Mullett Lake is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Cheboygan County

Cheboygan County, Michigan

-Commercial Airline:There are no commercial airline airports in Cheboygan County but the nearest ones are Alpena County Regional Airport, Chippewa County International Airport , and Cherry Capital Airport...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. The lake is named after John Mullett, who, together with William A. Burt, made a federal survey of the area from 1840 to 1843. A neighboring lake was named after Burt. Historically, Mullett Lake has been recorded as Mullet Lake, Mullet's Lake, and Mullett's Lake on maps and documents.

Description of lake

The lake is approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) long from southwest to northeast, about 4 miles (6.4 km) at its widest, and 120 feet (36.6 m) at its deepest. It covers 17360 acres (70.3 km²), making it the third largest inland lake in Michigan.

Major inflows to the lake are the Indian River

Indian River (Mullett Lake)

Indian River in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is a short waterway in Cheboygan County that flows from Burt Lake at to Mullett Lake at...

, which connects with nearby Burt Lake

Burt Lake

Burt Lake is a 17,120 acre lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The western shore of the lake is on the boundary with Emmet County...

, Pigeon River, Little Pigeon River

Little Pigeon River (Mullett Lake)

The Little Pigeon River is a stream in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan.The stream rises in Koehler Township at , out of a marshy area fed by Kimberly Creek approximately one mile north of the community of Afton....

, Sturgeon River

Sturgeon River (Michigan)

Sturgeon River may refer to any of the following streams in the U.S. state of Michigan:* Sturgeon River — The Sturgeon River rises as outflow of Sixteenmile Lake in Alger County at and flows primarily southward into the Big Bay de Noc at .** The West Branch Sturgeon River rises at and flows...

 and Mullett Creek. The Cheboygan River

Cheboygan River

The Cheboygan River is a short but significant river in the Lake Huron drainage basin of the U.S. state of Michigan. in length, the Cheboygan River flows from the north end of Mullett Lake at to the Straits of Mackinac at . The river forms the boundary between Benton Township and Inverness...

 flows out of the northeast end of the lake.

The lake is part of the great Inland Waterway

Inland Waterway (Michigan)

The Inland Waterway or Inland Water Route is a series of rivers and lakes in the U.S. state of Michigan. With only a short portage, it forms a navigable route for small craft connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan across the Northern Michigan region....

, by which one can boat 38 miles (61.2 km) from Crooked Lake and Round Lake near the Little Traverse Bay

Little Traverse Bay

Little Traverse Bay is a small bay, 170 feet deep, off Lake Michigan in the northern area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Harbor Springs and Petoskey are on this bay.The Little Traverse Light marks its entrance....

 of Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

 across the northern tip of the lower peninsula's

Lower Peninsula of Michigan

The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is the southern of the two major landmasses of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is surrounded by water on all sides except its southern border, which it shares with Ohio and Indiana. Geographically, the Lower Peninsula has a recognizable shape that many people...

 so-called mitten to Cheboygan

Cheboygan, Michigan

Cheboygan is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 5,295. It is the county seat of Cheboygan County....

 on Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...

.

The Inland Waterway was a Native American trade route that was later opened to small steamer and modern recreational traffic.

I-75

Interstate 75

Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...

 passes to the west of the lake, with two interchanges near the south end of the lake at the unincorporated community of Indian River

Indian River, Michigan

Indian River is an unincorporated community in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place for statistical purposes and is not legally recognized as a municipality. The population was 2,008 at the 2000 census....

. M-27

M-27 (Michigan highway)

M-27 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the extreme north of the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The route runs between Interstate 75 just north of Indian River and Cheboygan, where it meets US Highway 23 near Lake Huron...

 passes along the northern shore of the lake through the unincorporated communities of Mullett Lake and Topinabee, while M-33

M-33 (Michigan highway)

M-33 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that runs from Interstate 75 at Alger in Arenac County north to M-27 near Cheboygan. In between, the trunkline runs through rural sections of the northeastern Lower Peninsula including state and national forest areas...

 running north-south passes along a portion of the eastern shore through the community of Aloha.

Mullett Lake is an excellent fishery, containing large populations of game species, including brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

, brook trout

Brook trout

The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...

, rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

, lake trout

Lake trout

Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...

, splake

Splake

The splake is a hybrid of two fish species resulting from the crossing of a male brook trout and a female lake trout...

, smelt, northern Pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, muskellunge

Muskellunge

A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...

, yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

, walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, smallmouth bass

Smallmouth bass

The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...

, largemouth bass

Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...

, and most notably lake sturgeon

Lake sturgeon

The lake sturgeon is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates...

 (the state record specimen was taken from these waters)

In the census designated place of Mullett Lake, which is located on the north end of Mullett Lake, there is a historic former Michigan Central passenger train station. The station sits directly at the end of Polish Line Road and has about 200 feet (61 m) of lake front property. It was bought in 1950 by an old railroad employee once it shut down and was turned into a family cottage. The "Old Depot", which is the nickname for the cottage, was the main connection between Detroit and Mackinaw City. The former railbed now serves as the North Central State Trail

North Central State Trail

The North Central State Trail is a recreational rail trail serving a section of the northern quarter of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Following a route generally parallel to Interstate 75, the trail goes northward from the Michigan town of Gaylord to the top of the Lower...

.