Lake Macatawa is a
lake in
Ottawa County in the
U.S. state of
Michigan.
Geography
The lake is about long with a maximum width of and a surface area of . The average depth of the lake is variable but generally less than , excluding a navigation channel of fixed depth that crosses the lake to allow deep draft ships to access the dock at the City of Holland.
The lake occupies portions of
Park Township,
Holland Township, and the City of
Holland.
The lake contains two bays of significant size: Big Bay, and the smaller Pine Creek Bay to the east. The lake is the drowned river mouth of the
Macatawa River (formerly known as the Black River), which feeds into the lake's eastern end in the City of Holland. Other tributaries include Pine Creek, which feeds into Pine Creek Bay, and Winstrom Creek, which feeds into Big Bay. The lake discharges into Lake Michigan at the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channel near
Holland State Park
Holland State Park is a public recreation area covering in Park Township, Ottawa County, four miles (6 km) west of the city of Holland, Michigan. The state park consists of separate Lake Macatawa
Lake Macatawa is a lake in Ottawa ...
. The lake and its watershed encompass of
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
and
Allegan counties.
Industry
The eastern end of the lake is marked by industrial development within the City of Holland, and includes a decommissioned coal-fired power plant, scrap metal recycling facility, environmental research facility owned by Michigan State University,
[msu.edu] aggregate
Aggregate or aggregates may refer to:
Computing and mathematics
* collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...
mineral loading dock, and a
pickle production facility owned by the
H.J. Heinz
Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur of Palatine descent who, at the age of 25, co-founded a small horseradish concern in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. This business failed, but his second business ex ...
company. The remainder of the lakeshore is marked by high-income residential development, with the notable exception of
Holland State Park
Holland State Park is a public recreation area covering in Park Township, Ottawa County, four miles (6 km) west of the city of Holland, Michigan. The state park consists of separate Lake Macatawa
Lake Macatawa is a lake in Ottawa ...
which borders the northern shoreline of the western end of the lake, Howard B. Dunton park on the north shore of the eastern end, and Kollen Park near the Heinz factory, which connects to a boardwalk installed along the shoreline occupied by the facility.
See also
*
List of lakes in Michigan
References
External links
Michigan DNR map of Lake Macatawa
{{authority control
Macatawa
Bodies of water of Ottawa County, Michigan