Pike Lake State Park

Surprising for its beauty, panoramic views from atop Powder Hill, picnic areas and peaceful campsites, this 678-acre park offers year-round enjoyment.

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Extending through southeastern Wisconsin to Lake Winnebago, Pike Lake State Park provides for a beautiful glacial remnant landscape of kames, kettles, and eskers. The park is in the Central time zone; provides a campground, a beach, an observation tower, hiking and biking trails and a naturalist program. A section of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail runs through the park as it follows the Kettle Moraine.

Pike Lake is known for its excellent walleye pike fishing, but other species are present to offer a variety of angling experiences. Hikers can explore a segment of the Ice Age Trail, the National Scenic Trail, Kettle Moraine area passes through that is located entirely within Wisconsin. Some crushed gravel, mostly grass and bark. Top ski resort destinations around Pike Lake include Christie Mountain, Mount La Crosse, Whitecap Mountain and Granite Peak.

The Forest is named after the 446-acre, spring-fed kettle: Pike Lake, Powder Hill, a large glacial kame, also provides the opportunity for a great hike and topped view by an observation tower. Visitors can enjoy camping, swimming, hiking, fishing, picnicking, and much more within the Forest. The wooded areas and open fields are Wisconsin bird sanctuaries. Look for nuthatches, owls, cardinals, jays, juncos and woodpeckers. Hikers might also catch glimpses of fox, rabbits, squirrels, badgers and woodchuck. Butternut Lake and the Pike Lake Chain have populations of large fish.

Management of the Pike Lake State Park, south of the Village of Slinger, is also an important area for cooperation between the Village and the WDNR. Thesense of regional awareness, with respect to Agricultural, Natural and Cultural Resources, also extends to an understanding that Slinger residents enjoy natural and cultural resources available in the region, including: Holy Hill, the Kettle Moraine, Pike Lake State Park, and the many cultural amenities available in Milwaukee. Accordingly, the Village values its central location with respect to abundant nearby Agricultural, Natural and Cultural Resources.

Pike Lake offers several miles of hiking trails. Nine different hiking trails provide hikers with a variety of topography and scenery. Users will pass through wetlands, maple, oak, and basswood stands, open prairies, and a variety of glacial terrain. Some of the more popular trails include Black Forest Nature Trail - a self-guided 0.8-mile hike, Astronomy Trail - a half mile walk through the solar system, Powder Hill - a glacial kame (the accumulated deposits of sediment at the front of a stationary glacier) which is one of the highest points in Southeastern Wisconsin, and Ice Age Trail - part of the National Scenic Trail that explores approximately 475 miles through significant glacial heritage. The boardwalk trial runs through a wetlands area along Pike Lake. Nearby Old Abe State Trail, which is one of the finest trails in all of Wisconsin. Other great trails in the area include the Hamilton Falls Snowmobile Trail, which doubles as a great summer hike.

Developing plan:
The Pike Lake Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest in Hartford - a popular hiking and camping destination just 25 miles northwest of Milwaukee - would be expanded nearly fivefold in the future to protect the headwaters of the Ashippun River and possibly provide hunting opportunities, under a draft master plan for the unit. The developing plan also recommends construction of a ramp for launching boats with motors - the first access for motorboats on the property.

Map Of Pike Lake State Park
Friends of Pike Lake State Park
Private Campgrounds and Camping Reservations

Direction:
Pike Lake State Park in the City of Hartford - Washington County (Southeast WI).

Location

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