Lake Pepin
Locations
USA > Midwest > Minnesota
USA > Midwest > Wisconsin
Lake Pepin: Description
Lake Pepin (near Lake City, Minnesota) was formed about 9,500 years ago by a natural dam of sand and silt deposited where the Chippewa River meets the Mighty Mississippi. The glacial lake is gradually filling with sediment; it once extended to St. Paul.
Lake Pepin occupies a 28-mile portion of the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Lying just 90 minutes southeast of Minneapolis, Lake Pepin's 40 square miles of water average about 18 feet of depth. [There are at least 2 other Lake Pepins in Minnesota; this Lake Pepin has the largest surface area.]
Shorelines along the 1 to 3 mile-wide lake range from serene to untamed. There are 400-foot bluffs and rocky outcroppings in some areas. Lake Pepin's meandering shoreline along Highway 61 offers many overlooks that are popular inspiration points for painters and poets.
With frequent good breezes that are ideal for sailing, Lake Pepin attracts serious sailors. Houseboats dot the lake and its shores on summer days. Mississippi River barge traffic is common in the main channel. Boaters of all kinds respect Lake Pepin for its swift currents and sudden storms.
Walleye, white bass, and sauger are the most sought-after fish species at Lake Pepin; northern pike, crappie, rock bass, and largemouth bass are less prevalent.
The lake freezes over in mid December and is used for ice fishing, cross country skiing, skating and iceboating throughout the winter season.
Lake City, Minnesota is the largest waterfront city on Lake Pepin, and is where Ralph Samuelson invented water skiing in 1922. The town of Red Wing, Minnesota - with its vintage downtown centered on the newly-refurbished St. James Hotel - is a popular tourist destination for Minnesotans. Several restored Victorian homes with turrets, verandas and painted gingerbread accents occupy the hills behind Main Street. B&B's are plentiful. The town of Pepin, Wisconsin celebrates famous author Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthday in mid-September.
Frontenac State Park, a birdwatcher's paradise, takes up a large portion of the Minnesota side of the lake. Its centerpiece is a 3-mile sandstone bluff that is 450 feet tall at one point and is capped by a natural arch, In-Yan-Teopa (Dakota for "Rock with Opening") at another. More than 260 bird species have been recorded in the park.
Lake Pepin: Statistics
- Type: Natural Freshwater Lake, Not Dammed
- Area: 25,060 acres
- Shoreline length: 85 miles
- Normal elevation: 672 feet
- Minimum elevation: 669 feet
- Maximum elevation: 675 feet
- Mean depth: 18 feet
- Maximum depth: 60 feet
- Volume: 450,000 acre-feet
