Elk Lake is located in Antrim and Grand Traverse counties in Northern Michigan. The lake is about a mile and a half wide (2.4 km) and nine miles (14 km) long, and is centered at near the town of Elk Rapids. It has maximum depth of , making it Michigan's second deepest after Torch Lake. It is a popular lake for fishing, featuring lake trout,

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

, smallmouth bass, muskellunge,

ciscoes The ciscoes (or ''ciscos'') are salmonid fish that differ from other members of the genus in having upper and lower jaws of approximately equal length and high gill raker counts. These species have been the focus of much study recently, as rese ...

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

, and whitefish. Elk Lake lies to the west of the larger Torch Lake, which lies just to the east. It is part of a watershed that begins in northern Antrim County with

Intermediate Lake Intermediate may refer to: * Intermediate 1 or Intermediate 2, educational qualifications in Scotland * Intermediate (anatomy), the relative location of an anatomical structure lying between two other structures: see Anatomical terms of location ...

, which is connected by the

Intermediate River Intermediate may refer to: * Intermediate 1 or Intermediate 2, educational qualifications in Scotland * Intermediate (anatomy), the relative location of an anatomical structure lying between two other structures: see Anatomical terms of location ...

with Lake Bellaire. The Grass River flows from Lake Bellaire into Clam Lake, which in turn drains into Torch Lake via the short Clam River. Torch Lake is drained by the Torch River, which flows into

Lake Skegemog Lake Skegemog ( '), formerly known as Round Lake and Skegemog Lake, is a lake in Northern Michigan. The lake is part of the Elk River Chain of Lakes, itself part of the Lake Michigan watershed. Within the lake is the tripoint of Antrim, Grand T ...

, which opens into Elk Lake. Elk Lake flows through Elk River into the east arm of Grand Traverse Bay at Elk Rapids. This watershed is popularly known as the Chain of Lakes.

Wabigama club

Wabigama is a private colony situated on the eastern bank of Elk Lake in

Rapid City, Michigan Rapid City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kalkaska County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 1,357. Rapid City is located within Clearwater Township, and is about ...

. It was founded in 1924 by

Lester Dragstedt Lester Reynold Dragstedt (2 October 1893 – 16 July 1975) was an American surgeon who was the first to successfully separate conjoined twins. He was considered nationally known, and a leading authority on ulcers and gastroneuro surgery. Early ...

and other

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

professors. Founding members were leaders with a common interest in academic and applied research including (among others)

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

, and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. Friends comprised the remaining members. The club has offered anonymity from the local community, refuge from their public life and some of the few remaining

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

areas on private land. The club's land tract was surrounded by rural life until the late 1970s when commercial interests started encroaching. The camp is located less than five miles (8 km) from one of Northern Michigan's best-known vacation areas, on the south end of Torch Lake. Membership is closed and has been passed through family lines for three generations. Some the better-known members include

Arno B. Luckhardt The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a sou ...

(MD, PhD Physiology), John Crout (chemical engineer),

Carl Dragstedt Carl Dragstedt (1895–1983) is a scientist who discovered the role of histamine in anaphylaxis. He was a chairman of the Northwestern University's pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences conce ...

(M.D.), and Louis Leon and Thelma Gwinn Thurstone (and continued by two of their sons, Fredrick L. and Robert L. Thurstone. The camp is mentioned in

Edwin G. Boring Edwin Garrigues (Garry) Boring (23 October 1886 – 1 July 1968) was an American experimental psychologist, Professor of Psychology at Clark University and at Harvard University, who later became one of the first historians of psychology. A '' R ...

's ''A History of psychology in autobiography'' and in the obituaries of various individuals involved with the colony.Google Books sources
/ref>

References

External links

*
Elk Lake Iceboating
{{authority control Lakes of Antrim County, Michigan Lakes of Grand Traverse County, Michigan Lakes of Michigan

Wabigama club

See also

References

External links