Hi All,

We are going on a week long vacation to Bellaire, Michigan. I need some advice for navigating the chain of lakes in that region.
We will be slipping at Lake Bellaire and I wonder if any one had any exprience boating from Lake Bellaire to Torch lake via the clam river.
Thanks for any insight.

I have only been in the Clam River to the point in which it turns into a open area. (Approx 3 miles from Torch Lake. From what I remember its approx a 45 min "no wake" ride down the river from Lk Bellaire to the Clam "Lake" portion. Torch Lake is one of Michigans prettiest and my favorite lakes to boat on. At the mouth of the Clam to Torch is a resturant called the Dockside. Real casual with a porch that you can tie up and have lunch. Nacho's are real good. Torch is 15 miles long and approx 2 miles wide with a HUGE sand bar on the South end of the lake. I have launched on the North end of the lake, South end of the lake and in the Clam. Depending on the day of the week will determine the amount of usage at the ramps. Hope this helps.

This site might also help you decide:

Bellaire to Torch lakes

We had no problems in a 20' io in Clam Lake all the way to the town of Elk Rapids in Elk lake.

Sorry, I've done Elk Rapids to Skegegemog to Torch to Clam Lake to the beginning of the Grass River, but not past the natural area. I know it's at least an hour, I think more like hour and a half to get from Clam Lake to Lake Bellaire.

If you're on Torch Lake, check out the town of Alden. They have some public docking, and a nice little downtown where you can get ice cream, ice, etc. There's also a gas stop with a small store just into the Torch River off of the south end of Torch Lake.

We've spent some portion of our vacation the last three years on this system, and have friends with a cabin at the north end of Torch and another friend who grew up in Elk Rapids. It will be some of the best boating you've ever done!

Unless you're a party animal, I highly recommend hitting the Torch Lake sandbar on a weekday. The closest I've come to a weekend is on a Sunday afternoon, and I was blow away by the number of boats. Weekdays, it's still popular, but much more manageable, and family oriented.

I believe most of the marinas sell them up there, I also recommend picking up a book of charts. It's got all the lakes in the Chain, plus some of Traverse Bay and a few other lakes. It's great information, and way cheaper then a new prop!

If you want any more info, don't hesitate to ask! If I don't know, I do know who to call.

Hi All,

Great advice. It really is helpful to hear from boaters who have done it.
I will keep you posted on how our trip.

Thank you.

Red...when will you be up there? We will be in Elk Rapids from the 3rd - 7th and will drop our boat in Elk Lake for at least a day and maybe two. The other days we will play on the bay of course.

Hey Doggg, we'll be camping at Interlochen the 5th - 18th. Are you planning to hit the airshow? I'm hoping to be in the water just off the beach on the 6th to watch.

cb...not sure of our plans yet. I totally forgot the air show was that weekend...very cool. We are staying on my dad's boat and will launch ours each day and then throw it back on the trailer.

I think if we did the air show it would be on Saturday the 5th...I am sure they have it that day as well, right?

You are correct! We've got tentative plans to watch it from the beach on the 5th if the weather looks bad for the 6th. We wouldn't be able to set up camp beforehand, which means the boat would be full of tents and stuff.

We will probably just pick the best weather (waves) day. We will be coming down via boat from Elk Rapids which is about a 25 mile jaunt.

We will be there from the 27th to the 4th.
Maybe we could plan a get together on the 3rd at elk or torch?

Where do you guys watch the Air Show from? I love the Blue Angels and would be tempted to take the boat up there from Silver Lake for the day on Saturday... if I knew the area better. I wouldn't know where to launch, park, etc. I assume you just anchor in the West Bay near shore, correct?

Last year we put in at Greilickville, just north of TC on 22. We put in as early as we could, and it was already busy. It's a city marina, with lots of parking, but lots of people want to put in on air show days.

My buddy and I took two of our kids with us to put the boat in, and headed over to the Boardman River. The wives and other two kids parked in the lots that are between the river and the bay near downtown. Those will also fill up, but we managed to find a space. We anchored the boat off of the beach a little ways near the Boardman River outlet, and the kids could play on the beach or the boat. It was great! I spent part of the show relaxing in the boat, and part floating in the bay.

You really want two anchors to keep from swinging, and because the wind will likely be from the west, but because of the shape of the bay and other factors I don't really know, the waves come from the north. I had a good main anchor, but my second was a mushroom, which was about useless on the sand in the wind. I've got a good second anchor now, lesson learned.

If you decide to go, holler, maybe we can meet up.

Thanks for the invite and advice. We have some family coming up to the campground so we've decided not to go.