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Hillsview Lake is conveniently located in Mecosta County’s  Colfax Township, just 4 ½ miles east of Big Rapids. This wonderful Michigan lake consists of 123 acres with reported depths of 40 feet.

The lake is home to Cran-Hill Ranch, a 300 acre summer family camp on the north side of the lake. The camp features 100 plus RV sites, horses,  wooded  trails, frontage on Cranberry Lake, as well as over a thousand feet of lake frontage on Hillsview Lake.

Haymarsh Lake State Game Area also fronts Hillsview Lake, which is the subject for a future post.

The Michigan DNR maintains a public boat launch on the east side of Hillsview Lake, just off 17 Mile Road. The site has very limited parking, a gravel launch and vault style toilets.

Enjoy Michigan.

Bostwick Lake is located in Kent County’s Cannon Township.  You will notice the lake on the north side of M44 (Belding Road). This popular Michigan lake of 221 acres has reported depths of up to 24 feet.

Bostwick Lake was the site of our family cottage when I was a kid. I have many happy memories of swimming, fishing and boating on this lake.

Today the lake consists of mostly year round residents due to it’s close proximity to Grand Rapids and Rockford. If you are a longtime Kent County resident, perhaps you remember “The Pines” as a favorite swimming and diving spot. Today it is replaced with private lakefront residences.

The lake owners have formed the Bostwick Lake Owners Association to oversee the maintenance and health of the lake.

 Bostwick Lake has no known public boat launch, but Cannon Township maintains a very small pocket park on Kitson Drive on the southwest quarter of the lake. It is poorly marked and not well publicized, until I wrote this post.

There are two points worth mentioning. First, the Bostwick Lake Inn, an old inn turned lakeside restaurant with outdoor, lakefront deck dining- during the summer of course. Great food and great atmosphere.  Second, but by no means least, the Bostwick Lake Bakery, well worth the stop with great BBQ.

Long Lake is located in Ionia County’s Orleans Township, two miles west of M 66 and eight miles north of the city limits of Ionia. Long Lake contains some 356 areas of surface waters, with maximum depths of 57 deep.

Fishermen report catches of Bluegill, Black Crappie, Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch and Pumpkinseed.

The DNR maintains a public access site on Long Lake Road, on the southwestern edge of the lake, just east of Whitcomb’s Lakeshore Party Store and Deli, where you can pick up all of your supplies for the fishing trip or the weekend.

Long Lake is a very common name for lakes in Michigan. Over twenty five lakes in Michigan share the name and even more when you count the derivatives of the name. You will find Little Long Lake (I find 6 lakes with this name); along with Upper Long Lake and Lower Long Lake, The names of many lakes that were formerly Long Lake have been changed to have an individual identity.

Some of the Long Lakes were obliviously named for their lengths; some were named for unknown reasons because the length was not a consideration.

Other Long Lakes can be found in the following other Michigan counties: Alger, Alpena, Antrim, Baraga, Barry, Benzie, Cass, Cheboygan, Clare, Grand Traverse, Genesee, Hillsdale, Ionia, Iosco, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Livingston, Mason, Missaukee, Montmorency, Newaygo, Oakland, Presque Isle, and St. Joseph.

Take time to visit a Long Lake near you soon!

Campbell Lake is located in Bowne Township in Kent County. This is a small Michigan lake of only forty six acres. It is located 1 1/2 miles east of Whitneyville Road on 84^th Street.

The DNR maintains a public access site on 84th Street, the east side of the lake, with plenty of parking and a vault style restroom.

The last time I was at Campbell Lake, there were many fishermen on the ice. All were trying for the big one with their best technique, but unfortunately, no one had a catch that they wanted to brag about in my photo.  

I found the tree on the shoreline to be more accommodating.

Rose Lake is located in Rose Lake Township in Osceola County. It is conveniently located an equal distance east from Leroy (exit #162 US 131) or Tustin (exit #168 US 131).  Rose Lake is a 370 acre all sports lake with reported depths of 30 feet.  

Fisherman will enjoy Black Crappie, Bluegill, Large Mouth Bass, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, Walleye and Yellow Perch.

The Michigan DNR maintains a public access site,  with a hard surface boat launch, parking and restroom. The access site is located off 18 Mile Road, between 150^th and 140^th Ave.    Rose Lake Map   

Osceola County maintains a nice county park on the north side on Rose Lake:  Rose Lake Park , Here you will find 160 campsites.  Most of the campsites have water and electric, although some primitive sites are found here.  There is a picnic area with two lake view shelters, two large pavilions for groups and modern restrooms with showers.  The 1300 feet of sandy beach lakefront provides great swimming and the footpaths through the 48 acres of hard woods provide scenic hiking through the white birch, poplar, and pine trees.

New addition to the post, Thanks to a reader who pointed out two additional points of interest regarding Rose Lake. The lakefront owners have formed the Rose Lake Owners Association.     

