Bear Lake is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Kalkaska County Kalkaska County ( ) is located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,939. The county seat is Kalkaska. Kalkaska County is part of the Traverse City metropolitan area. Although it is located on Michigan's ...

in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. At the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 366. Bear Lake is located within Bear Lake Township.

History

The community of Bear Lake was listed as a newly-organized

for the 2010 census, meaning it now has officially defined boundaries and population statistics for the first time. The CDP is organized for statistical purposes only and has no legal status as an incorporated municipality.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Bear Lake CDP has an area of , of which is land and (10.28%) is water. The community is located in the northwest portion of Bear Lake Township in Kalkaska County. The community's namesake is Bear Lake, and other lakes include the smaller Cub Lake, Mallard Lake, Upper Black Lake, and South Black Lake. M-72 runs east–west through the southern portion of the CDP and connects to

Grayling Grayling or Greyling may refer to: Animals Fish * Grayling, generically, any fish of the genus ''Thymallus'' in the family Salmonidae ** European grayling (''Thymallus thymallus''), the type species of the genus ''Thymallus'' ** Arctic grayling ( ...

to the east and Kalkaska to the west.

Demographics

References

Unincorporated communities in Kalkaska County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Kalkaska County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan {{KalkaskaCountyMI-geo-stub Traverse City metropolitan area