Lake Willoughby is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in the town of
Westmore in
Orleans County in the
Northeast Kingdom
The Northeast Kingdom (also, locally, "The Kingdom" and abbreviated NEK) is the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Vermont, approximately comprising Essex, Orleans and Caledonia counties and having a population at the 2010 census of 64,764. ...
of
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, United States.
The lake's southern end is surrounded by the
Willoughby State Forest. This state forest includes
Mount Pisgah,
Mount Hor
Mount Hor (Hebrew: , ''Hōr hāHār'') is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to two distinct mountains. One borders the land of Edom in the area south of the Dead Sea, and the other is by the Mediterranean Sea at the Northern border of the Land ...
, collectively "Willoughby Gap".
![LakeWilloughbyMap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/LakeWilloughbyMap.jpg)
In 2010,
Yankee magazine
''Yankee'' is a bimonthly (once every two months) magazine about lifestyle, travel and culture in the New England region of the United States, based in Dublin, New Hampshire. The first issue appeared in September 1935. It has a paid circulation ...
named Willoughby as the third best lake in New England.
Willoughby Lake has a public beach that stretches on the north shore of the lake, or in the zone of the lake outlet. Another public beach is located at the bottom of the South Bay of the Lake. The village of Westmore is located on the east side, at the confluence area of Mill Creek which drains the waters of Long Pond. Many cottages and houses are located on North-East bank of the lake.
Hydrology
The lake is known for its clarity and chilly temperature. Because of its depth, the surface of the lake freezes later than other lakes in the
Northeast Kingdom
The Northeast Kingdom (also, locally, "The Kingdom" and abbreviated NEK) is the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Vermont, approximately comprising Essex, Orleans and Caledonia counties and having a population at the 2010 census of 64,764. ...
.
Watershed
Willoughby Lake is part of the
Saint-François River watershed, its waters eventually reaching the
St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
in Canada.
Willoughby River
The Willoughby River ( ) is a tributary of the Barton River, flowing on , in the Orleans County, Vermont, United States.
This river flows to northwest, southwest and northwest, crossing the municipalities of Westmore, Vermont, Orleans and B ...
is the outlet from the lake and runs north through
Brownington to feed into the
Barton River. The Barton River is tributary to
Lake Memphremagog
Lake Memphremagog (; french: Lac Memphrémagog) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed that ...
and thence to the
Magog River, then the
Saint-François River, then the
St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
, and ultimately to the
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Prior to the
floods of 1927, the river had three dams. All were destroyed by the flood. An iron bridge that ran from Evansville to Brownington Center was destroyed and rebuilt.
[Northland Journal, November 2008, page 13, "The Flood of 1927," Ralph Swett]
A dam where the Whetstone Dam had formerly stood, was rebuilt to run a sawmill, which was still in operation in 2008. The "state Fish and Game Department" bought the dam rights to allow rainbow trout to swim upriver.
Geology
![Willoughby-Lake-Pisgah-Hor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Willoughby-Lake-Pisgah-Hor.jpg)
Lake Willoughby is a southeast trending basin. Willoughby is a
glacial lake that is over deep in places, making it potentially the deepest lake entirely contained within
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
, and second in the area to only Lake Champlain, whose deepest point reaches around . Estimates for the lake's depth range from on the low end, to as much as on the high end.
The shoreline of Lake Willoughby almost resembles a Norwegian
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...
, and as a result is a popular destination for photographers and tourists. The reason for this unique geology is likely due to the rock between
Mount Pisgah on the east and
Mount Hor
Mount Hor (Hebrew: , ''Hōr hāHār'') is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to two distinct mountains. One borders the land of Edom in the area south of the Dead Sea, and the other is by the Mediterranean Sea at the Northern border of the Land ...
on the west being eroded by an ancient valley ice lobe. This ice flow cut across the Willoughby
granodiorite
Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar.
The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gr ...
and adjacent metamorphic rocks. The ice flow may have exploited highly fractured bedrock along the margin of the Willoughby pluton or joint surfaces within the pluton.
Other mountains in territory of
Westmore, Vermont are on:
* East bank:
Mount Hedgehog (Vermont)
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
(high: ),
Mount Goodwin (Vermont)
Mount Goodwin () is a rock peak that is the second most prominent summit in the Pirrit Hills of Antarctica. It was positioned by the U.S. Ellsworth–Byrd Traverse Party on December 10, 1958, and was named for Robert J. Goodwin, a glaciologist w ...
