# OFF TOPIC. What INLAND LAKE to buy a cottage on?



## Titan34 (Dec 7, 2009)

Looking for a lakefront cottage. Good summer and ice fishing. Sandy for kids to swim, boat. ATV, snowmobile trails nearby. Cool little town.

Im considering not in this order: Looking for recommendations!

Sage lake
Lake. St Helen
Lake Lancer
Houghton Lake
Secord Lake if the price is right due to the dam not getting fixed until 2025 at the earliest.


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## tony_1 (Dec 6, 2001)

Lake St Helen is a great place. It’s not overcrowded, lots of natural shoreline that won’t be built on, decent fishing (summer is pretty good, I don’t ice fish much to know first hand), trails are close, the town is quaint but your close enough to the “big” towns of Houghton Lake and West Branch that have most of your stores.


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## 9 (Jan 17, 2000)

I would think Lk. St.Helen would be a perfect lake to have a cottage on. The "new" has been worn off it for decades by other bright stars but it still produces and it's close enough to Higgins and Houghton to allow for options. Just my opinion!


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

Higgins lake is a bit pricey, but deals come up, if investment is part of the equation. Property values have been on a steep increase for decades with no sign of stopping. 

There are no comparables


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## Rasher (Oct 14, 2004)

Zillow is a great place to see what places are going for.


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## Titan34 (Dec 7, 2009)

Rasher said:


> Zillow is a great place to see what places are going for.


Ive been looking for the past few years. I really have the itch this year and feel I can swing it.. I just want to make sure Im buying on a decent swimming lake for the family. And one thats not to small that I lose interest boating and fishing it.


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## zfishman (Dec 21, 2008)

Crystal Lake in Benzie County.


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## Rasher (Oct 14, 2004)

You can look it up on google or zillow for size comparison, but I’m on Manistee Lake in Kalkaska county, its a 860 ish lake.


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

Lake Lancer has a ton of jet ski and party boaters. Okay lake if you can deal with that.


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## perchjerker (Feb 8, 2002)

I have a buddy with a place on St Helen

He calls it St Felon

Take it for what its worth. I personally have no idea. I have a place north of Cadillac, in Amish country. Its not on a lake but there are plenty around. I have a lot of options but it would not be your cup of tea, I know little kids would get bored with it lol


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## MichMatt (Oct 24, 2008)

We swim a lot off the pontoon boat. Anchor away from Traffic and use noodles to float. Once cooled off get back on and keep the ride going. 

Beach and sand are hard to keep up. 

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## Titan34 (Dec 7, 2009)

Kiddies would love having the beach to play in


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

Titan34 said:


> Looking for a lakefront cottage. Good summer and ice fishing. Sandy for kids to swim, boat. ATV, snowmobile trails nearby. Cool little town.
> 
> Im considering not in this order: Looking for recommendations!
> 
> ...


I have property on st helen and i love the lake along with the area. It is the best of the lakes mentioned for proximity to atv and snowmobile trails. 

If family swimming is a high priority I would rate st helen last on your short list....although i have never been to lancer.
St helen has decent swimming in certain areas where you see the pontoon boats gather in the summerm. Most of the east shore area where the cabins are really arent great bottoms for swimming. They are marginal for swimming and there are probably some better than others. There is a fair amount of black silt on the east shore. The entire like is pretty shallow and weeds are on the surface all over for boating activites like skiing/tubing. Jetboats really struggle in the lake. The fishing is great and the sunsets are awesome. I plan on retiring on the lake.


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## Sasquatch Lives (May 23, 2011)

I have only been on St. Helen and Houghton and I would put St. Helen way above Houghton Lake.


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## JBooth (Sep 21, 2009)

There are a lot of options. The bigger issue right now is finding the cottage that suits you. Everything is being sold rapidly and costs keep climbing. Be ready to buy, I have a feeling this bubble will be popping soon enough.


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## Ronnie D (Dec 8, 2020)

Lake front property prices are going to keep the rising prices due to investors acquiring them for air b& b use in all price categories. If they are rented 1 week a month the investor breaks even. Some lake associations have policies to prevent it but money always talks louder and the tenants could be Ozzie and Harriet or Ozzie Osbourne. One thing i would insist on before i bought would be no public boat launch. Different caliber of users and if an issue arises w/ a neighbor can usually be settled , not so much w/ the stranger peeing on your dock.


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## General Ottsc (Oct 5, 2017)

My family has had a cabin by Higgins Lake for 24 years. This is going to be a longer post. You've been warned...

For swimming, the lake is great! It does take a little bit to warm up though. Lots of sand bottom and depending which side of the lake your on and the depth might stay 4-5 ft for a long way. They do have swimmer's itch there, so remember to dry off as soon as you're out of the water and shower right when you get home.

I will say the location is nice because you're kind of in the middle of a lot of different things. Gaylord, Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant are all about an hour or so away. The Mackinaw Bridge is about an hour and half away.

There's plenty of snowmobile and ATV trails close by(Houghton Lake and St. Helens have the majority of the trails and are only like 20-30 minutes away). You can ride on the shoulder of a lot of the roads.

Fishing can be good if you know where to go. Some very respectable trout and pike have come out of Higgins. We've always had good luck on bass, rock bass, and some decent perch. 

The town of Roscommon is trying to revitalize themselves. They have a farmers market, some art/antique places, an awesome little market to get some craft beer, if that's your thing, and a few decent restaurants.

The bad about the area is the housing market has always been expensive around there. Lakefront and acreage always came at a premium compared to the surrounding area.

If you're looking to deer hunt around Higgins Lake, be prepared to be sitting in your blind by 4-5 AM because that's about when everyone gets to their blinds. Unless you go way out in the middle of nowhere or have the good fortune to find a spot that has been overlooked.

As you can imagine, the boat traffic is horrible during the holiday weekends. The lake on normal weekends get busy after 11 AM, so you're best to do any fishing before then. Also, a lot of the jet skiers have no concept of a safety zone. They'll come within 10-15 ft of you going full speed and won't think twice. The sheriff does patrol pretty regularly and that helps, but it still happens.

That's about all I can think of. I hope this helps.


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## jiggin is livin (Jan 7, 2011)

I'd wait another year or so if you can. Hopefully this bubble pops. Should be some foreclosures coming up in a year or so.


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## kdogger (Jan 10, 2005)

One downside about st Helen is the riparian rights are all owned by a duck hunting club. You can’t duck hunt your own shoreline there if I’m not mistaken.


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

kdogger said:


> One downside about st Helen is the riparian rights are all owned by a duck hunting club. You can’t duck hunt your own shoreline there if I’m not mistaken.


You are correct you cant hunt. The carter family owns hunting rights . They have leased them to the st helen duck club for another 200 years.

The duck club owns hunting rights to my land and the state owns minerals rights. I own riparian rights. I can put a dock or swim in front of my place but I cannot hunt it.


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

kdogger said:


> One downside about st Helen is the riparian rights are all owned by a duck hunting club. You can’t duck hunt your own shoreline there if I’m not mistaken.


That's crazy.. But one thing that makes it hilarious is when some antis buy there lake house dream and wake to bang bang out front all fall and can't do anything about it..


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## deagansdad1 (Jan 27, 2021)

DirtySteve said:


> You are correct you cant hunt. The carter family owns hunting rights . They have leased them to the st helen duck club for another 200 years.
> 
> The duck club owns hunting rights to my land and the state owns minerals rights. I own riparian rights. I can put a dock or swim in front of my place but I cannot hunt it.


Seems complicated. 

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## Cat Power (Jan 6, 2013)

Pentwater lake is where I want to be someday


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

deagansdad1 said:


> Seems complicated.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk


It is and I have researched a bit. Between the DNR and the ritchfield twp library there is a fair amount of information and the story is kinda neat. When I first bought in the lake I was hell bent on testing the agreements and finding a loophole to hunt the lake. When I began researching the story I thought the history of John Carter and the St helen duck hunting club is really cool. 

John Carter was a real estate developer from chicago. He owned St. Helen reality there. He fell in love with upper michigan. In the late 1800s roscommon county went bankrupt. It was going back to the state of Michigan. John bought the entire county of roscommon from the state and agreed to allow anyone who owned a homestead currently to keep it in the deal including some state owned lands. He developed the county along with all the lakes. He sold homesteads to people in illinois in package deals to move here. 

John kept the marsh that would become lake st helen as his personal home. He loved to duck hunt. He owned every bit of the lake. As he got older he wanted to preserve the lake as a hunting paradise. He developed the st helen duck hunting club and sold memberships to affluent Drs and lawyers in lapeer county. He gave several 80 acre parcels on the lake to family members. He retained all hunting rights to the lake and leased them to the duck hunting club on a 100 yr lease with an option to renew for 1 dollar for an additional 200 yrs if the club was still active. 

