Higgins Lake

Higgins Lake sits in Roscommon County, a 9,600-acre glacial lake split between two state parks that together hold close to a mile and a half of public shoreline. The number that actually backs up the reputation: Secchi-disk readings on the East Basin have measured 35 feet, among the two or three clearest results recorded on any lake Michigan's monitoring program tracks — water clean enough that swimmers routinely report watching their own feet in water well over their head. South Higgins Lake State Park holds the more famous numbers — a 400-unit campground that ranks as the second-largest in the entire Michigan state park system, backed by a boat basin with nine separate launch ramps, the biggest concentrated boat access point on the lake. North Higgins Lake State Park, on the quieter shore, sits on the site of what was once the world's largest tree seedling nursery; the Higgins Lake Nursery and CCC Museum there reconstructs the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps camp that planted it, free to walk through with a Recreation Passport for the car. Roscommon, the actual town, sits about five miles from South Higgins and nine from North Higgins — close enough for a grocery run at Family Fare or breakfast at the Bird and The Bear without losing half a beach day. Silver Dollar Pub & Grill on the west shore and Cut River Grille on the channel toward Houghton Lake cover the two real sit-down options actually on the water. Ten miles east, Houghton Lake carries the bigger reputation — Michigan's largest inland lake, with more bars and more motels ringing the shore. Higgins reads differently: family cabins that have passed through three generations, a swim beach that doesn't require elbowing for space, and a winter season the cross-country ski trails at both parks keep from going fully dormant once the boats come out of the water.