Platte Lake (sometimes referred to as Big Platte Lake) is one of the many lakes located in the northwestern part of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

lower peninsula The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

. There are two lakes in

Benzie County, Michigan Benzie County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 17,970. The county seat is Beulah. The county was initially set off in 1863 and organized in 1869.

based on the name Platte, the other being Little Platte. Platte Lake covers and is long and wide. The average depth of Platte Lake is deep. The deepest point of the lake is measured at deep. The

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...

flows through the lake at a speed of . This means the

residence time The residence time of a fluid parcel is the total time that the parcel has spent inside a control volume (e.g.: a chemical reactor, a lake, a human body). The residence time of a set of parcels is quantified in terms of the frequency distribution ...

for the water in Platte Lake is 6 months. Also meaning that every hour of water are passing through Platte Lake. The Platte River flows through Platte Lake and continues downstream through Loon Lake until it finally reaches

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

Geography

Platte Lake is located in Benzie County, which was molded into a land full of sand dunes by the glacial formations. Along with the sand dunes, the glaciers also left many lakes in the area, not only in Benzie but throughout the area. Platte Lake is located at an elevation of above sea level. Platte Lake is one of the largest of the lakes located in Benzie Michigan.

Geology

Platte Lake is surrounded by sand dunes that were formed by glaciers and it is believed that these same glaciers also formed the many lakes in the Benzie area, not excluding Platte Lake. These sand dunes and glacial formations have since 1970 been protected under state law. The lakes bottom is filled with sand much like the sand that rolls over the massive dunes that overlook Lake Michigan and that make up

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a United States National Lakeshore located along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau and Benzie counties near Empire, Michigan. The park covers a stretch of Lake Michig ...

Lake environment

Seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

s are extremely prevalent in the area, as well as various species of

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

s and

loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order Gavi ...

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

s and

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

s are often seen around the lake. Occasionally spotted is the

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

. In the water there are many types of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

as well as water turtles. Around the lake,

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s, and red-tailed foxes can be found.

Species of fish

Platte Lake has many different species of fish. The types of fish include, small mouth and large mouth bass, rock bass, northern pike, walleye, brown bullhead, chinook salmon, strickbacks, bluegill and perch.

Invasive species

A foreign species of mussel, called the

zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...

has over the past 20 years inhabited Platte Lake as well as many other lakes in the Great Lake area. These mussels help water clarity, but they are not native to the Northern Michigan area. They have been transported to North America by large vessels from Asia. They are a serious problem because they have nearly eliminated the native clam population in Platte Lake and many other bodies of water in the area.

Climate

The climate around the lake is pretty steady. Winters are dreadfully cold filled with a large amount of snow, and the summers are pretty warm but never too hot. During the winter the average low is 17 degrees F and the average high is 31 degrees F. In the summer the average low is 55 degrees F and the average high is 78 degrees F. It is not unusual for it to be extremely windy on and around the lake.

Tourism

Platte Lake is known for its vacation homes that are visible from every spot on the water. Benzie Michigan is extremely tourist oriented and is known for having a lot to do. There are many shops and restaurants not on the lake, but near the lake. You can go canoeing down Platte River. You are only minutes from the city of

Frankfort, Michigan Frankfort is a city in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,286 at the 2010 census. The elevation of Frankfort is above sea level. The city is situated with Lake Michigan to the west, Lake Betsie, formed by the Bets ...

which is packed with cool shops, amazing restaurants and is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. There is also a pier, which you can walk out to view the spectacular lighthouse. Platte Lake is also minutes away from the most photographed lighthouse in Michigan, Point Betsie Light. Platte Lake is also near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which is an amazing mound of sand dunes that overlook

from one side, and

Glen Lake Glen Lake is a lake located in Northern Michigan. Located in the southwestern Leelanau Peninsula, the lake is directly adjacent to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and is, at its closed, about from Lake Michigan. The lake consists of two ...

from the other. There are over a dozen golf courses in the area as well. The things to do in Benzie county are unlimited.

Summer rentals

There are an enormous amount of summer rental homes located on Platte Lake. Many people vacation there. During the summer tourists like to boat, water ski, wake board, tube, and sailboat on the water. Because Platte Lake is known for having such a variety of species of fish, fishing is also very popular on Platte Lake.

Fishing

To legally be able to fish on Platte Lake, you must have a fishing license.

References

*http://www.leelanau.com/dunes/history/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20120330154231/http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/nlp/44Sleeping/index.htm *http://www.benzie.net/climate.html *http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/flora-fauna/invasive/zebra.html *http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/invasive/ *http://www.fishweb.com/maps/benzie/platte_lake/index.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20120402213953/http://www.platte-lake.org/About_Platte_Lake.html *http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-30301_31431_31560-67544--,00.html {{authority control Lakes of Michigan Bodies of water of Benzie County, Michigan