Lake Kegonsa

About Lake Kegonsa

Lake Kegonsa is located in Dane County, near Madison, Wisconsin, and forms the Yahara chain, the lake taking its name from its location on the northern side of the Lake Michigan River. Due to its many fish species and its large number of lakes and rivers, it was also called the "lake of many fish."

When one of the glaciers covering Wisconsin melted, it left behind debris of rock, sand and mud. This debris created the lake and dammed what is believed to be the oldest Wisconsin River. The Yahara Lakes are natural lakes, but they were created because they are connected by the YahARA River, so there are no dams or locks to maintain the water level or navigation.

The LaFollette Dam, completed in 1938, controls the water level of Lake Kegonsa and is regulated by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Water levels are maintained by Dane County Public Works and the Madison Water Department.

Lake Kegonsa is one of the largest lakes in Wisconsin and the second largest in the United States. The earliest name for the lake was Na - ko - cha - te - la, which is Winnebago for Ottawa Hard or Maple Grove. Early settlers called it the "first lake" because it was the first lake they reached on their journey north along the Yahara River.

In the 1880s, developers began building holiday homes by the lake, a practice that has since been expanded to more than 1,000 homes in the area, most of them on Lake Kegonsa.

Most of the public shore is in Lake Kegonsa State Park, which was founded in 1962 and opened to the public in 1966. Private houses line up with private homes, but the lake itself is publicly owned and covered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Wisconsin Parks and Recreation.

There are also herons, ducks, geese and other waterfowl, so State Park is a great place to see them all.

Lake Kegonsa offers public access to the lake for boat trips and is a popular destination for kayaking, canoeing, hiking and other outdoor activities. Camping and swimming are popular summer activities, and visitors can explore the park on hiking trails. In winter there are cross-country ski trails and in summer there is a cross-country ski trail as well as a mountain bike and snowshoe trail.

Halfway between Stoughton and McFarland, Lake Kegonsa offers all the amenities a visitor could wish for. The lake is heavily eutrophic with a large number of fish, and fishermen will find crappie, bluefish and perch, but there are also large mouthfuls of whales - eaters. Many of the fish that fish many in the lake deserve this name, such as wallise, perch, redfish, trout, salmon and bluefin, as well as many other species.

Accommodation ranges from campsites to resorts, shopping and restaurants, and the village of McFarland will help you make the most of your trip to Lake Kegonsa.

Stoughton, which stretches along the Yahara River, is a charming place to visit for its picturesque views of Lake Kegonsa and the nearby lake. Stoughtons has a number of restaurants, shops and hotels as well as some campsites and restaurants.

If you prefer the cultural opportunities of a larger city, Madison is an easy drive from Lake Kegonsa and is located in Madison.

Lake Kegonsa is a great getaway to Wisconsin, and the inclusion of some of the most popular tourist attractions such as the Great Lakes National Park will surely delight everyone.