| Rock Lake | |
|---|---|
 View of Rock lake from a country park | |
  Rock Lake  Rock Lake | |
| Location | Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States |
| Coordinates | 43°04′53″N88°55′54″W / 43.08139°N 88.93167°W |
| Basin countries | United States |
Rock Lake is a lake in Southeast Wisconsin, United States.
Rock Lake is in south central Wisconsin, at Lake Mills, Wisconsin in Jefferson County, Wisconsin approximately 20 miles (32 km) east of Madison. Rock Lake is a 1365-acre lake with a maximum depth of 60 feet (18.3 m). [1]
The lake shape resembles a slight figure eight with several distinct areas. South of the figure eight portion of the lake lies Bean Lake State natural area which is a protected marsh. Part of the south western part of the figure eight is usually covered in tall aquatic vegetation that reach out of the water. In the north western portion of the figure eight there is a sand bar which often has boats anchored and is swimming accessible.
The Glacial Drumlin State Trail [2] runs across an old rail road bridge across the southern portion of the lake. The trail separates the lake from the marsh area to the south of the lake.
Rock Lake is perhaps most famous for its underwater rock piles frequently claimed to be pyramids built by the Mississippian culture at a time when water levels were much lower. [3]
Mounds shaped like pyramids exist three miles (5 km) east of Rock Lake in Aztalan State Park on the Crawfish River in the town of Aztalan, Wisconsin. The park is a National Historic Landmark. [4] The mounds are thought to have been built by the Mississippian culture and it is speculated that the site at Aztalan was a northern outpost of Cahokia, a much larger city in present-day Illinois not far from St. Louis, Missouri.
The waters of Rock Lake have been referred to as "Tyranena", (Tee-ruh-nay-nuh). That name has persisted in the area and is used by businesses, road names, and a park that is on the lake.
There are two public beaches, Bartel's beach [5] and Sandy Beach; [6] both are located in the south eastern portion of the lake.
Pike, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, rock bass, pumpkinseed, bluegill, sunfish and walleye can be found in Rock Lake.
Aztalan State Park is a Wisconsin state park in the Town of Aztalan, Jefferson County. Established in 1952, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The park covers 172 acres (70 ha) along the Crawfish River.
The Driftless Area, also known as Bluff Country and the Paleozoic Plateau, is a topographical and cultural region in the Midwestern United States that comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. The Driftless Area is a USDA Level III Ecoregion: Ecoregion 52. The Driftless Area takes up a large portion of the Upper Midwest forest–savanna transition. The Blufflands refers to the eastern section of the Driftless area in Minnesota, due to the steep bluffs and cliffs around the river valleys. The western half is known as the Rochester Plateau, which is flatter than the Blufflands. The Coulee Region refers to the southwestern part of the Driftless Area in Wisconsin. It is named for its numerous ravines.
Devil's Lake State Park is a state park located in the Baraboo Range in eastern Sauk County, just south of Baraboo, Wisconsin. It is around thirty-five miles northwest of Madison, and is on the western edge of the last ice-sheet deposited during the Wisconsin glaciation. The state park encompasses 9,217 acres (3,730 ha), making it the largest in Wisconsin. The state park is known for its 500-foot-high (150 m) quartzite bluffs along the 360-acre (150 ha) Devil's Lake, which was created by a glacier depositing terminal moraines that plugged the north and south ends of the gap in the bluffs during the last ice age approximately 12,000 years ago. The sand at the bottom of Devil's Lake is thought to be deposited by glaciers.
Lake George is a small lake in Anoka County, Minnesota, located within the city of Oak Grove, 12 miles (19 km) north of the city of Anoka. Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources tracks the lake by the name George and the identifier 02-0091-00. The USGS tracks the lake by the ID 644081 and the coordinates of 45°21′25″N93°20′10″W
Kettle Moraine is a large moraine in the state of Wisconsin, United States. It stretches from Walworth County in the south to Kewaunee County in the north. It has also been referred to as the Kettle Range and, in geological texts, as the Kettle Interlobate Moraine.
Horicon Marsh is a marsh located in northern Dodge and southern Fond du Lac counties of Wisconsin. It is the site of both a national and a state wildlife refuge. The silted-up glacial lake is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United States.
Green Lake — also known as Big Green Lake — is a lake in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, United States. Green Lake has a maximum depth of 237 ft (72 m), making it the deepest natural inland lake in Wisconsin and the second largest by volume. The lake covers 29.72 km2 and has an average depth of 30.48 m (100.0 ft). Green Lake has 43.94 km (27.30 mi) of diverse shoreline, ranging from sandstone bluffs to marshes.
Pyramid State Recreation Area, the largest state recreation area in Illinois, contains 19,701 acres (7,973 ha). It is located within Perry County, and is administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The nearest large town is Pinckneyville, Illinois.
