Lake Wissota State Park
| Lake Wissota State Park | |
| Wisconsin State Park | |
 Lake Wissota State Park's mix of prairie and forest is situated on the northeast shore of Lake Wissota.
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| Country | United States |
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| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Chippewa |
| Location | Chippewa Falls |
| - coordinates | 44°58′12″N 91°17′52″W / 44.97000°N 91.29778°WCoordinates: 44°58′12″N 91°17′52″W / 44.97000°N 91.29778°W |
| Area | 1,062 acres (430 ha) |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Management | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |
| IUCN category | V - Protected Landscape/Seascape |
  Location of Lake Wissota State Park
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| Website: Lake Wissota State Park | |
Lake Wissota State Park is a 1,062-acre (430 ha) Wisconsin state park near the town of Chippewa Falls. The park is situated on the northeast shore of Lake Wissota, a reservoir on the Chippewa River. Camping, boating, and fishing are the most popular activities. Park lands are covered in a mix of pine/hardwood forests and prairie. Visitors can access the Old Abe State Trail and bike or hike 17.5 miles (28.2 km) to Brunet Island State Park.
The bedrock beneath the park is two billion year old granite, which is overlain by 600 million year old Cambrian sandstone. An outcrop of this sandstone is visible south of the swimming beach. Otherwise these rock layers are blanketed by a thick layer of glacial sand and gravel. During the last ice age 15,000 years ago the Chippewa Lobe of the Wisconsin glaciation ended just six miles (10 km) northeast of the park. When the glaciers melted 10,000 years ago, rock debris settled in a 12-mile (19 km) wide outwash plain where the park is today. The prodigious meltwater also carved the valley of the Chippewa River.
It has been estimated that the Chippewa River Valley once contained one-sixth of the United States' white pine stands. The entire valley was extensively logged for this target species from the mid-to-late 19th century. Once the harvestable timber was gone farmers began settling in the cleared out land.
The Chippewa River was dammed for hydroelectric power in 1917, creating Lake Wissota.
As the sandy soil was marginal farmland, twelve landowners took advantage the federal Soil Bank Program between the mid-1950s and early 70s. This erosion-control program paid farmers to plant trees, and 205 acres (83 ha) here were planted with red pines. Today these trees still flank the park road near the campground.
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