Torch Lake and the Chain of Lakes

Torch Lake is the longest inland lake in Michigan – and the deepest. On a sunny day its sandbars glow an almost Caribbean turquoise. That’s why people sometimes call it “Michigan’s Caribbean.” The name is much older, though. It comes from an Ojibwa word for the torches Native people once used at night to spear fish along the shallows.

Torch Lake is the centerpiece of the Elk River Chain of Lakes. That connected string of lakes – Bellaire, Clam, Torch, Elk, and more – winds through the middle of the county and drains west to Grand Traverse Bay. You can boat from lake to lake. The whole chain is a magnet for summer life: swimming, boating, paddling, and fishing. Several small communities sit right on the water, like Alden on Torch Lake’s quiet southeast shore.

Think of Torch Lake as one part of a larger water route, not as an isolated destination. The lake-to-lake connections explain why shoreline communities and recreation are spread across the chain instead of centered on one entrance or town.