The Heart of the Great Lakes

Lake St. Clair — the heart-shaped, two-nation lake nestled between southeast Michigan and Ontario, Canada, and Lakes Huron and Erie — is a playground for boating, fishing and exploring.

Standing on a stepstool at the helm of Grand Times, her grandfather’s Pursuit 2460 Denali, 7-year-old Phoebe already has developed good situational awareness and dead-reckoning skills. She knows how to “hold a chart” and dock the boat and loves freighter hunting, according to her grandpa, Jon Reesman, who is teaching her the ways of the water on Lake St. Clair, a hugely popular Metro Detroit waterway.

“I taught her how to be a helmsman,” he says.

Given that Lake St. Clair is large — 430 square miles, stretching 26 miles north-south and 24 miles east-west — Reesman says: “You don’t go in a circle — you go places, do things. That’s the beauty of Lake St. Clair.”

For generations of families like the Reesmans and legions of outdoor enthusiasts annually, the heart-shaped, two-nation lake between southeast Michigan and Ontario, Canada, is a veritable pleasure playground. It draws watercraft of all descriptions — sailboats, cruisers, pontoons, tritoons, kayaks, canoes, jet-skies and even major cruise ships — as well as birders, windsurfers, waterskiers, paddleboarders, swimmers, divers, tubers, duck hunters, restaurant-goers, sightseers and more.

And the fishing is phenomenal, luring anglers in all four seasons. Renowned as one of the world’s top smallmouth bass fisheries and a regular tournament site (this year’s Bassmaster Elite is August 7 – 10, 2025), Lake St. Clair also boasts abundant muskie, walleye, perch, Northern pike, sturgeon and other species; it accounts for nearly one-third of the entire annual Great Lakes sportfish catch.

So much to do

Located just upstream from downtown Detroit and Windsor, Lake St. Clair connects the upper and lower Great Lakes — Lake Huron and Lake Erie, respectively — via the St. Clair River and the Detroit River. It’s a vital transportation, commercial and recreation hub that’s sometimes called “the sixth Great Lake” or “the heart of the Great Lakes.”

Its name, which has stuck for nearly 350 years, originates from French Catholic explorers who first saw the lake on the feast day of Saint Clare of Assisi in 1679.

“People come a long way to visit the lake, and once they come, they come again — there’s so much to do here,” observes Kim Darrah, publisher of the “Lake St. Clair Guide,” whose current 25th anniversary edition runs 172 pages. With a website (lakestclairguide.com) and 20,000 print copies, the publication details lake life, including nearly 40 water-accessible restaurants, numerous waterside communities, and over 30 marinas, from mom and pop to super-size, including those with transient dockage in both the U.S. and Canada.

“It’s a great family destination. There are so many canals and bays to explore and tons of swim areas,” Darrah says, adding that Lake St. Clair is friendly for boats of all sizes. “The water is clean and clear, with hard bottoms that are sandy and weed-free.

“And every weekend there’s a festival somewhere,” she continues, including the Michigan Chapter of the ACBS’s 40th annual Antique & Classic Boat Show on June 21 at Algonac Harbour Club marina — the site of the original Chris-Craft plant, the so-called “cradle of power boating,” dating back over 100 years.

With an average depth of 11 feet and a maximum natural depth of 23 feet, Lake St. Clair is 27.5 feet deep in the North Channel, the shipping channel that’s dredged for lake freighter passage by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with support from the Ontario government.

The St. Clair Flats, where the St. Clair River empties into the lake, is North America’s largest freshwater delta, providing crucial habitat for fish, wildlife and waterfowl, plus solitude for boaters. It’s on two ancestral bird migration routes, the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways.

Harsens Island, in the delta’s South and Middle channels, is a favorite weekend destination for boaters, offering quaint cottages, historic landmarks and popular swimming bays, including Little and Big Muscamoot.

Lake St. Clair’s annual Raft Off, the second Saturday in August, typically draws upwards of 1,500 high-energy boaters. Against a backdrop of blaring music, revelers walk through “the Gauntlet” — a mile or so of boats tied up together, depending on water levels, in one of the two ’Moots.

Even more legendary, Jobbie Nooner is a raucous annual boaters’ blast on the last Friday in June (June 27 this year). It’s so popular that organizers added Jobbie Nooner Two, scheduled for the first Saturday after Labor Day, September 6, 2025.

A floating cottage lifestyle

Beyond its reputation for spring break-like partying in some spots, the lake is beloved by many for the camaraderie it fosters among boaters, as well as its relaxed lifestyle.

Jennifer and Brian Semivan of Royal Oak, Michigan, have sailed Lake St. Clair for decades, enjoying activities ranging from freighter- and sunset-watching to regattas and marina-hopping, including in Canada: Belle River Marina, Cove Marina and Lakeview Park Marina near Peche Island, and the Windsor Yacht Club.

Mistral, their 28-foot Columbia Mk II sailboat, is currently docked at Crescent Sail Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, where Brian helps instruct adult learn-to-sail sessions on Mondays and Saturdays.

In addition to Lake St. Clair’s recreation options, the Semivans say they appreciate its Detroit connection. “Sometimes we’ll just be kind of dreamy and think of all the commerce and history, going back centuries, that took place on the lake,” he says. “It’s amazing to still be part of that heritage.”

Over in Harrison Township, on Anchor Bay, Connie and Gary Kent have embraced marina life for nearly 40 years at Safe Harbor Belle Maer, Lake St. Clair’s largest marina with about 900 slips.

Featuring resort-style amenities, including a pool, playground, concerts, dancing, movies, pickleball, indoor basketball and tennis courts and, now, food trucks, it’s like upscale “camping on the water,” Connie says.

Besides restaurant-hopping and star-gazing, the Kents delight in holiday celebrations, including July 4th fireworks shows, post-Labor Day Halloween parties and special events such as poker runs, cardboard regattas and light parades. And they look forward to “bird’s eye views” of the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels during air shows at nearby Selfridge Air National Guard base. Occasionally, they even see parachutists dropping from the sky.

Like the Kents, Janet Korn enjoys what she calls a “floating cottage lifestyle” and “boat-gating” with marina friends at Safe Harbor Belle Maer. She drives about 5.5 hours round-trip nearly every weekend from Grand Rapids to join Don MacDonald aboard Mac’s Toy, his Sea Ray 280 Sundancer.

“You get on the water and you just relax,” Korn says.

Favorite Lake St. Clair activities include ogling homes and cottages while floating along nearby canals in their smaller “happy hour boat,” a 13-foot vintage Boston Whaler, and visiting restaurants such as Mike’s on the Water, which reminds her of Key West on St. Clair Shores’ Nautical Mile (try the fish tacos, salmon BLT and tater tots).

Korn also appreciates Lake St. Clair’s proximity to downtown Detroit and William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor, where it’s convenient to dock and visit Eastern Market or attend a Detroit Tigers baseball game. She also enjoys waterside concerts at Aretha Franklin Park Amphitheatre and views of Belle Isle.