Lake Evelyn State Natural Area

Lake Evelyn is an undeveloped 55-acre soft-water seepage lake surrounded by wetlands and gently rolling uplands. While many of northern Wisconsin lakes of this size are already developed or are planning development, Lake Evelyn is a rare and undeveloped wilderness lake. Of all lakes over 50 acres in Wisconsin only 70 remain that have the majority of their shoreline in public ownership. With a maximum depth of 9 feet, Lake Evelyn is a stained water lake with moderate clarity and contains a good quality fishery composed mainly of large-mouthed bass and panfish. The lake forms the headwaters of Evelyn Creek, a tributary of the Turtle River. The topography is level to rolling and vegetation is a mix of large white and red pine with smaller pole-sized aspen on the uplands. The surrounding wetlands are composed of an open floating leather-leaf bog and a conifer swamp with scattered black spruce to the southwest. An active osprey nest highlights the wildlife community and wolf usage is known to be very active in the general area. Lake Evelyn is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1997.