Lake Macatawa is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in
Ottawa County in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
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 ...
.
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
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
.
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
The Macatawa River, also known as the Black River, is located in the lower part of Ottawa County, Michigan, which drains into Lake Macatawa and eventually into Lake Michigan. The main stream is long.
The name Macatawa is a mis-phoneticization of ...
(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
, colors =
, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
, battles =
, battles_label = Wars
, website =
, commander1 = ...
channel near
Holland State Park. 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 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 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
This is a list of lakes in Michigan. The United States, American state of Michigan borders four of the five Great Lakes, Great Lakes.
The number of inland lakes in Michigan depends on the minimum size. There are:
* 62,798 lakes ≥
* 26,266 lak ...
References
External links
Michigan DNR map of Lake Macatawa
{{authority control
Macatawa
Bodies of water of Ottawa County, Michigan