Trout Lake

About this Map

While working my way through the lakes of Vilas County, I just couldn’t resist visiting Trout Lake. It is cool, deep, complex, and beautiful. So is the map, if I may say so myself.

Trout Lake is one of the largest and deepest lakes in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, and its complicated underwater terrain makes it especially interesting to map. Detailed bathymetric contours reveal sprawling northern and southern basins, steep underwater slopes, shoals, islands, and depths reaching approximately 117 feet. The standard size of this map is 13" x 19", which gives all of that detail plenty of room to breathe.

And then there are the fish. Trout Lake supports a fantastic and unusually diverse fishery, including Lake Trout, of course, along with other cold-water species such as Lake Whitefish and Cisco, plus a variety of warm-water game and panfish species. Just look at the fish smorgasbord illustrated on this map!

There’s plenty to explore above the waterline, too. Within Trout Lake itself, I mapped features such as Fisk Isle, Easter Isle, Zimmerman Isle, Haunted Isle, Miller Isle, and Cathedral Point. Cathedral Point occupies the narrow passage between the lake’s two major basins and is one of the many features that gives Trout Lake such an interesting shape.

Much of the surrounding landscape lies within the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest, so forests, wetlands, trails, campgrounds, and natural areas are an important part of the map. I included Trout Lake Campground, the Trout Lake Conifer Swamp State Natural Area, North Trout Nature Trails, the Heart of Vilas County Bike Trail, the Forestry Headquarters, boat launches, and other recreational features around the lake.

Another especially interesting landmark is the University of Wisconsin Trout Lake Station, operated by the UW Center for Limnology. Given the remarkable depth, cold-water habitat, and diversity of Trout Lake, it seems fitting that scientists have been studying lakes from a research station right here on its shoreline.

I also mapped many of the resorts, camps, and other familiar places surrounding the lake, including Coon’s Franklin Lodge, Marywood Lodge, Red Crown Lodge, Red Arrow Camp, Cabins on Trout Lake, Fiesta on the Lake, and Pap-Qua Estates. Nearby waters such as Sparkling Lake, Day Lake, and other smaller lakes and streams help place Trout Lake within the much larger interconnected landscape of water, forest, and wetlands that defines this part of Vilas County.

That broader landscape is really part of what makes Trout Lake special. The bathymetry alone would make for an interesting map, but add in the islands, cold-water fishery, research station, state forest, trails, resorts, neighboring lakes, and seemingly endless Northwoods forest, and there is an awful lot here to explore.

Working on this map mostly left me thinking one thing: I really need to get back up here. It’s so beautiful!