By Rick Fowler
HOUGHTON LAKE- Read through any brochure about Houghton Lake and most likely the following passage will be found. “Houghton Lake is one of the largest resort areas in the state and home of the largest inland lake in the lower peninsula and offers a wide variety of opportunities for families and sport enthusiasts year-round.”
However, sometimes mother nature does not cooperate with all plans, wishes and vacation time. Therefore, travelers need to adapt to their destination point in order to still enjoy their time away from home. However, local businesses have experienced this uncooperative weather and have needed to adapt when and if cancellations started to come in.
Case in point, for the past six years I have been part of the media staff which covers Mark Martin’s Ice Fishing Schools. The first of the three schools begins with Houghton Lake in early January of each year. In 2023 the school was cancelled due to unsafe ice conditions. Unfortunately, 2024 brought with it the same weather pattern. The lakes were once again unsafe (at this writing) to venture out on during this time frame.
I visited the Lakes area on January 4-5 of this year to see how businesses and residents were coping with yet another hit to the local economy. Many of these establishments, and a few local individuals responded to my questions with the following reasoning. “Indeed, the businesses that cater to the school attendees and staff will feel the brunt of this cancellation. Yet it isn’t just the lack of ice. With so little snow many of the resorts, motels, vacation rentals will also feel the crunch due to no snowmobiling as yet. BUT we have no control over Mother Nature. However, we can’t just sit here and die.”
Even though there wasn’t any hint of snow on my visit. It will forthcoming and the ice will be solid soon with forecasted low temperatures at night. But keep in mind there are literally miles and miles of trails to hike, snowshoe, snowmobile and trail ride. Even though one source of recreation might not be available at the time there are so many other options to explore in the Houghton Lake area.
Houghton Lake, indeed all of Roscommon County has a rich and storied past from a lumberjack town to a resort community who welcomes visitors with a wide array of outside activities.
This community has shown their resiliency, adaptability and their willingness to embrace those who come to visit. Theresa Ekdom, Executive Director of the Houghton Lake Area Tourism Bureau stated, “The weather doesn’t always cooperate when you have a trip planned, so you need to be able to adapt. For instance, if you’ve planned an ice fishing trip a while ago, but there’s no ice on the lake, try fishing from shore. You may have to change the bait you planned on using, and or the species you are trying to catch, but it still gives you a chance to be outdoors. To me, that’s all a part of fishing-enjoying the outdoors and the people I’m fishing with.’
In other words, Plans B and C are sometimes as useful and fun as Plan A.
For more information call 800-676-5330 or www.visithoughtonlake.com
