Looking up north
 

Hello, I have just got a trailer for my boat and I am thinking about trailering up to northern Michigan for a month or two next year. I am just looking around the internet at different marinas and am looking for ideas. I am looking in the Traverse City, Elk Rapid, Boyne City, Torch Lake area. I am not looking for anywhere real fancy. I would like to pull the vehicle close to the boat for parking and have a camfire occasionaly with my kids. I am not interested in pools, hot tubs, or clubhouses. It does need power and water though. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Dan

dan, try Tim at Lurh's landing on torch river(so.torch lake) 231_3222868

Thanks 26. Have you ever been to Torch River Marina? They brag covered docks on their website. I don't think I have ever seen covered docks in Michigan.

Yes,have sliped at both ,trmarine's are all covered.Luhrs is really laid back,t.r. is a little more active. Both are all good tho. trmarine-concrete,blacktop,slips. Luhr's-woods'y,gravel,slips.Hope this is some help....

That's a tough question if you had to pick one spot.....
Why one spot if you're on a trailer? All the places you mentioned are nice.
What size boat you talking? Torch river would be nice if you have a smaller boat because it's protected. No place around there to do a camp fire however and it's party central on the weekends.

Based on what you said, I'd look at Elk Rapids because you can get out on Lake MI or you can launch on Elk lake (and hit Torch river) if conditions are bad. Plus you have a nice downtown and a big beach to play on for the kids.

mb.

Another place to condiser is Traverse City State Park.
ed

They do have all covered docks. My father keeps his Sunsation 288 there all summer. Very nice, and very nice people.

Thanks for all the replies. I called up to Lurhs landing and talked to Tim. He is a very nice person to talk to. He let me know that I am not able to get out to lake michigan from Torch River. I thought that everything was connected through torch lake. I want to eventually drive the boat down the coast to St Joe for the last half of the season. The boat is on a trailer but it is a tuff job getting it on there. It is a 10K pound boat and not something that is fun to load. I have been searching the internet and emailing some places. I am looking for something very laid back. I let most of the partying go since the kids came on the scene. Thanks again. Dan

Dan,if you would like to try Luhr's and loading your boat on trailer is your stopper,i would be more than happy to help ya.I keep my boat in the slip right next to the ramp.No Sweat.There's tons of things to do on the torch chain for you and your kids to enjoy. Rick....

i love touch lake and launch at luhrs all the time with my fountain however if you are into a varity of locations try lake charlevoux you can reach lake mich from there and lc is a awsome lake. there is a small marina near the ironton ferry that is real nice and laid back.

I appreciate the offer, Rick. Tim at lurhs did not have any slips open for next year that would fit my boat. He said that he thought they were taken and no one would want to move. He also talked about some bridge that he didn't think I could get under. The boat has an arch on it and he didn't know the exact height, but knew it was low. I don't care about going out to lake michigan every weekend, but I want to boat down sometime in the summer. I am pretty flexible. Bill, do you know the name of the marina where your talking about?

Elk Rapids. You'll love sitting on the back of your boat watching sunsets over East Bay.

Ask them how much to pull your boat and drop it on the Elk Lake side for the day so you can run up to Torch lake. You may find that getting your boat on the trailer using the Elk Rapids ramp pretty easy. Best ramp around in my opinion.


tg.

I have been boating on Torch Lake since we bought our cabin back in 2000 and have not looked back once except for the occaional day on Grand Traverse Bays! I have used the launch at Luhr's quite a bit when I had my Powerquest 260 Legend SX. Unless they have changed the vehicle turn around I would think it might be tough to launch a boat any longer than that. Just my 2 cents on that but very good people to deal with. I always kept my trailer at my cabin. Never used Torch River Marina but it is a covered site. I launch my 31 Scarab at the public access just north of Luhr's with absolutely no problems at all, just stay in the center until your in the river. FYI, there is no access by boat to Grand Traverse Bay. You have to launch at the Elk Rapids public access. Torch River and Lake Skeegamog are the only areas where you really need to watch what you are doing. There are maps that are available with all kinds of information about the Chain of Lakes and what to watch for.

http://www.irontoncovelandings.com/marina.htm

hope this helps

Dan,your 29 regal will go under all bridges on the torch chain no problems.You will just have to come up and look around the area some weekend and see for yourself. If I can be of help just let me know. Rick...(live and boated here for decades)

Boyne City has a city marina and the Harborage Marina in town.There are pictures of city marina on the Boyne Thunder web page.Great place to stay,easy to take day trips out to Lake Michigan and around.

