Russ Ravary with Remerica Real Estate: Portage Chain of Lakes Washtenaw County MI

Livingston and Washtenaw Counties have a "chain of lakes" which include Portage, Little Portage, Baseline, Gallagher, Whitewood, Strawberry, Zukey, and Ore Lakes. I would call the Portage Chain of lakes it "Pontoon heaven".

Depending on who you talk to the chain of lakes is called Portage chain of lakes, or Pinckney Chain of lakes, Or Huron River chain of lakes. .

Many residents enjoy leisurely touring the lakes and river canals, which can take up to two hours from one end of the Chain to the other. Combine that four hour round trip ride with some stopping, or cooling off in the water, or rafting/talking with friends on sandbars, and you can enjoy a relaxing day on the water.

That's what makes the chain of lakes great! Unlike single lakes where all you can do is go round-and-round the same lake all day, every day.

The 4th of July fireworks celebration on Portage Lake is a great place to go especially if you have a boat. It is a featured attraction during every summer. Don't go near the crowd near the marina and go straight across the lake and anchor near the opposite shoreline to view the fireworks.

The Portage Chain is patrolled by Livingston County, Washtenaw County and the Michigan DNR. They try to keep unsafe boating practices and drunk boating to a minimum so everybody can enjoy the lakes safely.

The Portage Chain is nine lakes that are connected by Huron River canals.
● Big Portage Lake is the largest lake in the Chain
● Little Portage Lake, one of the smallest lakes in the Chain, is accessible thru a canal that goes under Dexter-Pinckney Road.
● From Portage Lake, boats can go under either of two bridges to the Huron River and go north to Baseline Lake. Following the Huron River canals, you can go up stream to Gallagher Lake, Strawberry Lake, Tamarack Lake, Whitewood Lake, and Zukey Lake. Smaller boats can continue up the river to Ore Lake. Just be careful of shallow water and your prop. If you have an over loaded boat that sits low in the water.... you probably not going to make it.

There is a DNR public access site on Big Portage Lake (open 8 am to 10 pm & permit required) that has approximately 30 boat trailers parking spots, so get there early because the amount of boats entering from the public launch is limited.

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Huron River and the Chain of lakes

The Huron River supplies drinking water to approximately 150,000 people, and is the State's only designated Scenic River in southeast Michigan. The Chain of Lakes is part of the Huron River watershed. The Wyandot Indians originally called the Huron River the "Cos-scut e-nong sebee," meaning the plans, land or country. French explorers who came into the area in 1680 indirectly renamed the river the "Huron River" after seeing the Wyandot Indians with their "bristly hair." The explorers were reminded of the stiff hairs found on the wild boar, or "hure," found in France. Hence, the name "Huron."

Search Portage chain of lakes.

When searching for lakefront homes on the chain of lakes use our atlas search. It is the grouping of lakes between Brighton recreation area and Waterloo Recreation area west of 23 and south of 96. Use the plus sign to zoom in on the lake you want. Click on the lake below to search using a map area to get just the lake or area you want.

More Indepth information on each individual lake on the Chain of Lakes in Washtenaw and Livingston County MI

Location of the Chain of Lakes

Most of the lakes are in Livingston County Mi except for Little Portage Lake which is in Washtenaw County. The chain of lakes is south of M-36 except for Ore Lake. The lakes are east of Dexter-Pinckney Rd and west of Strawberry Lake Rd. They are just a short ride west of M-23 highway making going to Ann Arbor, Detroit, or Lansing easy.

Fishing on Pinckney chain of lakes

Here are all the types of fish on the chain of lakes.

Largemouth, smallmouth, and rock bass
Yellow Perch
Bull Head
Black Crappie
Walleye
Pumpkin Sunfish
Bowfin
Bluegill
Northern Pike
Longnose Gar
Some common carp
Northern Pike

Links

Huron River

Waterloo Pinckney Trail

Sear

Disclaimer: All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) or information provider(s) shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless. Listing(s) information is provided for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Information on this site was last updated 02/09/2010. The listing information on this page last changed on 02/09/2010. The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of RealComp MLS (last updated Mon 02/08/2010 12:06:25 PM EST) or MlRealSource (last updated Mon 02/08/2010 12:13:50 PM EST) or AAR MLS (last updated Mon 02/08/2010 11:25:24 AM EST) or Down River Association of Realtors (last updated Mon 02/08/2010 2:35:14 PM EST) or Traverse Area Association of Realtors (last updated Tue 02/09/2010 4:47:38 AM EST). Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Remerica Real Estate may be marked with the Internet Data Exchange logo and detailed information about those properties will include the name of the listing broker(s) when required by the MLS. All rights reserved. --

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