Windigo Lake

Windigo Lake is a freshwater lake located in north central Wisconsin in the Town of Bass Lake, Sawyer County, United States, in township 40 north, range 9 west. The lake is irregular in shape, with numerous peninsulas and bays, and is approximately one mile in diameter. Windigo Lake is 529.6acre in size (including islands) with a maximum depth of 51ft and a shoreline of 9mi. The lake does not have an obvious inflow or outflow stream and is classified as a seepage lake, i.e., a lake without an inlet or an outlet.Windigo Lake is approximately six miles south of the city of Hayward, the primary commercial and retail center of the area. The shore of the lake is principally occupied by seasonal lake cabins and homes. There is one public boat landing on the southeastern shore of the lake. Windigo Lake is a popular resort area, drawing cabin owners and visitors from the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Chicago metropolitan areas.Origin of NameWindigo Lake is named after the Indian term "Windigo" which is a mythological cannibalistic creature in Ojibwa and Ottawa folklore. However, the lake has not always been referred to as "Windigo Lake." Henry Schoolcraft, in the report of his expedition through this area in 1831, called it "Lac des Isles," which means "Lake of the Isles" in French. Captain James Allen who accompanied Schoolcraft on an expedition in the following year to the source of the Mississippi River produced a detailed map of the northern Minnesota/Wisconsin area after that trip. On this map he labeled Windigo Lake in English as "Lake of the Isles." The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources lake map for Windigo Lake gives "Bass Lake" as an alternative name for the lake; and an article from the Sawyer County Historical Society also indicates that Windigo Lake was formerly known as "Bass Lake."