Whitmore Lake Boat Launch

A public road bisects the parking lot from the ramp, and there are powerlines running right over it. If you're trailering a sailboat with the mast up, you need to drop it before crossing — this has caught people off guard.

Two lanes for a lake this popular near Ann Arbor means lines stack up fast on summer weekends and holidays. I've seen the backup stretch well past the lot. Get there before 8 AM on Saturdays or you'll be sitting. Weekday mornings are a completely different experience — practically empty.

47 trailer spots sounds decent until a holiday weekend hits and every jet ski owner within 30 miles shows up. Once the lot fills, you're literally parked on the road waiting for someone to come off the lake before you can even get in. No real overflow option.

They rebuilt the ramp not long ago and it's in great shape — newer dock, clean concrete, easy to back down. It's a bit shallow at the bottom end, so lower water periods can get tricky for deeper-draft boats, but for bass rigs and pontoons you're fine.

With only two lanes, both need to flow. But people routinely tie off at the dock to load passengers or gear instead of clearing out, which jams up the whole operation. The attendants try to keep one lane for launching and one for retrieval, which helps, but expect amateur-hour moves from Memorial Day through Labor Day.