Loon Lake Day Use Area

Area Status: Open

Loon Lake Day use is a popular picnicking area and swimming beach on a peaceful lake. The 90-acre lake is mostly surrounded by National Forest System lands. The surrounding landscape is a reminder of the glacial heritage of Michigan. The landscape was deposited and sculpted during the last glacial retreat.

There is a short nature walk from the parking area that leads to Island Lake Campground. The terrain along the trail is steep.

Brochure and Map: This brochure is set to print on 11 x 17 paper, landscape (wide) orientation. To print on 8 1/2 x 11 paper set the print area to "shrink to printable area", this will make the text on the page smaller.

Flickr Photo Album

At a Glance

Operational Hours:	Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week unless otherwise posted.
Area Amenities:	Parking
Fees:	Recreation Enhancement Act Fee - Day Use - Walk-in/bicycle: $2.00 Day: $5.00 Week: $15.00
Permit Info:	Special Use Permit - No special use permit is required for individuals or small groups (74 people or less). Permits are required for commercial, event or large groups (75 people or more). Visit the Passes and Permits section for more information on obtaining a special use permit.
Open Season:	May 1 - September 30
Usage:	Light
Best Season:	May 19 to September 10
Restrictions:	As a visitor to the National Forest, you are asked to follow certain rules designed to protect the Forest, natural resources and to provide for public safety of visitors. These rules are available to you on-line or at any office of the Huron-Manistee National Forests. Please take time to read and understand them. General Topic orders apply across the Forests. Applicable Orders - Motorized Vehicle Use of Roads, Trails and Off-road Areas; R904-14-02 Occupancy and Use - Developed Recreation Areas, Dispersed Areas, Being Publicly Nude, Marine Prohibitions, Parking and Sanitation; R904-14-03
Closest Towns:	Mio, Rose City
Water:	None
Restroom:	Vault
Operated By:	Mio Ranger District
Information Center:	*Mio Ranger Station* 989-826-3252 Email sm.fs.hmnf@usda.gov

General Information

Directions:

From West Branch -

Travel east on M-55 for 5 miles.
Turn left and travel north on M-33 for 16 miles.
Turn left and travel west on Loon Lake Loop Rd. for .25 miles.
Turn right and travel north on FR 4228.
End at the site. GPS Coordinates - X: -84.135218 Y: 44.513719

General Notes:

Location - Loon Lake

Nearby Recreation Areas -

Island Lake Campground
Wagner Lake Campground

County - Oscoda

Seasonal and Other Information -

Gated when closed.

Recreation Map

Map showing recreational areas. Map Information

Activities

Sand Play

Amenities -

Beach/Swimming Area

Lake and Pond Fishing

Fishing Mode	Boat, Shore, Wade
Fish Species	Sunfish, Perch, Bass, Bass, Trout
Fishing Platform	No
Cleaning Station	No
Water Temperature	Cold
Accessible Platform	No
Fishing Method	Fly, Pole
Water/Flow Level	Maximum depth: 55 feet

Day Hiking

Visit Michigan’s Geologic History!

While retreating from Michigan, glaciers left behind a pattern of broad ridges, called moraines. These moraines mark the former location of the ice margin as it paused for a period of time before continuing to melt back.

The Island Lake Nature trail, a short walking trail from the parking area at Loon Lake Day Use Area to Island Lake Campground will take you through part of the West Branch Morraine. Named after the town of West Branch, MI, in Ogemaw County, the West Branch Moraine extends in a northeast-southwest direction in this area. Driving south on M-33 from West Branch to Rose City, you cross the edge of the West Branch Moraine, dropping nearly 400 feet in elevation. This moraine was deposited at the ice margin about 13,800 years ago.

While hiking the Island Lake loop trail, you’ll notice a chaotic arrangement of deep circular depressions and winding ridges. Together, these landforms are known as kettle and kame topography. Kettles mark the spot where large chunks of ice persisted after the glacier retreated. Once the ice chunks finally melted away, a circular depression was left on the landscape. Kames are simply the mounds and ridges between kettles. They formed as glacial drift “washed in” and surrounded the ice chunks that later melted to become kettles.

As you hike along the Island Lake Nature Trail and visit the viewing dock at Crater Lake, think about how the landscape may have changed in the thousands of years since the glaciers melted away… different forest types, and the fungi, plants, and animals they support have come and gone as the climate has changed.