Lake Pepin

Lake Pepin
Lake from the Minnesota side
Location	Goodhue / Wabasha counties in Minnesota and Pepin County, Wisconsin
Coordinates	44°29′54″N 92°18′05″W / 44.4982°N 92.3013°W / 44.4982; -92.3013Coordinates: 44°29′54″N 92°18′05″W / 44.4982°N 92.3013°W / 44.4982; -92.3013
Primary inflows	Mississippi River
Primary outflows	Mississippi River
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	45.7 sq mi (118 km2)
Average depth	21 ft (6.4 m)
Max. depth	60 ft (18 m)
Frozen	winter
Settlements	Lake City, Bay City, Pepin, Maiden Rock, , Maple Springs, Camp Lacupolis, Reads Landing

Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River, located approximately 60 miles (97 km) downstream from Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The formation of the lake was caused by the backup of water behind the sedimentary deposits of the Chippewa River's delta. It has a surface area of about 40 square miles (100 km²) and an average depth of 21 feet (6.4 m), which makes it the largest Lake on the entire Mississippi River.

The wide area of the lake stretches from Bay City, Wisconsin, in the north, down past Pepin, Wisconsin, and Reads Landing, Minnesota, in the south, with Pepin being just upstream from where the Chippewa River enters the Mississippi. The villages of Maiden Rock and border on the Wisconsin side, while Frontenac State Park takes up a large part of the Minnesota side. The largest city on the waterfront is Lake City, Minnesota.

There are three marinas on the lake: the Lake City Marina, and Hansen's Harbor, both in Lake City, and Dan's Pepin Marina in Pepin, Wisconsin. There is also a private dock for the customers of the Pickle Factory restaurant in Pepin. In the winter, there are ice roads that cross the lake.

Maiden Rock, on Lake Pepin, is one site said to be the locale where a Dakota woman named Winona leapt to her death.

The lake was first named in a map of New France made by Guillaume Delisle at the request of Louis XIV of France in 1703. The lake was named for Jean Pepin who settled on its shores in the late 1600s after exploring the Great Lakes from Boucherville.