We took advantage of a really beautiful late fall weekend to explore Partridge Lake, which is in the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest in Vilas County, WI. It’s a small lake with one private property on it, and one campsite.
There is a boat landing on this lake, but it would take some skill to back even a modestly-sized motorboat into this lake due to the tight turns. The landing is sandy and muddy, and very shallow. We saw a jon boat coming out and it looked manageable. If you are going to trailer load or if it’s a cold day, don’t forget your waterproof boots. We got on the water at about 2:00 in the afternoon and made our way over the campsite to unload. The site is not too difficult to get to, but the landing there again is pretty swampy. It does not seem to be a site that sees a whole lot of use – the grass was pretty tall. There are a few spots to put the tent, but the grass does hide a lot of rooty, uneven ground. With the swampy ground near this site, it may be a bit on the buggy side in the summer.
The campsite does not have the standard metal fire ring + grate set-up that we have seen in all other NHAL campsites, but it does have a fire pit with a stone circle. After a quick investigation into the location of the latrine, and then after a longer search, we couldn’t find it. The forest about fifty feet back from the site had clearly been logged pretty recently, so our theory is that the latrine had been destroyed during that process. It made for a little more rustic experience, but we survived. Having a camping trowel handy helped!
The swampy landing did require a little bit of finessing (we had to walk out to the far end of the canoe to get our cooking water, for example), but it was a good site altogether. Very quiet with only the one other property on the lake, but it does seem to be a moderately popular spot for duck hunters and anglers.
We spotted a few loons – one juvenile and one or two adults, and heard coyotes nearby in the evening. The lake itself is moderately clear but pretty shallow and weedy. Even the deeper hole is not overly deep. We fished in the deepest hole of the lake and caught a few perch, which will be added to a fish fry tonight. Good stuff!
Photo credit to Sean. See the full album here.
Tippy Canoe Tales 