Island Lake Recreation Area – Michigan State Park

Hahah — I have no idea how I got lost here (I’ve never been lost at the sister park, Kensington, and it’s much larger). Somehow, I landed on the bike trail, without a bike. The trail is awesome either way but you have to make sure you walk in the OPPOSITE direction of bike traffic. This is for your and the bikers’ safety because the trails are really skinny and there is no room for passing. So, if you see a bike, move off the trail QUICKLY!
The bike trail has lots of hills and sometimes it feels like you are going up steps (but it’s just tree roots). You pedometer will log 10,000 steps in no time!

This place is so much fun it’s becoming a weekly routine. The staff is really friendly and knowledgeable. They offer lessons and the teacher I had for skeet shooting improved my accuracy. The place is well-​maintained and very clean. I would highly recommend shooting at Island Lake to anyone.

Lots of trails and space to explore. I bring my dog to run around and play. Lake, trails, biking path and picnic area, has everything you need.

Today i am only writing about the hand gun shooting range– NO shade unless your shooting– waited for 1.5hrs for our turn to shoot– ended up leaving bc it took forever and didn’t get to shoot at all. Range is dug down into ground so forget about a breeze, counting drive time it was a good 2.5 hrs wasted. Gave two stars bc they did give us a refund.

One of my favorite things about living in Metro Detroit. The State has done a fantastic job keeping the park a clean, safe, well-​kept area to spend time. We love the walking/​bike trail from Trail Head to the lake, or just sitting by the Huron River. On hot days, the lake is always great for swimming. My only issue is that I always feel disgusting in the bathroom by the lake, but I guess that is to be expected.

Reviewing the blue bike trail and park area. We’ve only biked the blue trail, but are hoping to ride the more technical yellow trail soon. Blue trail is just over 9 miles, I believe the yellow is just over 6. We’ve only been 4 – 5 times, but it’s a fun trail – marked well, and has a good variety of «terrains» across the miles. Beautiful scenery, too, for those of us who aren’t going 900 mph and actually can see it. :) The park is huge and has a plethora of spots for picnics and nice beach areas, too.

Too big of a park to not have a Disc Golf course in. Especially with as crowded as Kensington’s is, it would draw a lot of people.

Came here yesterday w/​a friend for the first time yesterday. She has one of the MI Recreation Passes so it was free to go, if you DON’T have one I think they make you buy one if you have in-​state plates (it’s like $ 11 or something, I believe).
This place is HIDDEN, as we went to the Spring Lake Pond area. They have a food truck with hot dogs, corn dogs, sno-​cones, nachos, and more, and also some vending machines with soft drinks, ice cream, etc. [we stopped at Walmart beforehand because I guess the food truck is new]
Sand is a little gravelly but I think most MI beaches are similar. Water was nice, only a little cold. Considering it’s 4^th of July weekend, the place wasn’t super crowded, which was nice. The crowd is mostly families and kids, although lots of tattoos for some reason, lol (on the adults, not kids, haha).
Definitely would come back here, had a good time.

I really like this place. It’s clean and quaint. Sometimes I like to drink beer at the beach and relax. Can’t drink here. However It’s nice for families, no wild teenagers. The only problem is there doesn’t seem to be a lot of grills near the beach. If you visit on the weekend you might not be able to find an open one. However I give it 4 stars because it’s such a nice clean place.

A beautiful state park not too far from home. My husband and I typically bring the dogs and walk the trails beyond the dunes that sit next to beach area at Spring Mill Pond. Tons of trails and two spring fed ponds keep the pups, and us, pretty entertained for a few hours. Perfect for a sunny day or even a crisp fall day. Still have yet to come out here in the winter… but hey, you are lucky if I leave the house in the dead of winter, so I’m not sure of that just yet.
The actual park seems huge to me and there is plenty to do and explore. I still have yet to bring my bike out here but the biking trails look great. I’ve been out here a number of times, and yet I know I’m nowhere near done with it yet.
***Parks pass is required. Its only ten bucks with your Michigan state tags renewal. Buy it, ya cheapskate, its worth it.

Not a bad beach but I really prefer Bishop Lake. The Restrooms weren’t super clean and there seemed to be a lot of people smoking on the beach :(Aside from that the water was warm — there’s plenty room on the beach and they did have vending machines. Water isn’t quite as shallow as I would’ve liked for our two year old but it doesn’t get too deep too fast. Overall not a bad beach but just not my favorite.

Reviewing Mountain Biking
Great mountain biking course when you have a range of rider abilities. This is not my personal favorite coarse for riding solo but this is a very fast and moderate course to ride.
I see (pass) a lot of father/​son rides which is awesome seeing kids out there tearing it up. If I had a 10 year old that I wanted to take out on the trail to build confidence and have fun this as well as TreeFarm (Lakeshore) would be the top two spots for that. Maybury is definitely more challenging and technical. Treefarm is nice because you can dip out at any time but it is also more technical and you can’t really get going at any good speeds like Island Lake (assuming it’s ok to mention other parks by name as parks don’t compete right)?
there are two loops, the first loop is really easy but fast, no challenging sections at all and I’d probably say it’s even doable on a department store mountain bike (I hate saying that…), the second section is definitely more intermediate mountain biking and has some uphill sections and quick turns where you would need a legitimate mountain bike to ride.
I’ve done a double lap here before and it’s a hell of a workout (basically both loops twice)…
My favorite part of this trail is a section on the second loop where it looks like the background from Windows 93. Google that image !
Trail head is very nice and good parking lot directly attached. You need the MI recreation pass to get in for free but if you’re reading this about mountain biking, you probably already have that on your license plate anyways.

