Yesterday evening we met friends at Devil's Lake State Park for a fish fry and visit.
Devil's Lake State Park is a state park located in the Baraboo Range in eastern Sauk County, just south of Baraboo, Wisconsin. That makes it about twenty miles from us. Devil's Lake State Park is the biggest state park in Wisconsin, with about 10,000 acres and the 350-acre lake. The bluffs surrounding the lake are popular spots for hiking and rock climbing. While we have done that in the past and enjoyed the view in the photograph, yesterday we just sat at a picnic table near the lake, ate good food and visited. Although it was about 80 degrees, there was a steady breeze off the lake and after the meal, we went into the Chateau Pavilion to get out of the wind and eat ice cream. A perfect Wisconsin summer outing!
Devil's Lake was the site of sacred celebrations by the local Ho-Chunk Nation for generations. They named the lake
Da-wa-kah-char-gra, meaning Spirit Lake, because they believed they heard the voices of the spirits there during the celebrations. The name Devil's Lake was reportedly given to it by European settlers because it is in a deep gorge with no visible inlet or outlet. An odd name for a place of such natural and innocent beauty. Spirit Lake is more fitting, voices or no.
We took the opportunity to get a state park sticker while we were there. There are two other state parks quite near us -- Mirror Lake and Rocky Arbor. We plan to visit Peninsula State Park (below) when we go to Door County next month. By the time we get there, these trees will have begun to turn colors.
2 comments:
A beautiful place. Wow. I could go for some of that beauty and serenity.
It is peaceful. They do not allow diesel- or gasoline-driven boats, so you are not subjected to lots of that kind of noise. Only sailboats, rowboats powered by oars or small electric motors -- nice!
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