Boyne Falls · Boyne City · Charlevoix · Petoskey
Michigan's third largest inland lake: 17,200 acres, 56 miles of shoreline and 18 miles from end to end, with a walkable town at the east end and a drawbridge at the west.
Lake figures from the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council and MyNorth. The south arm is shallower, around 58 feet at its deepest.
Lake Charlevoix is not one body of water in any way that affects your week. The main basin runs from the channel at Charlevoix southeast to Boyne City, and it is big, deep and open enough to get genuinely rough on a windy afternoon. The south arm hangs off it, running south past Ironton toward East Jordan, and it is narrower, shallower and calmer. The Boyne and Jordan rivers feed it.
If you have small kids or a paddleboard, the south arm is the better address. If you have a boat and you want to run to Charlevoix for dinner, the main basin is the one you want. Nobody tells you this in a listing, and it is the single biggest difference between two houses that look identical in photos.
Stroll the Streets runs Friday evenings from 6 to 9, mid June through Labor Day, with bands on the corners and the whole downtown out walking. In July the Boyne Thunder poker run brings powerboats and a street party to the same few blocks. Young State Park sits on the lake just outside town with 560 acres and a beach.
Charlevoix is about 18 miles around the lake by road. Plan around the drawbridge in July, which lifts on a schedule and stops traffic on US-31 every time it does.
Everything in this county is inside half an hour, which sounds like nothing until you do it four times a day. Boyne City to Boyne Mountain is six miles. Boyne City to Charlevoix is about 18. East Jordan to Boyne City is a lap around the south arm. Petoskey is up on Little Traverse Bay, north of the lake entirely.
So the question is not how far anything is. It is which drive you are willing to do twice a day, every day, with wet swimsuits in the back. Answer that first and the map gets much smaller. If skiing is what brings you back in January, the same logic applies in reverse.
It covers about 17,200 acres with 56 miles of shoreline and runs roughly 18 miles from end to end, which makes it the third largest inland lake in Michigan. The main basin reaches about 122 feet deep and the south arm about 58.
The main basin runs between Charlevoix and Boyne City and is open enough to get rough in wind. The south arm runs south toward East Jordan and is narrower, shallower and calmer. Calmer water is better for small children and paddleboards. The main basin is better if you have a boat and want to run to Charlevoix.
Yes, and it is what we would pick for a first trip. It is on the water, it has a downtown you can walk after dinner, and it is six miles from Boyne Mountain, so a rainy day at the waterpark is eleven minutes away.
Stroll the Streets takes over downtown on Friday evenings from 6 to 9, mid June through Labor Day. The Boyne Thunder poker run comes through in July. Young State Park is just outside town with 560 acres and a beach on the lake.
About 18 miles by road around the lake. Budget extra in July for the drawbridge on US-31 in Charlevoix, which stops traffic every time it lifts.
Decide that first, then look. Northern Michigan Escapes manages on the main basin, on the south arm and in town, which is why their search is the one worth filtering.
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