Formed by a mile-high glacier that gouged its way north on its retreat during the last Ice Age, about 14,000 years ago, Pickerel Lake is one of 800 glacial lakes in Langlade County, WI. A part of Pickerel Lake shares its border with neighboring Forest County, which also has an abundance of lakes. In the late 1700s, French trappers and traders established a handful of trails in Wisconsin, including one called the Pickerel Trail. It connected a settlement that would later become known as the town of PIckerel to another settlement about five miles west (later called Post Lake). Though the exact origin of the name “Pickerel” is unknown, local lore indicates it comes from a French trader.