Ya, what BO boy said, also Charlevoix has dif. marinas, putz U about 16-17 miles closer 2 Lake Mich. than BC! West side of Lake Char!!!!! Good Luck!!:drink:

If you stay at Boyne City I was told the people are much nicer then Charlevoix.

Cuz they know ya gotta travel 17 more miles on the water 2 get there!!!!!!!:eek::evilb:

Don't limit your self to one area! go for the adventure if you can haul it around, head up to Munising and get some charts for Lake superior and check out pictured rocks, town dock holds about 40 boats but shouldn't be a problem gettin a slip. Then head to the south and hit lake Michigan from the notrh side (Escanaba area) or head toward the mackinaw brigdge area and swing over to mackinaw Island big tourist place (next on my list) Another area to consider would be the left coast of Michigan sleeping bear dunes all the way down should be some owsome sights, also some islands out to the north west might worth the trip but haven't seen or heard anything about them - so that means qutie time. then head east and hit lake Huron. On the way home stop by lake Erie and then you'll only have one gret lake to hit to be able to claim all five. (got them all under the belt):drink: Another option that I frequently use which may sound stupid but Google maps sattillete view gives you a good indication of water depths yes dark is deep and light colors mean beware. I can't remeber the last time we launched in the same location. PM me if you want more insight - I've been around a lot of the lakes and seeen a lot of the sites. Next on the list Georgian bay, Torch lake (yeah it's inland), Mackinaw, lakes down south (lake cumberland etc.)

Thank you everybody for all of the suggestions. Hot Stepper, your idea sounds great for retirement. I am still pretty young and help my Dad run a business. Getting away for that amount of time is not possible. I am going to boat down the west coast to St Joe in the middle to end of summer. I have been looking all over the internet and getting alot of good ideas from this thread. I am going to take a trip up and look around for a weekend to get a better assumption than just what you see from websites. Thanks again. Dan

Danny,

I have boated on Torch and launched out of Elk Rapids. IF you need anything get my number from Sean and give me a call.

Andy

If you get close to Boyne let us know and we can try to point you in the right directions.

Yeah to what he said. There are TWO (2) seperate public launch ramps in the city of Elk Rapids---one is for Elk Lake and the other is for Grand Traverse Bay. The Elk Lake ramp can/will take you to Torch Lake via Lake Skegmog and the Torch River. OR, if you prefer to do some boating on Grand Traverse Bay, you can still launch your boat in Elk Rapids just on the other side of the dam. Either way it provides lots of great boating!

Kamma,
Is there a dam that prevents going from Lake Michigan into
Elk and Skegmog lakes ? We're new in T.C. and have been in Elk Rapids by car but never noticed if there's a dam.
Ed

In the torch chain, you can go from Elk Rapids to Bellaire thats it. Yes there is a dam ,no access to the east bay.

Yes, and if you stop in to just about any hotel they usually have a specialy made map (mostly orange for land and blue for water) they give away free to the tourists just of the Grand Traverse bay and surrounding areas which includes Torch Lake, etc.

There are several connectling lakes and rivers that eventually connect to Torch Lake via Clam Lake. However, many of these lakes are not naviagable with boats much beyond 30'. The Torch River flows into Lake Skegmog, and Skegmog into Elk Lake and in downtown Elk Rapids there is a small dam that seperates all the lakes I have just mentioned above from the Grand Traverse Bay.

I like going to the city of Elk Rapids because if it is too rough out on Grand Traverse Bay, then I can just put my boat in on the other side of the dam and go into Elk Lake...etc, etc.

If you go to www.fishweb.com and then click on "Boat" at the top of the upper left hand of the page, then click on the word "chain O Lakes" it will show you an animated map of the lakes---click on the red words of the map and it will show you lots of real photos of some of the scenery, etc. It's a very good website---you can spend hours just clicking away as you navigate thru the website and is a great help.