The lake is also home to the Rose Lake Youth Camp, a former Girls Scout camp, now a summer camp for youth.   

Negaunee Lake is well located in  Evart Township in southern central Osceola County. Negaunee Lake is one of those little known, but very enjoyable, Michigan lakes. Although it is only 85 acres in size, this sandy bottom lake is home to a nice mix of year round and seasonal cottages.

Negaunee is a Native American term that means “pioneer”. Only six miles south of Evart Michigan, you are close enough for those summer or winter supplies. But, no matter what the season, when you are on the lake you will feel you are a long way from from the rat race.

Negaunee Lake is a private lake, with no known public access.

Recently I wrote a post about Michigan Riparian Rights . Since then, a question was posed to me. “ I have a riverfront cabin up north, sometimes after a hard rain or flooding, my shoreline moves. I find I have gained some land. Who owns that land?’

Let me introduce a term: Accretion. Accretion is a gradual process of nature where soil is deposited along one’s shoreline, adding to one’s overall waterfront. The opposite of this process in called erosion- the removing of one’s shoreline.

Who owns it? Generally speaking, the addition of land belongs to the owner of the adjacent riparian rights. Read the Law. 

With some 11,000 estimated Michigan lakes, there will certainly be a lot of duplication in the names of some of those lakes. I know of at least 15 Crystal Lakes in Michigan.

Crystal Lake is located in eastern Montcalm County. This large Michigan Lake of 724 acres has reported depths of 60 feet.  The city of Crystal Michigan is located on the south east shore of the lake. The city is big enough for a grocery store, gas station, and bank and yes a sporting goods store.

Fisherman should find Black Crappie, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye and Yellow Perch.  The Michigan DNR maintains a public three acre access site on the north side of the lake, at the end of Waldron Road. The access site has a hard surface boat launch site with plenty of parking and restrooms.

Crystal Lake is fully developed with a mix of year round homes and seasonal cottages. You can enjoy a nice drive around the lake, as many of the homes and cottages are built across the street from the lake, providing an unobstructed view of the lake as you travel around it.

For more information visit Crystal Lake Homeowners association.

While walking along the lakefront, I saw this crack in the ice and took the shot. When I looked at it on the computer I was struck by how it resemebled a bare winter tree.

Robinson Lake is located central Newaygo County. This Michigan lake of 137 acres is located within Sherman Township, six  miles west of White Cloud.

If you have driven through Michigan, you may have seen the billboards or just heard about The Shack. The Shack is a family owned resort and conference center on the southwestern corner of the Robinson Lake. You may be thinking  this is a small mom and pop business, but it is situated on over 120 acres of  land with over 2000 feet of lakefront.  One way to enjoy this beautiful piece of property is to explore it’s trails on the back of one of the horses  available in the horse barn.  There is also a lodge and a first class restaurant on the property. Several people have told me  that huge, delicious banana splits are served at 8:30 PM.

The Michigan DNR has a public hard surface boat launch on this thirty foot deep lake, with both parking and restroom facilities  available.

Another interesting thing is that Robinson Lake is located in Jugville, sometimes called Jugville USA. This may be one of those Michigan burgs that is no longer there. I don’t know much about the history of Jugville,  but if you do let me know.

The Martiny Chain of Lakes is one of those well kept Michigan secrets. As a part of the Martiny Lake State Game Area,  wildlife abounds in it’s  2500 wooded acres.

There are many fisherman that claim some of the best fishing in the state is found in the Martiny Chain of Lakes . Some of the fish found in abundance here are, Bass, Bluegill, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Warmouth, Pumpkinseed, Black Crappie, Bullhead and Dogfish.

Having written about the Martiny Chain of Lakes in a previous post, I thought I would revisit the subject and focus a little more about the two Mecosta County parks located on the waterfront of Tubbs Lake.

Tubbs Lake State Forest Campground (mainland) is located on the southeast shore of the 1600 acres of beautiful surface waters of the Martiny Chain of Lakes.  There is over 1300 feet of lake frontage on this beautiful Michigan lake, with excellent swimming.   The best part of the campground is it’s small size, only twenty one rustic campsites. The campground itself campground covers over eighty wooded acres. The site is located on Madison Road, 1 ¼ miles west of 45^th Avenue.

Tubbs Lake Island Campground is just that, a campground located on a small island. Only twelve rustic campsites here are found here.  The campground is located at the end of 65^th Street, 1 ½ mile north of Taft Avenue and  is well marked, Do not confuse this small island  with the six hundred acre island bordering Lost Lake, Big Evans Lake, Lower Evans Lake, Manake Lake, Bullhead Lake, Boom Lake, Dogfish Lake, Lost lake and Saddlebag Lake.

The campgrounds are open mid April to mid November. The camping fee is only $10.00 per night.  No reservations are accepted and sites are available on a first come first serve basis. Pets are permitted.  There is a boat launch at each campground.

In our opinion, the Martiny Chain of Lakes and the two Mecosta County Parks are worthy of attention.