Park Lake

One lane does the heavy lifting here, and on summer weekends it turns into a circus. People prep their boats in the launch lane instead of the staging area, and there's minimal enforcement. If you can swing a weekday morning, you'll have the place almost to yourself.

Park Lake has sandbars that pop up surprisingly far from shore — some spots drop to 2 feet with no warning even 50+ feet out. Lots of dinged props on this lake. Keep your depth finder on and throttle down until you know the layout, especially on the south end.

The concrete slabs are relatively new and the ramp gets deep enough that you won't drown your truck backing in, but algae builds up on the surface as the season goes on. It gets genuinely slippery on foot. Wear shoes with grip — I've seen people go down hard.

Nine trailer spots disappear quickly during bass tournaments and peak summer Saturdays. Non-boaters sometimes take up spots too, which eats into the already tight capacity. If you're rolling in after 10 AM on a nice weekend, have a backup plan.

The state flagged extremely high PFOS contamination in pumpkinseed sunfish here back in 2020 — reportedly 100 times safe levels. Check the current Michigan fish consumption advisories before keeping anything out of this lake. Catch-and-release is the move until you know the latest guidance.