Kamma,
Got those orange and blue maps they are great. Thanks for clearing up my confusion regarding Elk Rapids and the dam.
Better to learn here then show up thinking I could motor thru !!!!
We moved to T.C. this summer and didn't get the boat here until just before Labor Day and then I lost a trans in my truck so couldn't launch until mid-Sept. We did get out in the west bay and powers island , bowers harbor area 5-6 times before winterizing. There is always next spring.
thanks,
ed

Ed, you are a blessed man to be able to have moved to the TC area. I just love the boating and water ways up north. There are a few good guys that are locals up there----Josh (Perfect Mix) and his brother Zack and their Dad Rick aka "26sxl". One has a powerquest and the other a Fountain and Rick has a Searay with a pair of badazz 350cid small blocks in it---a real sleeper. Anyway, they're some very nice and easy going people.

Hey Mark.let's not get to carried away!!!!!!

:D :D :D

Hey guys I know this is an old post but wanted to give my 2cents.

I think if someone wants to spend time in n MI for a weekend a month whatever. Torch Lake is the first place I would go. DId you know National Geographic mag rated it the 3rd most beautiful inland lake in the world?

I have an office in bellaire and drive to alden on my lunch hour in the summer and just sit at the launch and look at the water. The color of the water is awesome.

2nd choice would be Lake Charlevoix with access to Lake MI.

Never Been to Munising in the summer but went there last week and I am sure its really cool too. The only problem with the big lakes is if you plan on swimming. THey can stay pretty COLD!

Another lake I really like is Higgins lake they have 2 state campgrounds and if someone wants to go there I would suggest makeing the reservation 6 months before the trip. that is as soon as they allow reservations.

I have been thinking about putting the boat in Torch Lake for a few days over 4th july weekend. Will a 38 top gun make it from Elk lake to Torch Lake with no problem?
I want to do the Boyne Thunder poker run the following weekend.

I was there last year for the 4th, the lake and ramps were packed. I launched at Skegmog and it was really tight with for my 32' and crew cab long bed truck. There are alot of big boats on the lake so I am sure you could find a good place to launch.

I too want to bring my 38 up for 4th of July and do Boyne the following weekend. I haven't been to Torch since getting this boat, because I'm not sure where to launch at? I don't think going from Elk would be a good idea, there are so many stumps in the water. And the Torch River if crowded could be a nightmare. That's about a 30 minute idle. It's too bad it's so hard because running Torch would be awesome, it's so long you could just hold her open for miles. I think it's roughly 28 miles from end to end.

i also plan on doing torch 4 july weekend i launch at luhrs its a deep ramp and have no problem with the 29 cc.

I will see you up there. If you dont see me listen for me. I am a little worried about the noise laws.
bill63 I will be leaving from Rockwood.

Dont quote me on this but Launching on clam lake may be an option. google this... Clam Lake Access - Clam Lake Road.

another option is to call Dewitt Marina. They can tell you how to get a big boat in that lake. My best guess would be the clam lake access though.

i have never launched from this site but i have been there a few times. Some negatives would be the parking lot probably only holds 25 trucks so get there early.

Another option would be to launch in Lake Bellare at fishermans paradise. In the past this would be impossible but they just dredged it this past fall in late october.

Finally, there are some big boats on Torch Lake and they get them in there some how.

From what I am told by "Perfectmix" (he owns a 38' Powerquest and is a local up there) you can launch a 40+' boat on Elk Lake with no problems and pass through the stump field with no problem with a 38' boat----just move along at IDLE/NO WAKE speeds, stay in the middle of the stump field route and you should not have any problems. I have been through the stump field several times now with my 32' A/T and up thru the Torch River and into Torch Lake. You just have to be wise about it and watch what you're doing.

I have not been down that direction in a few years, but I understand the Skegemog stump field is pretty well marked - if you stay in the "channel" you should have no problem if you take proper care. Clam Lake access might work, too.

I hadn't heard about Fisherman's Paradise on Lake Bellaire. Of course, to get to Clam (and Torch) from there, you'll have to go through the winding Grass River. If water levels are OK I guess it would be alright...the biggest boat I've ever seen go through there was about a 30' cabin cruiser, but hey. What's the avg. depth through there...4.5-6 feet?

If in Bellaire, stop at Short's brewery. Wanted to bring a couple of cases back home when we were up last year, but returning on a Sunday, they were closed...:mad: