Elk Lake Piece of Heaven

We had an amazing week in Elk Lake! We came here with 2 families, and 4 kids, ranging in age from 11 to 9months. All were very entertained and enjoyed the lake. The weather was great! Most days were sunny and 75 degrees, which felt much warmer. The lake was a little chilly for the baby, but the older kids loved it! The yard is great, with a nice grassy area, along with the beach.

The lake: there were some small rocks and larger stones at the entry to the water, but a few steps in was sandy and clear. We had a few mornings that multitudes of fish fly (or some type of insect) carcasses had floated into shore, but we skimmed them off with a net and all was good. We also found quite a few small Petoskey stones in the shallow water. The kids loved this!

The yard: nice, soft, green grass. The only downfall of the yard was the goose poop. We scooped it up the first day and that lasted until later in the week. We scooped again on Thursday and had no more problems. The covered area under the walkout level was great for shade. Also, there is a picnic table under there.

There was a whole bin of rafts and beach toys, as well as 2 kayaks and a paddle boat that the kids spent hours paddling around in. The fire pit was great for the cooler evening weather.

The house: fantastic, well-equipped, clean, open, and spacious.

You walk in the front door to a wide open living space. To your left is the wide open kitchen. Plenty of dishes, utensils, and counter space. The cabinets were even left stocked with prior renters leftovers, which is nice to have. (Spices, sugar, flour, pancake mix, unopened pasta, etc). The refrigerator was big and newer.

To the right of the entry was a laundry room, which leads into a bath, which leads into a bedroom. On the other side of the split floor plan was the master bed/bath. The closet was great. It was so big that we plugged in a nite light and set up babys pack n play like a small nursery.

Down the stairs to the walkout is another split floor plan. A bedroom in each side, one with 2 twins and a trundle. The other with a queen/twin bunk. It is very cool in the walkout level, but there were plenty of blankets.

All 4 bedrooms have lake views with sliders to the deck/patio.

Grocery shopping: we bought food for the week at the Village Market which has everything you will need.

We definately enjoyed our week and plan to book again for next summer!

Thank you for sharing your wonderful lake house with our family!

This was overall a great place for our multi-family vacation. We had lots of fun. The beds were comfortable, & the kitchen was well equipped. We enjoyed great views of Elk Lake. The older kids enjoyed the 2 kayaks, paddle boat, pier, bicycles, & fire pit, while the small kids enjoyed the little sand beach. A Lake Michigan beach, which also had tennis & basketball courts, was only 10 minutes away. Everyone enjoyed renting a ski boat - plenty of space for skiing/tubing without traffic from other boats. At night we all enjoyed evening games at the large game table in the lower level.

The cottage was advertised as sleeping 8-15 people. However, we were very surprised to find that the cottage sleeps only 9 people in beds & one on a futon. The bed count should be changed to accurately reflect number of places to sleep in beds. It should then mention that there's s large lower level area where 6 more people (brings number of guests up to 15) could sleep on blow-up mattresses that guests need to provide for themselves. Since that lower level is cold, more warm blankets wold be nice. Also, seating for meals was for 8 people indoors & 4 on the outside deck. We had to eat in shifts to make that work when the weather was cool.

We had been warned of possible swimmer's itch from swimming in Elk lake, but this did not materialize even though our little ones swam in shallow water in front of the cottage. We did, though, towel off thoroughly after swimming.

This is a very nicely appointed cottage on the Northern tip of Elk Lake - one of the nicest lakes I have ever stayed on! It very easily accomodated 4 adults and 4 kids. The beach area was fantastic - shallow with a sandy bottom beach with crystal clear water! We enjoyed a spectacular view of the lake from virtually every major room of the cottage. The deck is Huge and ideal for ourdoor dining. Some of the features included a large Char Broil grill, very comfortable deck chairs, fire pit by the lake, nicely appointed kitchen, comfortable furniture, flat screen t.v.'s, comfortable beds, 2 gas fireplaces, ample seating around a large kitchen island, a paddle boat (huge hit for the kids!) and plenty of storage space for clothes, toys, recreational vehicles, etc. This is a newer cottage with windows everywhere! The pictures on this site are very accurate and up to date. We rented a Pontoon boat at the Torch River Marina and had a great time driving it to the cottage through the scenic river which connects Torch to Elk via lake Skegemog (total trip about 1 1/2 hours and not even a 1/4 tank of gas). You will be amazed at how absolutely clear this lake is. A sandy bottom makes it perfect for swiming. The kids insisted we stop the boat regulary so that they could jump in. The town of Elk Rapids was just minutes away, the Torch River Marina was also minutes away. Our favorite restaurant was a great New Orleans style restaurant (Pearl's) which was just down the road. We loved the location of this cottage. We took a day trip to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes (Glen Arbor) which was only an hour away. This was complimented by a Kayak trip down the Crystal River (Crystal River Outfitters). We also made a day out of returning the Pontoon boat by pulling the kids in some fun water towables (the pontoon boat had a 115 hp engine), stopping at various sand bars, lunch on the water, touring Torch Lake and finally stopping at the Dockside Bar on the Clam River. The Elk River Marina was a convenient place to top off the tank on Elk Lake although they were out of boats when we tried to reserve. The owner of this cottage is TERRIFIC to work with and very attentive to your needs. We will return!

A great place for a family get together. We had 3 families and there was plenty of room for blowup mattresses in the lower level, the view of the lake from every window is beautiful, the furniture is comfortable and I'm sure we will be back next summer.

The one addition that would be great is a mirror and maybe a small chest of drawers in the downstairs bedrooms and a brighter light in the lower level bathroom. The beds are all very comfortable. We had a great time with the paddle boat but next time might rent a boat for a few days for fishing. Already looking forward to next year!

great house, stayed a week labor day 2009. plenty of room, clean, beautiful kitchen with nice pots, pans and dishes. has a nice beach with firepit close to water. beautiful lake view from every room in the house. only downfall its pretty close to the road but you wont even know it once inside, definitly would reccomend!