Island lake (MI)

Island Lake Campground is a popular campground and picnic area featuring a swimming beach marked with buoys on the 58-acre Island Lake. Located on the southern edge of the Mio Ranger District of the Huron-Manistee National Forest, this site is a short drive north on M-33 from Rose City, Michigan. The site is gated in the off-season. Island Lake is a popular location for swimming, fishing, and non-motorized boating. The water is cold, with a maximum depth of 25 feet, and anglers can expect to catch sunfish, perch, and bass. Visitors can carry in kayaks, canoes, and other non-motorized watercraft a short distance from the day use parking area to the day use beach. There is a 1.25 mile loop trail that departs from the campground, and a spur trail off the main loop connects Island Lake Campground with the Loon Lake Day Use Area. The nearby M-33 trailhead provides OHV riders with access to the Mack Lake Motorized Trail System and the Bull Gap Hill Climb Area, and a large majority of Forest Service roads are open to OHV use; refer to the motor vehicle use map to understand which roads are open. The campground provides handpump wells for drinking water, several vault toilets, and trash collection services. The embedded day use area also provides visitors with picnic tables and grills. Campsites have paved parking pads, picnic tables, campfire rings, and lantern posts. Island Lake is a small, sheltered lake, and its namesake island is visible from the day use area. Several of the campsites offer views of the lake through the trees. The forest around the campground is mixed hardwoods with many wildlife and waterfowl viewing opportunities. Island Lake and the surrounding landscape are the result of glacial retreat and showcase some of Michigan's geologic history: while retreating from Michigan, glaciers left behind a pattern of broad ridges called moraines, and the campground and the Island Lake nature trail take visitors through part of the West Branch Moraine, a chaotic arrangement of deep circular depressions and winding ridges.