The Pigeon River in northeast Indiana runs for dozens of miles. Near each end of the river is a Pigeon Lake, one is in LaGrange County and the other is in Steuben County. This is the one in Steuben County, east of Angola, Indiana. Figure 70 miles from Toledo. If you're near Toledo, you can do this one inside of a day.
The lake is all of 61 acres and has an hourglass shape to it. Electric motors and hand propelled watercaft are the only boats allowed on it but once in a while some guy with a 150hp Evinrude will actually launch here and take his family out for a 60-second spin around the lake. Normally, though, it's an uncommonly peaceful and quiet body of water.
Parking is grass and gravel and there's plenty of room for 15 vehicles. I normally see just one or two trucks and boat trailers, usually at the end of the day when guys show up to unwind with a fishing rod or two.
As usual (that is, with my favorite places), there are no rest rooms, drinking fountains, trash cans, or visitor centers.
Even after maybe 15 trips to this location over the last few years, I find it naturally changes just enough to keep my attention. The changes in seasons bring different birds and ducks to this oasis; the changes in water level can create a new experience altogether. I always discover a new place to get out and stretch. And I've never seen the same fisherman here twice.
The lake is always a summer home for two or three great blue herons. Sometimes they're in the shadows and you'll scare one away without even knowing it's there; sometimes they'll sit right out in the open. If you're a fan of herons, this is one perfect place to study them.
I heard a radio broadcast this week that spoke of how ducks (and birds?) sleep with their eyes open. If I remember correctly, they put 1/2 of their brain to sleep at a time while the other half is on the lookout for danger. I think this heron was half asleep when I approached because it obviously let me get quite close for this photograph. If standing on one leg indicates nap time, then watch for this behavior to get the closest photographs.
Today there was a new addition to the lake. It was a handful of king fishers and I've never seen them here before. If you've ever seen these guys work, you know they're the coolest bird this side of a purple martin. I've tried to get pictures of them before but there's no way to get close enough even while using the stealth afforded by a kayak.
Today I got close enough.
Part of what makes this place so peaceful is the absense of development. On the entire lake there's only one house; the rest is just wilderness, bordered by woods and surrounded by farm land for as far as the eye can see.
Pigeon River feeds the lake from the east end of the lake. There you'll find a sand bar, birds, geese or herons, and sometimes, me wading around in the water just cooling my heels.
When the water is high enough (rare), you can paddle upstream from here but it won't be long before the current wears you out altogether. The river is narrow immediately upstream (about 20 feet wide) and bordered by tall grasses. There's really not much to see in that portion of the river. If you want some attractive river action (for photography, I mean, not whitewater), then enter the Pigeon River at Nasby Dam about 30 miles west of here. See 2006 trips link at bottom of this page.
When the water is low, as shown, it's a good place to hang out. Canada geese hang out here too, at least for long enough to rear their young. In May and June you can walk upstream to find them if they're not on the open water.
A few killdeer are usually present at the sand bar but they're pretty shy here and don't take kindly to us people types. Same for the mallards, which I hadn't seen here before, either. I think the pair I saw were just passing through or on vacation.
The river makes a sharp turn at the end of the lake and heads downstream for a few miles before it becomes nothing more than a trickle in a ditch that can be seen from the turnpike. I'm usually happy enough to stay on the lake but if you were to go here I think you should head downstream, at least as far as the pond. The power boats don't go here because it's too shallow and you have to dodge a few logs to get where you're going.
That's the pond up ahead. It's filled with old growth trees, lots of them dead and gnarly. There are plenty of lily pads, too, and what appears to be a beaver lodge but I've never seen any activity around it. You can get out and walk or stretch your back and legs pretty much anywhere in here. It's muddy by the shore sometimes but usually it's sand and dirt. The area on the left is probably private property, but to the right is a small wildlife preserve you can access from Route 20 about a mile east of the entrance to Pigeon Lake.
After the pond, you're on the Pigeon River. You'll go under the bridge that holds Route 20, you'll pass some barns and farms from time to time but mostly it's woodsy and wild.
After a mile or so, and after leaning backward or forward as far as you possibly can in order to go underneath a couple of gigumbus fallen trees with no other way around them, you'll be in the shallows with a major decision to make.
Sure.
It would be nice to see what's ahead in the darkness but the water is shallow and the river runs fast. You might be able to pick up some speed and glide over the rocks with help from the current for a while, but just how far do you want to walk your boat back upstream?
This was the end of the line for me and it's farther than I've been before. If you make it to the dead fishing boat sitting in the side of the river, that's my normal stopping place. This end-of-the-line is probably 1/2 mile downstream from the dead boat. It's a long ways ahead into that area of darkness in the photo. I might walk it on another day, but not right now, so back upstream and under the fallen trees, beyond the Route 20 bridge, through the pond with the lily pads and beaver lodge, and into the channel for me.
The lake is visible up ahead and so is a family fishing. It's a family that will never know what's beyond the lily pads, but they seemed to be happy all the same.
The paddle back to the ramp was fairly uneventful. King fishers teased me with their swift acrobatics that I'm not quick enough to photograph, herons flew out of the shadows when I rode by, a squirrell scampered across a log and made me wish for rarer game. Just normal stuff. Of all the places I love to go, this one is the place I hate to leave the most. I always postpone leaving and paddle around just a little longer. I actually say "goodbye" to the place outloud.
But I'll be back.
As long as I am able, and as long as it's there, I will go back to Pigeon Lake. You'll probably see me there cooling my heels.
Location: The DNR websites that list this place claim it's 4 miles east of Angola. If you go 4 miles east of Angola, all you will see is a sign that says Angola is 4 miles ahead and nothing more. Two miles east of Angola is more like it. The road that leads to the driveway to Pigeon Lake is County Road 200 East.
Whether you're coming from Angola, or just got off the Ohio turnpike at the border, or even if you take Central Avenue (Route 20) westward all the way from Toledo, you'll want to be on Route 20 roughly 8 miles inside the Indiana border. When you see the caboose in someone's front yard, you're there. There's no stop sign on Route 20 at this intersection so be careful you don't get creamed by the 18-wheeler behind you. Just find the caboose at the intersection and turn north (that's a right turn if coming from Ohio, a left turn if coming from Angola). Four tenths of a mile ahead on this dirt road is a DNR sign for Pigeon Lake. Turn. The lake is about 1/4 mile ahead on this dead end road.
If your car gets wet, you went too far.
2006 Trip Reports
2007 Trip Reports
Kohne Camera & Photo
Email