We heard about Lulu Lake from Gathering Waters that holds Land Trust Days events each year. The Nature Conservancy has helped protect a total of 2,824 acres in the Mukwonago Watershed.
If you like the idea of a “secret lake” this fun could be for you. The problem we have with this paddle is there is no direct entry into little Lulu Lake – Eagle Spring Lake must be crossed to get to it. On this day (a Friday) we were lucky because there were just two motor boats on Eagle Spring Lake the day we ventured there. The perimeter of the lake wears a necklace of parked motor boats, wave runners, and pontoons indicating that this was an unusual situation. Lucky us!
The distance from our house in Madison to Eagle Springs Lake Public Boat Launch is about 62 miles by any route. Trip time is about an hour via I 94 or about 1 hr 20 min if avoiding the interstate.
Easy Put-in
There is a nice concrete ramp and dock at Eagle Spring Lake Public Boat Launch. It’s behind the Eagle Springs Pub which has canoe rentals. There is room for about 8 cars plus street parking is probably allowed, and maybe parking is allowed at the bar if you patronize it. (map)
A Clean Water Wisconsin intern was in the parking lot. Since there was little activity, she was incredibly bored (revealed only after we asked); it was her last week of the internship. She quizzed us about our boat hygiene and gave us some tips on how to get into Lulu. Her primary purpose was mostly to remind motor boats owners to reverse their motors to keep from introducing milfoil and other invasives into Lulu Lake. There has been a lot of effort to keep Lulu clear.
Paddle
The route to Lulu Lake is not totally obvious. Using the map and the intern’s suggestions, we headed across Eagle Springs Lake toward a channel between a couple of small islands and kept to the left following a path clear of surface vegetation leading into a cattail marsh. After paddling through the long channel through the cattails (the Mukwonago River), we entered Lulu Lake. Virtually the entire shoreline was visible from the entry point – a couple of houses were grandfathered in, but there is no other shore development. We might have paddled across the lake or along the shoreline to look for the inlet of the Mukwonago River, but it was too windy and tiring to spend much time exploring the lake; and we were somewhat short of time, so we turned around and headed back to the put-in. All in all, this was about a 2-hour paddle.
Lulu Lake is 95 acres and part of the upper Mukwonago River watershed. Various maps seems to indicate that the river flows out of Eagle Spring lake but we could find no exit point.
Mukwonago river is one of the cleanest streams in southeastern Wisconsin.