Gun Lake (Michigan)

Infobox lake
lake_name = Gun Lake
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location = Barry County, Michigan
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basin_countries = United States
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area = convert|2680|acre|km2|1
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Gun Lake is a lake in the U.S. state of Michigan, located mostly in Barry County with the southwestern tip extending into Allegan County. Along most of the lake are numerous summer homes, cottages, and permanent residences. The Yankee Springs Recreation Area is based on northeastern portions of the lake. Gun Lake is the location of a State Park with a boat launch, two beaches, a campground, and picnic areas.

Features

Gun lake is shaped like a butterfly; it has two halves that are somewhat symmetrical and shaped like the wings of a butterfly. It reaches approximately 65 feet deep in one spot, while other bays never get deeper than 7 feet. In the Northwest corner is Robbin's Bay, a deep bay that is a popular fishing spot. In the southeast quarter is an island known as "Party Island" to the residents. On the weekends many boats gather there because of the shallow, sandy rim around the island. Its offical name is Orangeville Island. Other then Robbin's Bay, popular fishing spots include Pricral Cove, on the southern shore, on the left "wing" of the lake, Barrings Cove, and the many channels that protrude off the "butterfly" part of the lake. It is the popular tourist destination in the summer, but is said to be the most beautiful at the end, when only full time residents are there. Although many of the locals dislike the many visitors that come and go, the shops and businesses sprinkled along the shores and inland enjoy that time of year. In the winter, many activitys play a part in the lives of people that live there, such and WInterfest, where events such as a polar bear dip take place, and ice fishing in also a common sight in the cold months.

History

Famous bootlegger Al Capone is rumored to have lived in a cottage on a hill overlooking the southeastern bay of Gun Lake, with a grand guest house closer to the shore. A common game they liked to play was put their cars on the lake and see whose was the first to fall though, and this game took several months to compleate because the ice got (and still does) go thik. This game is now modernized today when parts of the lake become like parking lots there are so many cars on it, although most of them are there to get their snow-mobils on the ice and race them, not to loose their several thousand dollar Honda. At one point, the lake was five separate lakes, but with the building of a 5 foot damn, it created the Gun Lake that can be seen today. In its early days, the damn was exploded several times by farmers, angry that their land got flooded, but was re-built every time and the new one has been there for the past 30 years. One tour boat company chugged along the lake for several years as the Gun Lake Princess, and everyone could tell when the Princess was sailing, its long white exterior and roof to top it off with now windows was quite recognizable. It has sense stopped running.

Food

*Sam's Joint
*South Side Pizza
*The Gun Lake Grind
*Curly Cone Ice Cream
*Daisy Mai's

External links

* [http://www.michigandnr.com/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/ifr/ifrlibra/status/waterbody/91-2.htm Gun Lake, Allegan and Barry Counties, MI] - Michigan DNR
* [http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/SPATIALDATALIBRARY/PDF_MAPS/INLAND_LAKE_MAPS/BARRY/GUN_LAKE.PDF Michigan DNR map of Gun Lake]