The Wolf Lake Yacht Club

Located on Big Wolf Lake in Jackson County, Michigan there is a beautiful chain of lakes that does not get talked about much. The Michigan Center Chain of Lakes is a fairly quiet and private chain. It also happens to be home to the Wolf Lake Yacht Club. The Wolf Lake Yacht Club is located on the north shore of Big Wolf Lake at 357 Highland Drive and can be accessed from Lee Road out between Grass Lake and Napoleon.

The Wolf Lake Yacht Club was established in 1939. My family and I joined the club in 2022 and so I hope the information is up to date and helpful. The building offers a large eating or gathering space upstairs for entertaining. This could be used for dining with lots of tables, or it could be left open and used as a dance floor depending on the event. Upstairs also has a bar area. The upstairs space can be reserved by members only for events as well. There is a commercial Kitchen downstairs including a large walk in refrigerator. Downstairs also has a nice sized dining area, a bar, restrooms with a baby changing station, and doors leading out to the deck which is partially covered and overlooks beautiful Big Wolf Lake. As you can see in the photo there are multiple decks offering great views of the lake. In addition to the decks there is a gazebo several picnic tables and a large open area for entertaining just off the downstairs kitchen and bathrooms. There is also ample parking up top.

While the Wolf Lake Yacht Club does is based on membership, there are a couple of things to know. One is that the club requires that you have a sponsor (someone who is in the club already) in order to join. Second, it is quite reasonably priced. As of my writing this blog there is a one time initiation charge of $150. When you complete the application to join you would send $50 with your application. You will then meet with the clubs board members. They will decide if you can join based on your meeting. If all goes well your $50 will be applied to your $150 initiation charge. In addition to that cost, there is a $290 annual member fee. After that, there are options you could pay additionally for such as having a boat slip which is a big perk. There is a wait list for the boat slip, but depending on how things go, you may move up that list fairly quickly. There is also a sailing club, so feel free to ask about the options available or check out their website.

The club does do a nice job of maintaining the property, and creating a community atmosphere through different events. Some of the different events that they have held in the past are the annual 4th of July Pancake Breakfast and boat parade, the annual BBQ, garage sales where unsold items are donated to Saint Vincent de Paul, the Easter Egg hunts including the opportunity to meet the Easter Bunny, Spa events, Spring and Fall Clean up, and the ever popular Euchre card game nights in the fall and winter.

One cool fact about the Wolf Lake Yacht Club is that they sit on a historic property. The Club is built on what used to be the site of the Wolf Lake Casino. Check out this video about the history of the Wolf Lake Casino from the Lost Railway Museum in Grass Lake Michigan. If you prefer, you could also choose to read the article about the Wolf Lake Casino from Mlive here.

If you are looking into a membership, click here. If you are looking to contact the Wolf Lake Yacht Club follow the link for their Facebook page, or here is their contact info:

Mail Address:WLYC P.O. BOX 528 Grass Lake, MI 49240 357 Highland Drive Jackson Michigan 49201 Email: wlyc2013@gmail.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDHSMs6hgjY

We hope you found this article helpful. Please continue to check out our blogs and website as we continue to add additional content about the Michigan Center Chain of Lakes and Wolf Lake to become a good pillar of information about the area going forward.