Living on Higgins Lake: deep, cold, and famously clear

Higgins Lake is the one people rave about for its water — deep, cold, and so clear you can see far down on a calm day. It’s one of Michigan’s largest lakes, and unlike shallow Houghton Lake to the south, it drops to well over 100 feet in places. That clear, cold water makes it a different kind of lake: prized for swimming, sailing, paddling, and trout and perch fishing, with a state park on the south shore (and another just over the county line to the north) for public access.

All that beauty comes at a price. Higgins Lake frontage is some of the most sought-after — and priciest — real estate in the region, and lots tend to be smaller and held tightly. The communities of Higgins Lake and Roscommon are close by for everyday needs.

For buyers: as on Houghton Lake, many homes here are on a community sewer system to protect the water quality, and lakefront owners usually pay into a lake board for water-level control and weed treatment. Check what sewer setup a property has, and what the yearly lake assessment costs.