Wolf Lake (Indiana/Illinois)
Wolf Lake is an 804-acre (325.4 ha) lake that straddles the Hammond, Indiana / Chicago, Illinois border. It is smaller than it was prior to settlement by people of European descent because of infilling for development around the edges. Despite years of environmental damage caused by heavy industries, transportation infrastructure, urban runoff, and filling of wetlands, it is one of the most important biological sites in the Chicago region.
Wolf Lake was once connected by an open channel to Lake Michigan on the Indiana side of the lake, but this channel was cut off for development on its northern side. Indianapolis Boulevard (US-41) and various railroad and industrial facilities are located in former wetlands on the northeastern side of the lake where it once connected to Lake Michigan. There are currently proposals to reopen a channel between Wolf Lake and Lake Michigan. The Illinois portion of the lake is broken into five smaller impoundments separated by dikes. The western impoundments are now part of the William W. Powers State Recreation Area and are drained by Indian Creek to the Calumet River. The Wolf Lake water level determines the drainage to Lake Michigan because the connecting Calumet River flows southward during elevated levels and northward during lowered levels. The longest dike, running roughly parallel to State Line Road and traversing the entire length of the lake, contains railroad tracks belonging to the Indiana Harbor Belt.
Interstate 90, the Indiana Toll Road, runs through the middle of the lake, just inside the Indiana state line. The lake is also transected by a number of railroad causeways, some of them no longer in use. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad has an active spur line that runs through the Illinois side of the Lake in the Hegewisch community area. US 41, Calumet Avenue is on its eastern side, with a strip of parkland in between. There are currently several large industrial properties adjacent to the lake, and on filled wetlands adjoining the lake, including Cargill and Unilever on the north side. Other property near the edge of the lake is being used for housing. A significant portion of the property around the lake is now parkland or nature preserve, including the Eggers Woods parcel of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
Other neighboring lakes include George Lake, Lake Calumet, Powderhorn Lake and Lake Michigan.
Read more about Wolf Lake (Indiana/Illinois): History, Nike Missile Site (C-44), Ecology, Ecosystem Restoration, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words wolf and/or lake:
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The grey wolf knows me; by one ear
I lead along the woodland deer;
The hares run by me growing bold.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
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—Lu Yu (d. 804)