These two lakes are on the southern boundary of the city of Portage. They are situated in the middle of a “V” created by Shaver road and highway US131. Part of the Gourdneck State Game Area, a 1249 acre parcel, borders the north end of both lakes. The MDNR Big Sugarloaf Lake access site is on Shaver Road.
There are about a dozen homes on the west shore of Big Sugarloaf. Shaver Road is on the southeast shore, so I paddled north along the undeveloped east coast.
The north end is where Big Sugarloaf gets interesting. There is a large pond separated from the main body of the lake by a wide row of thick cattails. Marshland extends inland from the pond. There are two entrances to the pond.
Lily pads cover parts of the pond but most of it is open water.
There were many small channels leading into the marsh.
I tried some of them but they went nowhere or they were too narrow for my boat. I still enjoyed poking around the edge of the marsh.
I left the pond and headed west to a large cove on the northwest corner of Big Sugarloaf.
The entrance to the Little Sugerloaf channel is in this cove.
The scenic, still waters of the wide channel meander through marshland.
The channel eventually enters Little Sugarloaf Lake. I don’t spend a lot of time here. One side of the lake is lined with homes and the other side parallels the noisy highway, US131. The north end, bordering the game area, is pleasant to paddle.
I headed back to the channel.
A small unnamed creek flows into the channel from the west. I had to explore it.
I portaged a beaver dam and continued upstream.
I was stopped by a second beaver dam.
I decided not to portage and returned to the channel. I reached Big Sugarloaf and cruised part of the west shore before heading across the lake to the landing.
It’s surprising to find two scenic lakes that are so close to a large urban area.
KAYAKING SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN 