New Data on the Best Time to Visit Every Major Michigan Lake

Article courtesy of Lake.com.

New data on the best time to visit every major Michigan lake.

A new study by Lake.com has revealed the best time to visit each major lake in the US.
The study used Tripadvisor reviews and assessed the most common date that five-star reviews were posted.
July is by far the best month to visit a lake in the US, with August and September following.
Michigan is the rare state where lake season doesn’t peak in July like most of the country.

A new study has revealed the best months to visit any of the most popular lakes in the US.

The study, by Lake.com, a vacation rental site, analyzed five-star reviews for each major lake in the US on Tripadvisor. The date of review publication was then analyzed to determine when five-star reviews were posted the most to see when is the best time to visit each popular lake in the country.

To make the study fair and accurate, only reviews that cited that they had just visited the lakes were counted so as not to conflate review posting date with actual visiting. The study looked at the month in the year that had the highest volume of five-star reviews as well as the single week in the year that had the highest concentration of five-star reviews. This means that the month and week could be different.

Michigan is the rare state where lake season doesn’t peak in July like most of the country – instead, its Great Lakes shine across a rolling stretch from late summer into fall. A new study of Tripadvisor reviews found travelers rate Lake Huron highest in August, Lake Superior and Lake St. Clair in September, and Lake Michigan not until October, making it one of the biggest outliers in the entire country. While 27 US lakes drew their best reviews in July, Michigan’s waters quietly prove that the finest lake experience isn’t always about peak-summer sunshine.

The best months to visit your favorite lake

July was the month that saw the highest volume of five-star reviews across all lakes. Among the lakes that are the best to visit in July are Yellowstone Lake, Pickwick Lake, and more.

August and September followed as the second and third best months to go for a lake trip. Out of all the lakes analyzed in the study, August was the best month to visit for 12 of them while September was the best month to visit for 8 of them.

In comparison, February is the least popular time to visit, with zero lakes in the study having the most five-star reviews falling in this month.

The best week to visit your favorite lake

The best week in the year also fell in July, with 9 of the lakes analyzed having the most five-star reviews in the week between July 8^th to July 14^th. This was followed closely by the week just before, July 1^st to July 7^th.

