Indian Lake State Park

About this park

Indian Lake State Park spans 567 acres on the shores of Indian Lake, the fourth-largest inland lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, located five miles west of Manistique in Schoolcraft County. Unusually, the park is divided into two separate units sitting three miles apart on opposite sides of the lake, giving visitors a choice of distinct access points depending on which shoreline they prefer. The lake itself is fed in part by Kitch-iti-kipi, the massive natural freshwater spring at nearby Palms Book State Park, one of the most visited natural attractions anywhere in the Upper Peninsula; the two parks sit close enough together that visitors commonly pair a stop at the spring with a stay at Indian Lake. Two Civilian Conservation Corps-era picnic shelters, built in the 1930s, still stand within the park, alongside a designated swim beach and a quarter-mile paved trail running along the lakeshore. A 72-site semi-modern campground, including two accessible mini cabins with kitchenettes and sleeping for four, gives visitors a comfortable base for fishing and swimming on a lake measuring roughly six miles long and three miles wide. The Indian Lake Pathway, a separate trail system with loops of one, three, and 4.5 miles, extends hiking options well beyond the park's immediate lakeside trail, making Indian Lake a solid base for visitors exploring the broader Manistique area.