Photos: Madison's stunning lakes provide beautiful backdrop
From the The Yahara Lakes: Giants Among Us series
Wisconsin State Journal photographers capture the stunning beauty of the Yahara River chain.Ā
Waubesa Trail
The water's edge is a popular destination, and public access has been expanding. Kendra Aaroen, 7, left, of Stoughton, and her sister Hannah, 3, roll along Lake Waubesa's Lower Yahara River Trail with their grandmother, Gail Aaroen, of McFarland. The mile-long boardwalk bridge is the longest such structure built in North America for non-motorized transportation.
Kiteboarding on Lake Waubesa
Brett Fish, of Madison, skims his kiteboard across Lake Waubesa near McDaniel Park in McFarland.
Madison's Isthmus: An aerial view
Would the state Capitol or the University of Wisconsin System's flagship campus be located in Madison were its landscape not dominated by lakes?
Speedboat aerial
A speedboat pulls a pair of joyriders on an inner tube across Lake Mendota.
Terrace Aerial
We are drawn to the water, and there is more and more research that helps explain why. Here visitors to the UW-Madison Memorial Union Terrace gather along Lake Mendota -- on this day a greenish hue from nutrient pollution.
Madison's lakes: An aerial view
They are stunningly beautiful, stalwart giants. The lakes of the Yahara River chain spill out through one of Wisconsin's fastest growing regions. We love many things about them. And yet, we take them for granted. Looking south, as the water flows, are Lake Mendota and Lake Monona bracketing Madison's Isthmus. Downstream are Lake Waubesa and Lake Kegonsa.
Goodman kayakers
Goodman Community Center summer campers AJ Miller, front, and Sakir Kone guide their kayak across Monona Bay. They're among the thousands who enjoy the lakes each year.
Loons on Lake Wingra
Common loons skitter across Lake Wingra in April. Loons have used the lake as a temporary home while awaiting more northern lakes in the U.S. and Canada to thaw.Ā Ā
Swans on Lake Mendota
A flock of tundra swans congregate on the dwindling perimeter of Lake Mendota's open water during a migratory stopover.Ā
Anglers
Heron Rose, 17, left, and Bode Anderson-Brown,16, both of Madison, fish along Wingra Creek in July.
Muskies at dam
Every spring muskellunge jump over the dam on Wingra Creek to reach Lake Wingra. The annual migration draws spectators to watch the large game fish attempt to leap the formidable obstacle.
Lakes Aerial for gallery
The Imagine Madison comprehensive plan will serve as a non-binding guideline for potential development areas and work in conjunction with more local neighborhood plans.
Paddle and Portage for gallery
Samir Idrissi lifts his canoe overhead as he prepares to embark on the portaging leg of the annual Paddle and Portage event. Like many participants, Idrissi is wearing a costume for the event. He said he wanted to raise awareness for declining bee populations.
Shake the Lake fireworks
Fireworks go off over Lake Monona during Shake the Lake in 2017.
Video: A Yahara Lakes sampler
In this Series
The Yahara Lakes: Giants Among Us
The state christened the Yahara Riverās four main lakes with undulating three-syllable names in 1855.
The Yahara lakes are a largely unknown world within our world.Ā Running right through the middle of our lives, they affect us in ways so big and so familiar that that are easy to forget.
The Yahara lakes help quench the human need for contact with nature.
The Yahara lakes are the Madison-area's dominant natural feature. They affect our daily lives, yet we may not know them well. This Wisconsin S…
Many were destroyed by white settlers.
White settlers found the lakes attractive, just as did earlier inhabitants.
It only recently was subject to academic study.
Native peoples and European settlers have been drawn to the lakes.Ā
Each of us has our own relationship to the lakes, an affection that endures through good times and bad.
The beauty, health and culture of Madison's four lake has inspired timeless art in all mediums.
One route travels above ground, the other below.
You'll find cars, boats, ice shanties and much more at the bottom of the Yahara lakes.
Lt. Gerald Stull's crash is also remembered.
Lake levels have been rising.
Why is the water here? The unhurried Yahara River you see today follows much the same path of a very different watercourse that flowed long before the last glacier came and went.
The Yahara lakes are majestic, patient and a bit mysterious. They are a part of us, having drawn people to their shores for 12,000 years, and …
Saint Norbert Abbey said it has made a deal to sell the historic San Damiano Friary property on Lake Monona to the city of Monona, which hopes to preserve the green space for the community.
Lacking funds and private contractors, Madison is hoping businesses and institutions can maintain up to 89 planting beds with perennials that beautify the medians of major streets.
Madison's lakes have a long and storied history. Here's a look back at how they have changed over the years.
Tamara Thomsen is a marine archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society and has documented hundreds of dives in the Yahara lakes. She a…
āIf Wisconsin is going to have swimmable, fishable, drinkable water in 30 years, we need better farm policies,ā said one researcher.Ā āWhat weāre doing is not working.ā
Madison, Dane County, farmers and others are fighting back against phosphorous and invasive carp. Will their efforts be enough?
Whether the launch begins July 1 or later is in the hands of the state Legislature because college officials say it cannot start the initiative without money from the 2019-21 budget.
Tamara ThomsenĀ is a marine archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society and has documented hundreds of dives in the Yahara lakes. She a…
The city of Madison has grown dramatically over the years. Here's a selection of aerial photography that shows how the city has changed.
Madison's lakes have a long and storied history. Here's a look back at how they have changed over the years.
It's not every day that we get up close and personal with Wisconsin's Capitol dome. But over the years, State Journal photographers have gotte…