| Pike Lake Unit Kettle Moraine State Forest | |
|---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
 Pike Lake and picnic area | |
  Location of Pike Lake Unit in Wisconsin Show map of Wisconsin Pike Lake Unit, Kettle Moraine State Forest (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Washington, Wisconsin, United States |
| Coordinates | 43°18′41″N88°18′50″W / 43.31139°N 88.31389°W /43.31139; -88.31389 |
| Area | 678 acres (274 ha) |
| Established | 1960 |
| Governing body | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |
ThePike Lake Unit of theKettle Moraine State Forest is a 825-acre (334 ha) unit of theWisconsinstate park system. The unit is located just east ofHartford, Wisconsin onState Highway 60, on the east shore of the 446-acre (180 ha) Pike Lake. It was dedicated by Wisconsin governorPatrick J. Lucey in June 1971.
The park provides a campground, a beach, an observation tower, hiking and biking trails and anaturalist program. A section of theIce Age National Scenic Trail runs through the park as it follows theKettle Moraine.
Pike Lake was formed by a melting ice block. At the edge of this tongue of the glacier, sediment was carried upward to the top of the ice sheet. When the ice block melted, an immense hallow or Kettle was left, which filled with water creating Pike Lake.
Powder Hill is a glacial feature called a kame. Meltwater rivers washed through the retreating glacial lobes cutting cracks in the ice and washing mounds of till into the breech. The mound of stream-packed till emerged as the surrounding ice sheets melted and the material around it sank.
