Long Lake (New Auburn)

Why people love it here

• One of the deepest, clearest-feeling lakes in the county: together with adjoining Herde Lake, 1,089 acres dropping to about 101 feet.
• A high-quality walleye, smallmouth bass, and musky fishery with a managed, protected feel — the reason most buyers find this lake first.
• The Chippewa Moraine setting: glacier-built hills, bogs, and wooded shorelines beside the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve and thousands of acres of Chippewa County Forest.
• The closest true northwoods-feeling lake country to the Chippewa Valley metro — eagles and even black bears are ordinary sightings.

A glacier built this one

This is the Chippewa County Long Lake, near New Auburn — locally called Lower Long Lake to separate it from the Washburn County Long Lake covered in its own guide. Together with adjoining Herde Lake it covers 1,089 acres and drops to about 101 feet deep, with carefully preserved wooded and wetland shorelines fronting its cottages and homes, per the Lower Long Lake Protection & Rehabilitation District.

The setting is the Chippewa Moraine — the hills, bogs, and irregular lakes the last glacier left behind. The lake sits beside the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve and within reach of thousands of acres of Chippewa County Forest. The lake lies north and east of Bloomer in northwestern Chippewa County — roughly 45 minutes from Eau Claire. Morris-Erickson County Park and campground on the lake gives the public a beach and base camp.

The practical rhythm follows from that setting. This is a lake you plan a weekend around rather than squeeze into an evening, and the public base camp at Morris-Erickson County Park — camping, a beach, and the public landing — means guests and overflow have a home even when a cottage is small. Bloomer covers groceries and the Friday-night basics, New Auburn is right at hand for small-town needs, and the county forest and Ice Age Trail country fill the days when you are off the water.

The homes & cabins

Cottages and year-round homes spread around a big, irregular shoreline, with a meaningful share of shore kept wooded or wetland under the lake district’s protection work (the district formed in 1996). Expect classic cabin stock that has been added onto over generations alongside newer lake homes. Moraine terrain means lots can be steep and driveways serious — part of the charm, and part of the showing checklist.

Touring here rewards slowness. A cabin that has been added onto over generations tells its story in the rooflines and the rooms, and the honest questions are practical ones: how the lot slopes, how the driveway handles winter, and how you actually get from the road to the water. Walk that route before you fall for the view from the dock, because on moraine terrain the land between the house and the lake is part of what you are buying — and part of what you will maintain.

What to watch for

• Lot slope and driveway: how do you, a septic truck, and a winter visitor actually get down to the house?
• Water depth and bottom at the dock — deep lake, but frontage quality still varies by bay.
• Septic system records in glacial soils, and a well water test.
• Shoreline buffer and any district or county shoreline rules before planning docks or clearing.
• Year-round status: insulation, heat source, and whether the road is maintained through winter.

Schools & services

Addresses around the lake split mainly between the New Auburn and Bloomer school districts — confirm the assignment for any specific property. Homes run on private well and septic as a rule, internet options vary by road, and the nearest hospital services are in Bloomer and Eau Claire.

On the water & everyday life

• A high-quality walleye, smallmouth bass, and musky fishery — the reason most buyers find this lake first.
• Deep, clear water for swimming off the dock, and enough size for waterskiing and cruising without flowage current.
• Morris-Erickson County Park: camping, beach, and the public landing — your guests’ base camp if your cottage is small.
• Ice Age Trail country and Chippewa County Forest trails for hiking, hunting, ATV, and snowmobile days off the water.
• Bloomer for groceries, services, and the Friday-night basics; New Auburn right at hand for small-town needs.

Who it fits — and the honest trade-offs

Showing-day checklist

• Walk the lot slope and driveway like a septic truck would.
• Ask about shoreline buffer and district rules before planning docks.
• Check depth and bottom at the dock, bay by bay.
• Confirm insulation, heat, and winter road maintenance.
• Pull septic records and a well test.
• Drive the lake in both directions — character changes bay by bay.

