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Water Recreation in Mason County

Located four miles north of Ludington, Hamlin Lake is surrounded by towering dunes, National Forest and State Land. It is more than 12 miles long and 5,000 acres large with 32 miles of shoreline. This man-made lake originated during the logging boom when lumbermen dammed the Big Sable River to make an enormous holding pond for trees felled upstream. The lake has an average depth of 17 feet and a maximum depth of 79 feet.

Pere Marquette River is a world class trout and salmon river that is also extremely popular with canoeists and kayakers. This beautiful sandy river wanders gently for 66 miles through overhanging bluffs, rolling hills, and across the grassy floodplains on its way to Lake Michigan.

Public Boat Launches

Big Sable River

Upper launch off Free Soil Rd, four miles northeast of Fountain

Ford Lake

Three miles eat of Fountain

Gun Lake

Two miles north of Fountain

Hackert/Crystal Lake

Three miles northwest of Scottville

Hamlin Lake

Hamlin Lake Ramp at Ludington State Park, north of Ludington. Entrance fee.
Wilson Hill Park on Barnhart Rd., north of Ludington

Hoags Lake

Six miles southeast of Manistee

Lake Michigan

Loomis Street Ramp, Ludington
Pere Marquette Lake, Copeyon Park on S. Washington Ave, Ludington
Pere Marquette Lake across the channel off S. Lakeshore Dr., near Father Marquette Memorial

Pere Marquette River

On Pere Marquette Highway, south of Ludington
Scottville Riverside Park, south of Scottville
Indian Bridge on Reek Rd., southeast of Custer
Walhalla Road Bridge, south of Walhalla
Ruby Creek on the Big South Branch of the Pere Marquette River, seven miles south of Branch

Pleiness Lake

Seven miles south of Scottville

St. Mary’s Lake

Nine miles south of Scottville

Tallman Lake

In Tallman, north of Walhalla

Things to Do & See

Current Conditions

Water Recreation in Mason County

Public Boat Launches