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 Northwoods Vacationland Album...

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What leads people to pack the car to the discomfort level, yank their children away from friends and Little League Baseball and spend six hours or more fighting Friday traffic all the way up to Lac Courte Oreilles?

And why do some 650 nontribal property owners along its shoreline stubbornly suffer May flies and icy waters each spring while putting out the docks and launching the family boat, only to discover the engine won't fire up? And why do they continue this annual ritual of cleaning out the curtain of cobwebs that have seemingly encased the entire house and of fixing leaky pipes and sticking windows?

The chores involved in opening the cabin can easily consume most of vacationers' first days in the northwoods; meanwhile, the sun is shining and the glassy-smooth lake is beckoning their pleasure.

Part of this universal devotion to Big Lac Courte Oreilles is obviously the lake itself - 26 miles of interesting, diverse forested shoreline, numerous bays and more than 5,000 acres of surface water to satisfy even the most demanding pleasure boaters and fishermen. Self-cleaning and amazingly clear, Lac Courte Oreilles is a vast reservoir for several other area lakes and an integral segment of the Chippewa River drainage system. The normal estimated water outflow from the lake into Little Lac Courte Oreilles is about 25 cubic-feet-per-second.

Even those who don't swim or particularly like to boat are enchanted by the natural beauty of this, the 22nd largest lake in Wisconsin and the second largest in Sawyer County. It's the long sandy beaches and tall, green bluffs. It's the sparkling water dancing before the setting sun. It's the grace of hovering bald eagles and the serenity of those beloved loons bobbing in the waves. It's the fragrant pine-fresh air, the crisp chill of cool, dry evenings and the warmth of each new sun.

Many of these same appeals also apply to its downstream cousin, Little Lac Courte Oreilles, and to extended explorations by boat down the Couderay River where nature remains undisturbed.

At every point, every inlet and bay, there are interesting tales to be told about the people and places of Lac Courte Oreilles. Many of these stories would never make newspaper headlines, nor should they. But others of those who have experienced this northern Shangri-La would likely crack a smile and nod with understanding. Call it the Lac Courte Oreilles mystic, if you will.

Special thanks to Courte Oreilles Lakes Association and
Tom and Sue Burgess for permission to use this excerpt from:
Tales of Lac Courte Oreilles
Recollections from those who settled its shorelines

Lake Map of Lac Courte Oreilles,
courtesy of the Wisconsin DNR

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