Best Lakes for Boating Near Traverse City
Michigan
30 boating lakes within driving distance of Traverse City, Michigan, ranked by water quality and boating-specific filters. Filtered for at least 100 acres and public access. The largest lakes with boat-worthy water are listed first.
Traverse City sits in a lake-rich part of the upper Midwest: 30 measured lakes within reach. Spider Lake carries the lowest nutrient and algae readings of the cluster.
The boating-specific ranking layered on top of the readings is what produces the list below: a lake with clean readings that does not also support the boating use case is less useful than a decent one that does.
| # | Lake | County | Distance | Clarity | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spider Lake | Grand Traverse | 8.5 mi | 12 ft | - |
| 2 | Rennie Lake | Grand Traverse | 10 mi | 14 ft | 27 ft |
| 3 | Little Platte Lake | Benzie | 22 mi | 6.5 ft | 8 ft |
| 4 | Margrethe Lake | Crawford | 41.8 mi | 16 ft | 65 ft |
| 5 | Houghton Lake | Roscommon | 49.2 mi | 5 ft | 21 ft |
| 6 | Shell Lake | Leelanau | 18.7 mi | 11.4 ft | 12 ft |
| 7 | Manitou Lake | Leelanau | 32 mi | 13.3 ft | - |
| 8 | Walloon Lake | Emmet | 47.9 mi | - | - |
| 9 | Lake Charlevoix | Charlevoix | 41.4 mi | - | 122 ft |
| 10 | Boardman Lake | Grand Traverse | 1.2 mi | - | 73 ft |
| 11 | Cedar Lake | Leelanau | 3.1 mi | - | 45 ft |
| 12 | Silver Lake | Grand Traverse | 5.8 mi | - | 90 ft |
| 13 | Bass Lake | Grand Traverse | 6.8 mi | - | 20 ft |
| 14 | Long Lake | Grand Traverse | 7.1 mi | 24.3 ft | 88 ft |
| 15 | Lake Leelanau | Leelanau | 8.1 mi | 13.5 ft | 62 ft |
| 16 | Arbutus Lake | Grand Traverse | 8.4 mi | 17.5 ft | - |
| 17 | Brown Bridge Pond | Grand Traverse | 9.8 mi | - | - |
| 18 | Lake Dubonnet | Grand Traverse | 9.9 mi | - | 7 ft |
| 19 | Island Lake | Grand Traverse | 10.2 mi | 17 ft | - |
| 20 | Cedar Hedge Lake | Grand Traverse | 10.2 mi | - | 50 ft |
| 21 | Petobego Pond | Grand Traverse | 10.8 mi | - | 17 ft |
| 22 | Lake Ann | Benzie | 11.7 mi | 14.5 ft | 75 ft |
| 23 | Duck Lake | Grand Traverse | 11.8 mi | 15 ft | 98 ft |
| 24 | Green Lake | Grand Traverse | 13.1 mi | 12.8 ft | 102 ft |
| 25 | Elk Lake | Grand Traverse | 13.8 mi | - | 150 ft |
| 26 | Lime Lake | Leelanau | 14.3 mi | 13 ft | 67 ft |
| 27 | Pearl Lake | Benzie | 14.6 mi | 13 ft | - |
| 28 | Bass Lake | Antrim | 14.6 mi | - | 18 ft |
| 29 | Lake Skegemog | Kalkaska | 14.8 mi | - | 29 ft |
| 30 | Little Traverse Lake | Leelanau | 15.5 mi | - | 56 ft |
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Where to stay near Traverse City
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.