The best month and week to visit each lake, according to Tripadvisor reviews

Lake	State(s)	Best month to visit	Best week to visit
Flathead Lake	Montana	July	July 8^th to 14^th
Lake Ouachita	Arkansas	August	July 29^th to August 4^th
Lake Chelan	Washington	July	July 8^th to 14^th
Table Rock Lake	Missouri, Arkansas	June	June 10^th to 16^th
Moosehead Lake	Maine	July	July 8^th to 14^th
Lake Tahoe	California, Nevada	September	September 30^th to October 6^th
Cayuga Lake	New York	July	July 1^st to 7^th
Seneca Lake	New York	August	August 12^th to 18^th
Lake Michigan	Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois	October	October 7^th to 13^th
Lake George	New York	August	August 12^th to 18^th
Yellowstone Lake	Wyoming	July	July 1^st to 7^th
Bear Lake	Utah, Idaho	July	July 1^st to 7^th
Lake Ontario	New York	August	August 5^th to 11^th
Lake Champlain	New York, Vermont	August	July 1^st to 7^th
Lake Mead	Nevada, Arizona	April	April 1^st to 7^th
Lake Norman	North Carolina	July	May 27^th to June 2^nd
Lake Kissimmee	Florida	January	January 8^th to 14^th
Great Salt Lake	Utah	September	September 16^th to 22^nd
Lake Pontchartrain	Louisiana	July	July 1^st to 7^th
Lake Livingston	Texas	June	April 15^th to 21^st
Lake Guntersville	Alabama	July	July 29^th to August 4^th
Lake Hartwell	South Carolina, Georgia	September	September 9^th to 15^th
Leech Lake	Minnesota	July	July 8^th to 14^th
Lake Winnipesaukee	New Hampshire	August	August 19th to 25th
Lake Cumberland	Kentucky	August	July 29^th to August 4^th
Elephant Butte Lake	New Mexico	July	June 24th to 30th
Salton Sea	California	April	February 26th to March 3rd
Lake Pend Oreille	Idaho	August	July 8^th to 14^th
Lake of the Ozarks	Missouri	July	September 2nd to 8th
Lake Murray	South Carolina	September	April 22nd to 28th
Lake St. Clair	Michigan	September	October 21st to 27th
Lake Martin	Alabama	August	June 17th to 23rd
Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees	Oklahoma	July	July 1^st to 7^th
Lake Dardanelle	Arkansas	May	August 19th to 25th
Norris Lake	Tennessee	July	July 29th to August 4th
Grenada Lake	Mississippi	July	March 25th to 31st
Wheeler Lake	Alabama	July	July 1^st to 7^th
Lake Okeechobee	Florida	January	August 5^th to 11^th
Bull Shoals Lake	Arkansas, Missouri	July	July 8^th to 14^th
Pyramid Lake	Nevada	July	October 1^st to 7^th
Rainy Lake	Minnesota	July	July 29th to August 4th
Fort Peck Lake	Montana	July	July 15th to 21st
Clear Lake	California	April	February 12th to 18th
Mille Lacs Lake	Minnesota	July	September 30th to October 6th
Lake Tawakoni	Texas	July	July 8^th to 14^th
Lake Marion	South Carolina	April	April 8th to 14th
Lake Mattamuskeet	North Carolina	December	January 15th to 21st
Lake Powell	Utah, Arizona	November	March 18th to 24th
Lake Texoma	Texas, Oklahoma	June	September 30th to October 6th
Devils Lake	North Dakota	July	August 5th to 11th
Eufaula Lake	Oklahoma	November	November 13th to 19th
Lake Barkley	Kentucky, Tennessee	July	November 4th to 10th
Lake Superior	Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota	September	December 16th to 22nd
Lake Erie	Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York	September	August 12th to 18th
Naknek Lake	Alaska	July	July 15th to 21st
Pickwick Lake	Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi	July	March 18th to 24th
Lake Huron	Michigan	August	August 12th to 18th
Lake Vermilion	Minnesota	August	July 29th to August 4th
Lake Lanier	Georgia	May	May 6th to 12th
Sam Rayburn Reservoir	Texas	June	July 8^th to 14^th
Lake Clark	Alaska	August	August 12th to 18th
Lake Koocanusa	Montana	March	March 11th to 17th
Lake Sakakawea	North Dakota	September	September 16th to 22nd
Iliamna Lake	Alaska	July	July 8^th to 14^th
Oneida Lake	New York	October	May 13th to 19th
Kerr Lake	Virginia, North Carolina	June	June 3^rd to 9^th
Lake Winnebago	Wisconsin	June	June 3^rd to 9^th
Richland-Chambers Reservoir	Texas	June	June 3^rd to 9^th

David Ciccarelli, CEO of Lake.com, commented on the findings: “America is home to some of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and ultimately, you could go any day of the year and be blown away, but what this study offers is an insight into when visitors are impressed the most.

“This then serves as a guide for those planning trips to some of these great lakes as to the best time of the year to do so and where your money that you spend on a trip will be the best spent. Equally, for locals, if you have spare time in the weeks that these lakes get the best reviews, it’s worth visiting to see it for yourself.

“What really stood out in the data was how Michigan bucks the national trend. While nearly 40% of all lakes peaked in July, every major Michigan lake peaks later, with Lake Michigan not reaching its stride until October. It suggests visitors who wait until the crowds thin out are often the ones having the best experience.

“However, this study doesn’t just highlight when to visit the lake, but offers more insight into general travel planning. Prices could be higher around these times as demand is understandably high, so planning your trip in advance is key so that you can experience these lakes at their best without needing to spend too much on nearby rentals or gas.”

The number of lakes that had the highest number of five-star reviews in each month.

Month	Number of Lakes
January	2
February	0
March	1
April	4
May	2
June	7
July	27
August	12
September	8
October	2
November	2
December	1

The study was conducted by Lake.com, a vacation rental platform offering 75,000 properties near the water across North America and Europe, where families experience the great outdoors.

Sources:

Tripadvisor and Lake.com

Methodology: Tripadvisor reviews for all major lakes in the US were scraped. The date on which five-star reviews were posted were then logged and analyzed to determine the frequency with which reviews were made. From there, the month and the week that had the highest concentration of five-star reviews was identified.

Please note that only reviews that cited they had just visited were used, to not conflate posting date and actual visitation date.

Please note that the best month and the best week were assessed independently, which means that they could be two separate months, as one month could have the highest volume of five-star reviews but spread across the whole month, while one week in another month could have the single highest concentration of five star reviews in a single week.