Hamlin Lake home appraisals
Hamlin Township's median owner value was $281,400 in the 2020 to 2024 survey, according to Census Reporter, and Hamlin Lake explains much of that. The dammed lake covers about 4,990 acres and runs roughly 12 miles. Ludington State Park sits between the lake and Lake Michigan, which keeps a long stretch of shoreline out of private hands.
Two basins split by the narrows
Hamlin Lake forms where a dam backs up the Big Sable River before it reaches Lake Michigan. The western basin reaches about 80 feet deep and the eastern one about 34, with the narrows between them. The first dam powered a sawmill in the 1850s. A wooden dam failed in 1888 and flooded the town of Hamlin, and a 1912 rebuild failed too. A lake sale is worth reading for which basin it sat on.
Permits for summer renters
Hamlin Township regulates rentals under Ordinance 58. Applications opened September 2, 2025, at the township hall on North Jebavy Drive, with a $25 application fee and a $1,000 permit good for three years. The township covers 34.40 square miles, almost seven of them water. To the north, Grant Township has 925 residents and Lake Michigan on its west side, and Victory Township has 1,406 residents, the Lincoln River and the old settlement of Chapple Corners.
Areas, lakes and neighborhoods in this file
- Hamlin Lake
- Hamlin Township
- Ludington State Park
- Big Sable Point
- Big Sable River
- Grant Township
- Victory Township
- Chapple Corners
- Lincoln River
Landmarks around Hamlin Lake
- Hamlin LakeInland lake
- Ludington State ParkState park
- Big Sable Point LightLighthouse
- Nordhouse Dunes WildernessWilderness area
- Big Sable RiverRiver