My review is only for hiking.
Always looking for natural places with unusual features to hike in and around, makes things interesting. And yeah, Island Lake’s dunes area is absolutely amazing. Rivals any other place found in the entire state.
You’ll love this place if enjoy climbing up a dune and soak in the awesome views.
When first went here, thought it would not be as big. Many miles of hiking, we did 4 miles and yet there is more to discover. Mind you we went on kind of crappy day, 50 degrees and cloudy. Came across one hiker and two bikers. Otherwise felt like we had the entire place to ourselves. Pretty sure it’ll be more populated on nicer days.

Very beautiful and large park suited for light hiking, mountain biking, road biking, camping, swimming, picnicking and many other outdoor activities. The part comes alive during the early springs months during the weekends, gets packed towards the beginning of the summer.
It’s one of the best parks around the Metro Detroit area and I will continue to come here in the summer months. Be careful when you drive down the curvy roads as there are make children and families strolling around the park in their bikes.
Enjoy the outdoors

I like to lay on a raft and chill out in the middle of Kent Lake. It’s a good way to get a nice tan over the weekend. The other day I drove around a bit and didn’t realize how huge the park is, or how many lakes there are. I’ll try renting a rowboat or canoe next time, and convince a friend to come along. This park is definitely worth exploring.
I’m not much of a family guy, and the beach at Kent Lake seems to have large families, some of them immigrants with more children than average. If you like your peace and quiet, go 200 – 300 yards past the Kent beach, to the next parking lot. it’s quieter but still has easy access to the lake… much more pleasant. Or you can check out one of the other lakes altogether.
I still have to confirm this:
my first impression is that «Spring Mill Pond» has the highest concentration of teenagers and college kids. So if you are not into that vibe, you might want to look at another spot. If you are that age and want to socialize, then by all means, that’s where you’d go.

I am a new mountain biker and this is one of my favorite places to go. Unlike other places (Pontiac Lake) I am not scared for my life on the trails here. Also there are mutiple options on trails. To the point that if you decided that you have had enough there are «short cuts» back to your car.

Just went swimming at spring mill pond today. What a gorgeous day we had! I love this park and now that you can get the park pass when you renew your plates it makes it the most convenient one to visit. There were scuba divers out today, I read on the parks site that there is a snowmobile, a bathroom complete with tub, sink and toilet as well as a picnic table for them to dive for. The kids got a kick out of seeing them. We like to get here early because it can get pretty crowded! I should also add that it is clean! I have never visited where I didn’t see a park employee out picking up trash off the beach!

Never take Michigan’s abundance of lakes for granted. Trust me, when you move to land-​locked state without many lakes, you really appreciate them.
Island Lake Rec Area is gorgeous and expansive. You do need your helmets if you’re going to bike the miles of paved roads and biking trails. I highly recommend the latter. They can get pretty rugged, and it’s a lot of fun. Word to the wise, the marked biking trails are ‘one-​way’, so be sure you’re not going the wrong way, or you’re liable to run into someone — I had that happen.
You can get in the water with a canoe at the river and canoe for miles, or you can swim at Spring Mill Pond, which is right near some tall dunes, which are fun to run down.
There’s also a few camping sites and access to Island Lake — perfect for swimming and BBQs. One of the things that I like about this park is how CLEAN it is. Let’s keep it that way!

I’ve only ever come to Island Lake to mountain bike, but over the past several years I’ve made quite a few trips here.
There are a couple of loops here for riding, the blue and yellow loops. They are both pretty easy and for beginners. If you are looking for technical trails, you’ll have to head somewhere else. This is a much better ride to just get out there and spin your tires.
The trails have always been well kept while I’ve been there, and they really do have beautiful scenery. I’ve included a few pictures of what you might see here while you’re out riding. I took these myself while I was pausing on the trail.
I’d definitely suggest this place if you want a nice easy mountain biking ride :). Wear a helmet!

I visit this park at least a few times every year because it has a couple of great mountain bike trails. There are two main trails to follow, the blue (9 miles and more flat) and yellow (6 miles but more hills /​technical). I typically ride the yellow trail. Both of these trails are suited for beginners and intermediate riders. Helmets are recommended just to be safe!
To get to the trails enter the park off of Kensington Road and then follow the signs to trail head parking. There are maps of the trail available at the trail head parking lot, look for the well pump and a large wooden sign where you pull in. There are restrooms located in this lot as well although I think they are the non-​flush type.
The entry points to both trails are on the far side of the parking lot from where you entered and are marked. Both trails will exit at the trail head parking lot. Once on the trail there are small blue and yellow arrows marking which way to follow in the event the trail splits off. This is quite rare though and it’s easy and quite clear to follow this path around.
Remember these trails are one-​way so if you do need to make an exit, it’s safer to get off the trail at one of the road crossings and take the road back instead of potentially getting in an accident going the wrong way on the trail. Hikers have the right of way on this trail and can walk in either direction so always be courteous and cautious around them.
More information about this trail can be found here: