iconic outdoor attraction: Lake Missaukee

When the glaciers melted away approximately 11,000 years ago, they shaped the square of what eventually became known as Missaukee County into a rumpled landscape of hilly moraines that top out at 1,525 feet above sea level and broad, flat lowlands that bottom out at 965 feet above sea level.

Within that varied landscape, the glaciers left depressions that filled with water, and the biggest of these became Lake Missaukee. The county’s premier lake is now renowned as a resort destination in part because at 1,900 acres it is large enough to accommodate superb boating—powerboating and sailing—and the lake bottom is sandy, making for outstanding swimming. Also making the lake popular for vacationing families, the water warms relatively early and stays warm during summer because it is not deep, reaching its greatest depth at just 27 feet, and children can spend hours playing in the water.

Fishermen head to Lake Missaukee seeking such warm water species as bluegill, black crappie, bass and walleye. The fishing is so renowned on Lake Missaukee that one of the nation’s leading fishing schools has chosen to run ice fishing seminars there.