That lease came up in the late 90's. The club was active and the carter family contested the lease in court. The club won and renewed their lease for 200 yrs.

The parcels that John gave his family were eventually sold and developed by their children. Since very little property around the lake could be developed they made subdivisions with canals and dock rights on canals around the lake. The state bought a few lots in a subdivision and made negotiations with the duck hunting club to open a public ramp on the lake to allow fishing and boating only. In return the club negotiated some land ownership that they wanted. That is how the lake became public and hunting remained private. The duck hunting club probably could have not allowed the lake to become a public lake at all.

I think it is kinda neat that a guy in the late 1800s could have a vision for a hunting club that could last 300 yrs and it is still going strong. Pretty cool cool legacy in my opinion.

Here is a google pic showing the areas not developed on the lake.


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## tony_1 (Dec 6, 2001)

Dirty Steve thanks for the history lesson we have a place in carter woods on the canal. I always wondered the history of the agreement. In a side note the duck hunters don’t hunt too often and are very respectful regarding where they hunt, blinds etc. most hunting takes place along the vast areas of undeveloped shoreline and one pontoon blind in the middle of the lake by the public access. Most fall I do t even know they are there.


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

tony_1 said:


> Dirty Steve thanks for the history lesson we have a place in carter woods on the canal. I always wondered the history of the agreement. In a side note the duck hunters don’t hunt too often and are very respectful regarding where they hunt, blinds etc. most hunting takes place along the vast areas of undeveloped shoreline and one pontoon blind in the middle of the lake by the public access. Most fall I do t even know they are there.


If you stop by the ritchfied twp library which is in the twp offices next to fire station you might enjoy some of their information. They sell a neat little paperback book for like $5-10 that has the story of John carter and a ton of history on the area. The duck hunting club also donated the clubs yearly log book from the first 50-60 yrs to the library. There is alot of really interesting reading within it. They dont let you check that out you have to read it in the library.


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## jiggin is livin (Jan 7, 2011)

That is an interesting and cool story!


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

tony_1 said:


> Dirty Steve thanks for the history lesson we have a place in carter woods on the canal. I always wondered the history of the agreement. In a side note the duck hunters don’t hunt too often and are very respectful regarding where they hunt, blinds etc. most hunting takes place along the vast areas of undeveloped shoreline and one pontoon blind in the middle of the lake by the public access. Most fall I do t even know they are there.


The duck hunting club is on the first lake there is a big green clubhouse on the south end. They seem to duck hunt early in the season. As the season goes on many of the members deer hunt on their properties. They have a ton of land around the lake and they have blinds and trails systems. I know a guy who hunted as a guest there once. They draw names the evening prior every night of the season. Club members get to pick which duck or deer blind they would like.


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## bradlutt (Feb 18, 2019)

We found a place about 3 years ago in Baldwin on a small lake. Love it! No motor lake which is great with the kids playing. Fishing is good for gills and bass. And got ORV trails everywhere up there

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## Tron322 (Oct 29, 2011)

bradlutt said:


> We found a place about 3 years ago in Baldwin on a small lake. Love it! No motor lake which is great with the kids playing. Fishing is good for gills and bass. And got ORV trails everywhere up there
> 
> Sent from my SM-A115U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


That's kind of where I am too of ever able to buy a house on a lake, of course priorities change from year to year.

I live in Lake Leelanau and thought that if a spot ever came up where I could get out of work and take my boat out it would be great.

But simple things like neighbors being so close you can't piss off your deck, having to endure whatever music they are into, and having public access all over wouldn't be fun.

Some little lake in the middle of no where no one has ever heard about sounds better than the popular ones, but if the OP is looking there I hope he finds the perfect spot to fit his needs.


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## Cork Dust (Nov 26, 2012)

One consideration if you are looking for a sandy shoreline for a good swim beach. Look at properties that are on the downind side of the lake with regard to the prevailing winds, since these winds will determine alogshore currents and particle size sorting, removing the fines and much of the organics and leaving you with a sand bottom.


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## Spartan88 (Nov 14, 2008)

I live near Lewiston and all the lakes that draw down state folks. It's quite busy in the summer. I purchased some property across the road from McCollum Lake last year. The area is quiet compared to Lewiston. I hope to build on this property in a few years. Look at lakes off the beaten path, unless trunk slammers don't bother you.


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