediately to the north, while West Plum Lake, Hobo Lake, part of Aurora Lake, and other nearby waters help illustrate just how interconnected this Vilas County lake country really is. Wetlands and streams weave between the lakes through a landscape that remains heavily forested.

Several particularly interesting natural areas are also shown. The Plum Lake Hemlock Forest State Natural Area protects a remarkable near-virgin stand of old-growth forest, while Aurora Lake State Natural Area protects another piece of the landscape to the northwest. These protected areas, along with the surrounding forests and wetlands, give this map an unmistakably Northwoods character.

I also spent time mapping the human history and landmarks around the lake. Camp Highlands, Plum Waters Resort, Plum Lake Campground, Plum Lake Golf Club, boat ramps, shoreline roads, cottages, and recreational areas are all part of the picture. The community of Sayner appears south of the lake, with local landmarks including the Pabst Cottage, Historic Lodge, Plum Gate Resort, and other familiar places.

Plum Waters Resort was particularly interesting to include because of its connection to the old railroad depot, which ties nicely back to Michael’s story about his grandfather taking the overnight train from Chicago to Sayner. I love when seemingly separate pieces of a map start connecting with one another like that.

Between Plum Lake’s wonderfully irregular shoreline, complicated bathymetry, surrounding lakes and wetlands, old-growth forest, Sayner landmarks, and the area’s recreational and railroad history, there was a tremendous amount to fit onto this map. But the personal story behind the commission is probably what I remember most. Hearing about a grandfather buying a cottage here in the 1930s and a kid spending time fishing these waters decades ago was a nice reminder that these maps aren’t only about geography. They’re also about the memories people attach to these places.