Good next step

Drive the lake in both directions — the shoreline character changes bay by bay — and walk one steep lot and one level lot before deciding what your family will actually use. Carter can pull recent Long Lake sales and flag the septic and access questions for each listing.

Sources: Lower Long Lake Protection & Rehabilitation District — lowerlonglake.org · Manitou Monster Lake Swim, Morris-Erickson County Park · Chippewa County Treasurer — Chippewa County Mill Rates, 2025 Tax Roll (Town of Sampson). This guide is a starting point, not a statement about every property. Verify schools, taxes, zoning, shoreline rules, water and septic systems, rental rules, and other priorities for a specific address before you buy.

House-hunting this week? See this week’s open houses in Eau Claire — every brokerage’s open houses, in one place, no sign-up needed.

CARTER’S SALES HERE

Carter’s New Auburn sales

Guides are opinions; closings are proof. 3 of Carter’s 55 career sales are in New Auburn — $192,000 in closed volume from the MLS-verified record behind the numbers on the home page. Most recent first:

Taxes & total cost

The short version: About $209 a month on a $250,000 home — you’re taxed as a township here, with no village or city levy attached, and the school district is the line that moves the number most.

Long Lake — Lower Long Lake — sits in the Town of Sampson, in northwestern Chippewa County, with New Auburn as its mailing town and Bloomer up the road. The lake itself is not a tax jurisdiction, so this example uses the lake's own town rate: for Sampson homes in the New Auburn School District that are in the Long Lake Management district, Chippewa County's 2025 tax roll puts the net mill rate at $10.04 per $1,000 of assessed value (0.010037598). A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of value, and the tax is figured on the assessor's value, which is supposed to track market value but can sit above or below what a home actually sells for. The county put Sampson's assessment ratio at 94.26 for this roll, close to market.

That rate is a bundle. The county treasurer publishes it as a combined net rate, not a split, and it is built from these levies:

• Town of Sampson — town roads and basic town services; no city or village layer.
• New Auburn School District — the schools on this side of the lake; addresses around the lake split mainly between New Auburn and Bloomer.
• Chippewa County — county roads, courts, sheriff, and human services.
• Chippewa Valley Technical College — the technical college district levy.
• Long Lake Management / lake district charges — the lake-district layer this guide describes, through the Lower Long Lake Protection & Rehabilitation District's work on the water.
• State forestry — the small state levy that rides on a Wisconsin bill.

The biggest driver to watch is the school district line, because it is the piece that moves the town rate most: on the same county sheet, Sampson homes in the Bloomer School District are taxed at $9.56 per $1,000, in the New Auburn district at $9.84, and with the Long Lake Management layer at the $10.04 used here. Same town, same county — the district on the parcel changes the bill.

The worked example, on a $250,000 home. Step 1: treat $250,000 as the home's assessed value — that is the assumption in this example, stated out loud. Step 2: $250,000 ÷ 1,000 = 250, and 250 × $10.04 = about $2,510 a year. Step 3: $2,510 ÷ 12 = about $209 a month.

That is the gross figure, and the real check is smaller. Wisconsin's lottery and gaming credit — $181.94 for the New Auburn district on this roll, for a primary residence — and the first dollar credit are subtracted after the bill is calculated. Special charges and assessments beyond the rate are not in it, and homes here run on private well and septic as a rule, as this guide notes. Your home's actual assessment may differ from this example price.

Why here versus the next community? You are taxed as a township, not a village or a city — a Village of New Auburn home on the same sheet is $16.17 per $1,000 — so the lake's deep-water, northwoods setting does not come with a municipal tax layer attached. Budget the $209 a month inside the full equation — mortgage, plus taxes, plus insurance — and confirm the school district for the specific shore before you buy, exactly as this guide already advises.

See how all 28 areas compare: Chippewa Valley property taxes, side by side.

Questions Long Lake buyers ask