Whitewater Township and Lake Skegemog

In the northeast corner of the county, Whitewater Township is quiet, rural, and rich in water. Its main community is Williamsburg, a small crossroads on M-72 east of Traverse City, best known today as the home of Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel, run by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

The township sits at the southwest end of one of northern Michigan’s great waterways. Lake Skegemog and Elk Lake here are the bottom of the Elk River Chain of Lakes — a connected string of 14 lakes stretching more than 75 miles up into Antrim County, all the way to Torch Lake. From a boat launch on Skegemog or Elk Lake, you can travel by water for miles through the chain. Much of Skegemog’s marshy southern end is protected as the Skegemog Lake Wildlife Area, a large preserve with quiet trails and great birdwatching, and the nearby Sand Lakes Quiet Area offers more non-motorized woods and small lakes.

For buyers, this is a mix of lakefront homes, wooded acreage, and farmland, generally calmer and more affordable than the bay shore. Homes here are on wells and septic (see the well-and-septic note).