Living on Lake St. Helen

Lake St. Helen, on the east side of the county, is the third of Roscommon County’s big lakes — about 2,400 acres, with the small, friendly community of St. Helen along its shore. Like Houghton Lake, it’s shallow and warm (mostly under 10 feet deep), which means good fishing for bass, bluegill, crappie, walleye, and pike, and an easygoing all-sports lake for boating and swimming. St. Helen grew up as a lumber town and is known for its summer Bluegill Festival.

It’s quieter and more affordable than the Higgins Lake scene, which is part of the appeal. The lake is also the headwaters of the South Branch of the Au Sable River, a famous trout stream just downstream.

For buyers: Lake St. Helen has a court-set legal lake level that the county keeps steady, and — like the other lakes — owners may pay a yearly special assessment toward lake-level and weed control. Worth asking about, along with whether a given property is on a well and septic or a community system.