French Farm Lake is a lake in

Wawatam Township Wawatam Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 661. The village of Mackinaw City is located mostly within the township. The township is named after Wawatam ...

in Emmet County in the U.S. state 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 ...

. in size, it is located approximately southwest of Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is the northernmost lake of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. It is served by the North Country Trail from Mackinaw City and by local dirt roads. A typical shallow lake in the North Woods, the lake is partly surrounded by wetlands. Like much of the

Mackinaw State Forest The Mackinaw State Forest is a forested area owned by the U.S. state of Michigan and operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. It is located in the northern area of the Lower Peninsula within the eight counties of Alpena, Antri ...

the region around the lake was cut over in the late 1800s for timber; exhausted land parcels were allowed to return to the public sector. The ''French Farm Lake State Flooding Wildlife Management Area'', a unit within the State Forest that is owned and managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (M-DNR), is a parcel of land of in extent. M-DNR maintains an earthen boat ramp close to the northern end of the lake, from which boaters can launch vessels and fish for

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

. The surrounding wetlands are breeding grounds for

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

s and

wood duck The wood duck or Carolina duck (''Aix sponsa'') is a species of perching duck found in North America. The drake wood duck is one of the most colorful North American waterfowl. Description The wood duck is a medium-sized perching duck. A typi ...

s. The lake's name may be derived from a frontier farm cultivated on the lakeshore in the 18th century. The farmstead, which supplied food to Fort Michilimackinac, was excavated by archaeologists in 1981-1982. A monograph was published.

References

{{authority control Lakes of Emmet County, Michigan Lakes of Michigan

See also

References