SUP on Pigeon Lake, MI

Pigeon Lake April 1st 2019

Monday April 1st, what a beautiful day for a paddle! The plan was to head on over to Grand Haven MI for a morning paddle session. Upon getting to the channel and seeing the close to 8 ft waves and gusting winds flowing into the channel from Lake Michigan, the destination quickly changed to Pigeon Lake in West Olive MI.

Located directly in the middle of Grand Haven and Holland, Pigeon Lake makes a pretty great winter and summer paddle destination. There is a public access boat launch which is very easy to launch from, but that whole side of the lake was completely frozen over so we had to park over at Sandy Point beach house restaurant, where it is very easy to walk over to another launch point.

I zipped up my wetsuit and clipped on my lifejacket and eagerly hopped on the water. Much of the lake was still frozen over which made for incredible scenery. Passing by iceburgs and even forging my way through and hearing the crackle of paper thin ice break beneath the board made for an awesome day!The weather cooperated beautifully as the sun was shining and a relatively warm 45 degree spring day. On Pigeon lake there is a natural wind and wave free cove which makes paddling ideal.

There is a decent size main little lake area but if you are looking to extend your trip you can keep going along the channel, passing by beautiful homes and eventually making your way out into Lake Michigan.

Today was not a day I wanted to be out on Lake Michigan so we just stayed in the quiet little bay area maneuvering around ice fixtures and thinking about warmer weather. But as for my first of the year paddling experience I'd say I hit the jackpot paddling Pigeon Lake.

Isaac