(high: ),
Mount Bald (Vermont)
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
(high: ),
Mount Heystack (Vermont)
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
(high: ) and
Mount McSherry (Vermont)
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
(high: );
* West bank:
Mount Wheeler (Vermont) (high: ) in
Caledonia County,
Mount Valley (Vermont) (high: ),
Mount May Pond (Vermont) (high: );
* South bank:
Mount Bartlett (Vermont) (high: ) in
Caledonia County.
Natural history
Willoughby is listed as a National Natural Landmark. Willoughby contains
rainbow trout (wild and stocked),
lake trout
The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...
, landlocked
Atlantic salmon (mainly stocked),
rainbow smelt
The rainbow smelt (''Osmerus mordax'') is a North American species of fish of the family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile ciscoes, zooplankton such as calanoid copepods ('' L ...
,
burbot
The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish. It is also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, and eelpout. The species is closel ...
,
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 Sam ...
,
longnose sucker
The longnose sucker (''Catostomus catostomus'') is a species of cypriniform freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is native to North America from the northern United States to the top of the continent. It is also found in Russia in ri ...
,
white sucker
The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii)'' is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...
,
lake chub
The lake chub (''Couesius plumbeus'') is a freshwater cyprinid fish found in Canada and in parts of the United States. Of all North American minnows, it is the one with the northernmost distribution. Its genus, ''Couesius'' is considered mono ...
,
common shiner
The common shiner (''Luxilus cornutus'') is a freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, found in North America. It ranges in length between 4 and 6 inches, although they can reach lengths of up to 8 inches.
Description
The common shiner i ...
, and
round whitefish
The round whitefish (''Prosopium cylindraceum'') is a freshwater species of fish that is found in lakes from Alaska to New England, including the Great Lakes. It has an olive-brown back with light silvery sides and underside and its length is ge ...
which is a native species of extremely limited distribution in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.
Steelhead trout
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...
(rainbow trout) are not native to the region, but were imported to
Lake Memphremagog
Lake Memphremagog (; french: Lac Memphrémagog) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed that ...
from the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...
. They migrate up the Barton River and Willoughby River to the lake to spawn.
The sheer cliffs of Mount Pisgah and Mount Hor provide an environment conducive for arctic and cliff-alpine plants, as well as ideal nesting areas for the rare
peregrine falcon.
More than 100 bird species have been recorded around the lake including
thrushes
The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flyca ...
,
warblers
Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous.
Sylvioid warblers
The ...
,
hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...
, jays,
finches
The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...
,
loons
Loons ( North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order ...
,
herons
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
and
gulls
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari (bird), Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and Skimmer (bird), skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders ...
.
History
Tiny steam boats operated on the lake for tourists from 1884 to the early 1900s when steam was replaced by the gasoline engine.
In 1915,
Robert Frost mentioned the lake in a poem, "A Servant to Servants,
"I see it's a fair, pretty sheet of water,
Our Willoughby! How did you hear of it?
I expect, though, everyone's heard of it.
In a book about ferns? Listen to that!"
Toponymy
The toponym "lake Willoughby" was officially recognized on September 1, 1992, by GNIS (Geographic Names Information System) of United States.
Local customs and culture
Devil's Rock, located on the
Mount Pisgah side of the lake at a less than halfway point from the lake's southern beach, is a popular diving spot for daring locals and vacationers. It takes its name from a painted image of a devil on the front of the rock facing out toward the lake. It is also called Devil's Rock because when reflected in still water, the image of a skull lying on its side can be seen.
Along the eastern shore, there are a series of natural waterslides that flow into Lake Willoughby. In the winter, these turn into an ice wall which is used by ice climbers.
Economy
Lake facilities offer
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
,
hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
, and
ice fishing
Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities.
Shelters
Longe ...
. There is a nude beach on the lake's southern shore.
Nudity is legal everywhere in Vermont
/ref> Surrounding the Willoughby Lake, there are some campgrounds and cottage rental services for tourists. The Route 5A runs along the lake's eastern edge.
See also
*Willoughby River
The Willoughby River ( ) is a tributary of the Barton River, flowing on , in the Orleans County, Vermont, United States.
This river flows to northwest, southwest and northwest, crossing the municipalities of Westmore, Vermont, Orleans and B ...
* Westmore, Vermont, a municipality
*Orleans County, Vermont
Orleans County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,393. Its county seat is the city of Newport. The county was created in 1792 and organized in 1799. As in ...
Footnotes
External links
Lake Willoughby Depth Chart
Basin 17 Lake Memphremagog Watershed Assessment Report
Retrieved August 7, 2011.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby, Lake
Lakes of Vermont
Westmore, Vermont
Glacial lakes of the United States
Lakes of Orleans County, Vermont
Northeast Kingdom, Vermont
National Natural Landmarks in Vermont