Lake Macatawa

It’s Summer. It’s Sunday. It’s time to enjoy a Michigan Lake

Lake Macatawa is located along the Park and Holland Township line in Western Ottawa County.  The 1780 acre lake generally reaches depths of only10 feet, but there are some reported depths of up to 20 feet. A channel is maintained for navigation of deep ships to cross the six mile length of the lake to access the docks at the City of Holland. The channel is routinely dredged.

Lake Macatawa is fed by the Macatawa River, formerly known as the Black River, and flows into Lake Michigan.

Fisherman should find Black Crappie, Bluegill, Brown Trout, Channel Catfish, Chinook Salmon, Lake Trout, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, Rainbow Trout, Small Mouth Bass, Walleye and Yellow Perch.

There are several public access sites to Lake Macatawa.  The first is located at the Howard Dunton Park located on Howard Ave, just west of River Ave. on the North East side of Lake Macatatawa. You can launch your boat, fish from the fishing pier, or enjoy the boardwalk. 

Another boat launch, Kollen Park, is located at the west end of 12th Street in downtown Holland on the southern side of Lake Macatawa.  This public access hard surface boat launch has plenty of  parking.  You can enjoy the lakefront, picnic tables, the water fountain and watch the sunset. You may even be fortunate enough to catch some live music from the band shelter.

The Lake Macatawa launch on Ottawa Beach Road  is located between the Anchorage Marina and Eldean Yacht Basin and is the third public access site with a hard surface boat launch and  parking.  

The lakefront is mainly lined with upscale homes and public and private marinas. The far eastern portion of the Lake Macatawa lakefront is lined with a number of industrial sites. Lake Macatawa is home to the Heinz Company, a scrap yard, an aggregate yard, a pharmaceutical company as well as Holland BPW, a coal fired power plant.

Boatwerks, a hip new lake front restaurant, is located on the southeast shore of Lake Macatawa  just west of downtown on VanRaalte Ave. This is an excellent choice for enjoyable dinner.

Lake Mac, as many call it, flows into Lake Michigan through the man made channel. In the 1860s Albert van Raalte, Holland’s founder, organized the digging of the channel. On the north side is the very popular Holland State Park, with its sandy Lake Michigan beach and pier. On the south side you will find the pier with the Holland Harbor Lighthouse.

Built in 1872 at a cost of $4,000, Big Red is a western Michigan landmark. The lighthouse was not always known as Big Red, but it soon received that nickname after the Coast Guard painted it bright red in 1956.

The Holland area is rich in history and so is Lake Macatawa. During the 40’s and 50’s it was home to Chris Craft, the manufacturer of the beautiful vintage wooden motorboats.

I ran across this video of a reminder of another type of vintage water craft. Just for fun.