In early summer of 2021, I kayaked a stretch of the Kalamazoo River with my friends, Dan and Tyler. We traveled the river from Allegan City Dam to Echo Point on Lake Allegan. It looked like Lake Allegan was in need of further exploration, so I set out in mid-July 2021 to check it out.
Lake Allegan is an impoundment of the Kalamazoo River. The Calkins dam, commonly referred to as the Allegan Dam, is located on the northwest corner of the lake. Public land borders the lake on each side of the dam. There is a boat landing east of the dam, on Allegan Dam Road.
I used the MDNR Echo Point Access Site on the south side of the lake, on Monroe Road, west of the city of Allegan. It is centrally located near places that I wanted to explore. Public land borders the lake on both sides of the boat ramp.
Most of the land bordering Lake Allegan is residential private property. Many of the homes are set back from the water’s edge. Most of the homes are spaced apart from each other. This gives the shoreline a more undeveloped feel. This makes for a pleasant coastline cruise.
The 1600 acre lake is six miles long, so wind and waves can be a factor when kayaking, especially wind coming from a westerly direction. I kayaked the lake on a weekday and there was no boat traffic.
Some kayakers may not like Lake Allegan because of the poor water quality. The water looked dirty and sub-surface visibility is limited to less than three feet. Some portions of the lake were partly covered with small pieces of floating organic goop. In other words, don’t plan on going for a swim. The lake had no odor other than the usual “lake smell” that you get from all waters. I found that the water quality was a very minor distraction and it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the lake.
One of the features of Lake Allegan is Dead Fish Cove. It is located on the north side of the lake, northeast of Echo Point. There are no dead fish.
There are two channels of Dumont Creek that flow into the north end of the cove, forming an island in between the two channels. The west channel is only navigable for a short distance, but it is worth checking out.
The east channel is much more scenic.
You can paddle it to the north side of the island, where the creek splits into the two channels.
The channels are shallow in spots and you will have to search for water deep enough to float your boat. Upstream from the fork in the creek, the water is too shallow for further exploration. This short stretch of Dumont Creek turned out to be the most scenic part of my trip.
About three quarters of a mile west of Dead Fish Cove, the shoreline curves north into a cove.
In the back of the cove, I explored a small unnamed stream flowing through a swamp. Even though it was only navigable for a short distance, I found it to be scenic and worthy of a visit.
The three islands on the lake are not named, so I will refer to them as Small, Medium, and Large. The islands are located about three quarters of a mile northwest of the Echo Point landing. The islands are all uninhabited.
Small island is separated from the mainland by a shallow, narrow channel. I found Small Island to be a uninteresting clump of vegetation.
Medium Island has swampy lowland and some high ground with a few large trees. Much of the shoreline is lined with brush.
I found Large Island to be the most interesting of the three islands and I spent most of my time there. The north end had some swampy lowland.
The rest of the island was heavily wooded high ground. Much of Large Island featured steep banks down to the water’s edge.
On the east side of Large Island, I found a spot that showed signs of visitors. I stopped there and took a break for lunch under the shade of a huge oak tree.
After lunch, I hiked a short, wide path up the steep bank that led to a informal campsite, complete with a rock campfire ring and half of a picnic table. There were two footpaths that led into the woods from the campsite. I didn’t hike the trails, choosing to explore with my kayak instead.
After my lunch break, I continued paddling around the island. On the southern tip of the island, I discovered a vertical cliff rising up from the shoreline. That point also gave me a nice scenic view of the west end of the lake.
By the time I finished seeing everything that I wanted to see, it was late afternoon and time to head back to the landing. With a stiff breeze at my back, it seemed to take very little time to reach the Echo Point landing, ending another scenic day on the water. I thoroughly enjoyed kayaking Lake Allegan: Dead Fish Cove, Dumont Creek, the unnamed stream, and the islands. I hope you get a chance to explore Lake Allegan. If you do, you’ll be glad that you did!
KAYAKING SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN 