Walloon Lake Michigan Real Estate.

Walloon Lake is a glacier-formed lake located within the Little Traverse Bay Watershed and empties into Lake Michigan through the Bear River. It was first called Bear Lake. The name officially changed on September 22, 1900. Walloon Lake is the 26th largest lake in Michigan.

The Village of Walloon Lake is a revitalized historic village known for its ties to Ernest Hemingway. In the late 1800s, guests from the midwest flocked to the crystal clear water of Walloon Lake to escape the heat and smog from the city. Railroads built hotels for their guests and marketed the area. The village at one time had three hotels, depot, railway house, depot, ice cream manufacturer, livery stables, and boarding house.

Walloon Village and Walloon Lake became a destination where families flocked to year after year, dubbing the name “Wallooners” for the generation of families who bought cottages and land to call their home away from home.

Summers on Walloon Lake are for sipping lemonade, reading books, strolling the village, dining with friends and family, and traveling to the nearby communities.

Hemingway fans might be interested to know that the Hemingway family still calls Walloon Lake home. Northern Michigan is the backdrop for Ernest Hemingway’s famous short essays, “The Nick Adam Stories.”