Craft & Seasonality
✗
Motorboat ✓
Kayak / Canoe ✗
Jet Ski / PWC ✗
Large Boat ✗
Winter Access Site Details
Conditions change rapidly due to water levels, prop wash, and weather. Always visually inspect before backing down.
RampUnimproved, 0 lanes
Dock1 boating pier · ADA
Trailer Parking0 spots · gravel
Vehicle-Only20 spots
FeeMI Recreation Passport (annual, on vehicle registration)
HoursOpen at all times
RestroomsVault toilet (1)
PierYes
AccessibilityAccessible pier, restroom
Not Available Fish cleaning · Fishing pier
Scout's Notes
Ramp Quirks & Etiquette
Paddle-Only by Rule
Pickerel Lake in the Pinckney State Recreation Area is non-motorized by DNR land use order — no gas outboards, period. The access is a natural carry-down: no ramp lanes, no trailer spots, twenty vehicle spaces, a vault toilet, and a short carry to quiet water. Bring the kayak, the canoe, or the belly boat; leave the trailer home.
Pinckney Backcountry Water
This is the state rec area's quiet corner — the Losee Lake trail country — and the lake fishes and paddles like it: undeveloped shoreline, wood and weed edges, and the kind of stillness the motor ban was written to protect.
Rec Passport Applies
State recreation area access — the Michigan Recreation Passport on your vehicle covers it. Open at all times; the lot rarely tests its twenty spaces outside perfect fall weekends.
Sources: Michigan DNR PRDBAS inventory (A-81-012), Pinckney State Recreation Area
About This Lake
Pickerel Lake →