Wangumbaug Lake, also known as Coventry Lake, is a natural lake located in Coventry, Connecticut. It covers 378 acres (1.53 km2) and is about 35 feet (11 m) deep and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) long with a circumference of 5 miles (8.0 km).[1] Its watershed is 1,992 acres (8.06 km2), around 40% of which is residential and the rest farms and forest. The lake holds 2.7 billion gallons (10,220,000 m³) of water. It is fed by springs and has one natural outlet, Coventry Lake Brook, which flows southeast into the Willimantic River. Melt from a retreating glacier formed the lake 13,000 years ago.[2]
Wangumbaug means "Crooked Pond" in Algonquian. It was likely named by the Nipmuc, who settled the area before European contact.[2][3]
The lake has been a popular summer vacation destination for boaters and bathers. Artists flocked to the summer cottages along the shores. In the early twentieth century, a trolley line connected the towns of Coventry and Willimantic, and Wangumbaug Lake became known as "Willimantic's summer resort." A pavilion known as the Lakeside Casino was a popular dance hall.[3][4] Wangumbaug Lake is currently the home of the UConn Huskies rowing team, which shares its boathouse with the Edwin O. Smith High School crew team from nearby Mansfield.
A two-acre lake island, Underwood Island, is located 100 yards from Wangumbaug's shoreline.[2] The village and census-designated place of Coventry Lake includes the lake and surrounding residential areas. The regional climate is hemiboreal.[5]
