Lakeland_Boating_-_September_2016

PHOTO COURTESY OF

LOON PHOTO BY KIM SCHNEIDER; GRAND VICTORIAN PHOTO BY WIKI/DKANARIS; DOWNTOWN PHOTO BY MARK CAMERON; SHORT’S PHOTO BY MICHAEL MURPHY IV; RIVERWALK PHOTO COURTESY OF RWGRILLANDTAP.COM

Elk Rapids to Lake Skegemog

The lower half of the Chain starts at the “north’s best teensy town,” as named by a local reader poll that

extolled its small town charm, big city amenities and natural beauty. You can boat into Elk Rapids from

Lake Michigan; the Edward C. Grace Memorial Harbor and boat launch offers slips on both Lake

Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay and Elk Lake — bodies of water that sandwich the town.

The Elk Rapids Hydroelectric Dam off the Elk River divides the lakes, but both marinas

are walking distance to the town’s circa 1940 single-screen Elk Rapids Cinema — one of

the venues for the popular summertime Traverse City Film Festival. Enjoy fine dining at

the popular Siren Hall, where you can try fresh oysters, Blue Hill Bay mussels or Lake

Michigan whitefish. Sample some spicy Cajun cuisine at Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen,

or dine on the Elk River at Riverwalk Grill and Taproom, famous for its extensive list of

Michigan craft brews. You’ll find live music through September at the town’s new wine

bar, Cellar 152, and at the cozy Java Jones coffee shop. You can take a courtesy shuttle

to quirky, worth-the-trip art galleries like Blue Heron, Twisted Fish and Mullaly’s 128.

Some of Michigan’s prettiest sand beaches stretch along the town on its Lake

Michigan shoreline; this is also where an early settler found the elk antlers that inspired

the town’s name. And as you start your boating excursion into the Chain of Lakes via Elk

Lake, you come upon more hints of the region’s history.

“On a really clear day you can see remnants from the logging era — huge diameter logs that were

lost and ended up sinking to the bottom,” says Matt Drake, COO of Short’s Brewing Company

and president of a non-profit working to develop a Chain water trail. “And there’s a shipwreck, the

Albatross, right off the kayak launch.”

The Elk Rapids Iron Company operated this circa-1880 tugboat, running lumber from upstream

forests to the blast furnace in the then-thriving industrial port. But while natural resources like lumber

once drew people to the area, today it’s natural beauty and resources like the prized lake trout and other

Short’s

Brewing

Company

Downtown Elk Rapids

Riverwalk Grill and Taproom

Grand Victorian

Bed & Breakfast

Common Loon

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