The lakes, ponds and streams in the park are homes for the frogs, turtles, perch, bass, and pike as well as the wealth of Mayflies, dragonflies, black flies, stone flies, and caddis flies. There are many waterfowl species that use these water resources for nesting or resting during migration and even during the winter in the unfrozen portions of the streams.
The few studies that we have of our lakes and streams indicate that they are the clean, healthy aquatic systems that you expect to find in northern Michigan. Even so, they are at risk to pollution, invasion by exotic species, and overuse.
There are 26 lakes and ponds and four streams in the park as well as a variety of wetlands. They provide excellent recreation opportunities for the park visitor for canoeing, fishing, and wildlife viewing. The park restricts the use on most of the small lakes to non-motorized boats in order to preserve the quality of the resource and the visitor experience. Many lakes are in the wilderness-designated portion of the park.