Mill Bluff State Park is a state park in west-central Wisconsin, United States. It is located in eastern Monroe and western Juneau counties, near the village of Camp Douglas. A unit of the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve, the park protects several prominent sandstone bluffs 80 feet (24 m) to 200 feet (61 m) high that formed as sea stacks 12,000 years ago in Glacial Lake Wisconsin. As a result, these bluffs are steep and angular, dissimilar to the rounded terrain more typical of the eastern half of the United States. The bluffs served as landmarks to both early pioneers and travelers today on Interstate 90/94, which passes through the park.
Whitefish Dunes State Park is a 867-acre (351 ha) state park of Wisconsin on the eastern shore of the Door Peninsula. This day-use park preserves the most substantial sand dunes on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The remains of eight successive prehistoric Native American villages are on the National Register of Historic Places as Whitefish Dunes-Bay View Site. Cave Point County Park is an enclave inside the state park, allowing visitors free foot access to the state park by the shoreline trail connecting the parks.
Mirror Lake State Park is a 2,179-acre (882 ha) Wisconsin state park in the Wisconsin Dells region. The process of establishing the park began in 1962 and the park officially opened on August 19, 1966. It contains Mirror Lake, a narrow reservoir with steep sandstone sides up to 50 feet (15 m) tall. The lake has a surface area of 137 acres (55 ha) and an average depth of 10 to 14 feet. Recessed out of the wind, the water of Mirror Lake is usually calm and often as glassy-smooth as a mirror, hence the name. Situated in a major tourist area, the state park has an extensive campground and other visitor amenities. Also located within the park is the Seth Peterson Cottage, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building available for public rental.
Wisconsin, a state in the Midwestern United States, has a vast and diverse geography famous for its landforms created by glaciers during the Wisconsin glaciation 17,000 years ago. The state can be generally divided into five geographic regions—Lake Superior Lowland, Northern Highland, Central Plain, Eastern Ridges & Lowlands, and Western Upland. The southwestern part of the state, which was not covered by glaciers during the most recent ice age, is known as the Driftless Area. The Wisconsin glaciation formed the Wisconsin Dells, Devil's Lake, and the Baraboo Range. A number of areas are protected in the state, including Devil's Lake State Park, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and the Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest.
Waterloo State Recreation Area is the third-largest park in Michigan, encompassing over 21,000 acres (85 km2) of forest, lakes and wetlands. Located in northeast Jackson County and parts of Washtenaw County, the park is the largest in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and features 4 campgrounds, 11 lakes, a nature center, and over 50 miles (80 km) of trails - some for horses, bicycles, hiking and cross-country skiing. Waterloo SRA includes the Black Spruce Bog Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark and borders the 11,000-acre (45 km2) Pinckney Recreation Area on the east and the 950-acre (3.8 km2) Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary to the west. The land preserved by the park is not all contiguous and numerous private landholdings and roads run through the park area. The area is characterized by moraines, kettle lakes, swamps and bogs left by retreating glaciers after the last ice age. The park was created by the federal government during the Great Depression and is long-term leased to the state.
Castle Rock Lake is an artificial lake on the Wisconsin River. It is located in central Wisconsin in Adams County and Juneau County. The lake has an inflow from Petenwell Lake, Yellow River, Big Roche a Cri., and Klien Creek. It has a surface area of 16,640 acres (67.3 km2) and its depth varies from 8–20 ft (2.4–6.1 m) in most places, with area in the old river beds reaching as deep as 35 ft (11 m).
Trout Lake is in Vilas County, Wisconsin, near the towns of Boulder Junction and Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin. With a surface area of 6.208 sq mi (16.079 km2) and a volume of 0.058 cu mi (0.240 km3), Trout Lake is one of the largest lakes in Vilas County. It has 16.1 mi (25.9 km) of shoreline, a large portion of which is undeveloped. There are also seven islands within the lake: Miller Island, Zimmerman Island, Haunted Island, Easter Island, Fisk Island, Chocolate Drop Island, and an unnamed island. It is a dimictic oligotrophic lake that supports a large number of sport fish, which has made it a popular angling destination.
The Glacial Drumlin State Trail is a multipurpose rail trail in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. It stretches 52 miles (84 km) from Waukesha to Cottage Grove. The trail travels through or near the Wisconsin communities of Cottage Grove, Deerfield, London, Lake Mills, Jefferson, Helenville, Sullivan, Dousman, Genesee, Wales, and Waukesha. In Lake Mills, it crosses Rock Lake on one of its many old railroad bridges. The trail was opened in 1986 and follows the old Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) Madison–Milwaukee mainline.
Calamus Creek is a minor tributary of the Beaver Dam River, about 23.7 miles (38.1 km) long, in southeastern Wisconsin in the United States. Via the Beaver Dam, Crawfish, and Rock rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. Its watershed lies almost entirely within Dodge County with a small portion in neighboring Columbia County.
Johnson Creek is a minor tributary of the Rock River, about 20.8 miles (33.5 km) long, in southeastern Wisconsin in the United States. Via the Rock River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. Its watershed lies entirely within Jefferson County.
