The Pike Lake Unit of the
Kettle Moraine State Forest
The Kettle Moraine State Forest is a state forest in southeastern Wisconsin. The chief feature of the reserve is the Kettle Moraine, a highly glaciated area. The area contains very hilly terrain and glacial landforms, such as kettles, k ...
is a unit of the
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
state park system. The unit is located just east of
Hartford, Wisconsin
Hartford is a city in Washington County, Wisconsin, Washington and Dodge County, Wisconsin, Dodge counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,000. All of this popul ...
on
State Highway 60, on the east shore of the Pike Lake. It was dedicated by Wisconsin governor
Patrick J. Lucey in June 1971.
The park provides a campground, a beach, an observation tower, hiking and biking trails and a
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
program. A section of the
Ice Age National Scenic Trail runs through the park as it follows the
Kettle Moraine
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 th ...
.
Pike Lake was formed by a melting ice block. At the edge of this tongue of the glacier, sediment was carried upward to the top of the ice sheet. When the ice block melted, an immense hallow or Kettle was left, which filled with water creating Pike Lake.
Powder Hill is a glacial feature called a kame. Meltwater rivers washed through the retreating glacial lobes cutting cracks in the ice and washing mounds of till into the breech. The mound of stream-packed till emerged as the surrounding ice sheets melted and the material around it sank.
External links
Kettle Moraine State Forest - Pike Lake Unit
{{Protected Areas of Wisconsin
Protected areas established in 1960
Protected areas of Washington County, Wisconsin
Kettle Moraine State Forest
1960 establishments in Wisconsin