Today we have a guest post from Mr Ed H. He is a resident of Big Crooked Lake in Kent County.

For me there are a couple things that make Big Crooked Lake unique. Probably the best feature is the lack of a public access. This drastically cuts down on the amount of watercraft traffic. Big Crooked Lake is a 150 acre all sports lake but it is not unusual to come out on a Saturday afternoon around 2 PM and not see a single boat on the lake.

We like that because we enjoy the quiet but that is not to say that we don’t appreciate an all sports lake because we do, just not all weekend. Unless it is a holiday weekend the watercraft traffic is usually very light until about 4 PM. 80 percent of the property owners are year round so they are busy doing things and normally don’t come out to play until later in the afternoon.

Another unique feature is the shoreline and the north end of the lake. The lake lives up to its name with a crooked shoreline, an island and a channel that eventually widens to expose a north end of the lake that is almost as large as the south end. The best thing about the north end is the shore being wetlands and not likely to ever be developed. You can either park or take a slow boat ride past that shore and look north of a clear blue sky day and believe you are in the UP.

When you look at property values amongst Kent County Lakes BCL does not rank with the Big Whitefishes, Murray’s and Bostwicks but that does not bother me at all. Although Murray has some character is also has a public boat launch with lots of parking and can get very busy at times.  Bostwick is pretty much round and boring to me and Whitefish has a huge landfill just east of it and if that does not turn you off when you get off at the exit the constant swarms of seagulls or highway noise might occasionally get your attention. All that being said it is hard to understand why the property values on this lake are lower but that works just fine for me. As my wife and I often say, Big Crooked Lake is the best kept secret amongst waterfront property in Kent County.

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.

Late Addition to the post: An interesting site about Bostwick Lake with available homes for sale is worth the visit.