Boat launches · Lake Michigan · Michigan

Boat Launches Near Ludington

6 public launches within 30 miles of downtown Ludington, Michigan, 6 of them trailer ramps. The nearest is Loomis Street, 0.5 miles W.

Within 30 mi

Trailer ramps

Closest

0.5 mi

Closest first

Public launches around Ludington

Straight-line distance and direction from downtown, not a driving or boating route. Every figure is what the agency publishes; a blank means the agency is silent.

0.5 mi W
Loomis Street
Trailer rampDirections
0.9 mi SE
Copeyon ParkPere Marquette Lake
Trailer rampDirections
13 mi S
PentwaterPentwater Lake
Trailer rampDirections
21 mi N
First Street RampManistee River
Trailer rampDirections
22 mi N
Arthur Street RampManistee Lake
Trailer rampDirections
23 mi N
Bridge StreetManistee River
Trailer ramp · 1 laneDirections

Once you're off the trailer

What to fish out of Ludington

Our Lake Michigan fishing guides name water reached from these launches for 4 species:

Chinook Salmon · Late June through Labor Day, with the staging run building through the last two weeks of AugustChinook Salmon Fishing on Lake MichiganLudington and Big Sable Point: The deep water comes close to shore north of the Ludington pumped-storage plant, so you can be in 300 feet inside a six-mile run. Big Sable Point holds a temperature break that stacks bait all summer.Coho Salmon · Late March through May in the southern basin, then north to Ludington and Manistee by JulyCoho Salmon Fishing on Lake MichiganLudington and Manistee in summer: As the southern basin warms past 60 degrees, the coho move north and deeper. By July they are in the same 40 to 80 foot band as the kings off the central Michigan ports.Lake Trout · May and June on shallow rock, July through September deep, plus a fall reef concentrationLake Trout Fishing on Lake MichiganLudington and Big Sable Point: The same deep water that holds kings holds lakers underneath them. Put one rigger on bottom in 120 to 170 feet while the rest of the spread fishes salmon.Steelhead · June through August offshore; October through April in the tributaries, peaking in MarchSteelhead Fishing on Lake MichiganThe Pere Marquette at Ludington: A flies-only stretch, wild fish, and one of the prettiest rivers on the chain. Fall and spring runs, and a genuinely technical fishery.

Brown Trout on Michigan Lake Whitefish on Michigan Muskellunge on Michigan Northern Pike on Michigan Smallmouth Bass on Michigan Walleye on Michigan Yellow Perch on Michigan

Before you launch

Lake Michigan is big water

The pier-head channel is the dangerous part of the trip. An onshore wind stacks waves where the channel meets the lake, and the run home can be far worse than the run out. Check the wind direction against the harbor mouth before you leave the ramp.

Longshore currents and structural rip currents at the piers. Lake Michigan produces more drowning fatalities than any other Great Lake, and most of them happen to swimmers near breakwalls and piers, not to anglers offshore.
Sudden north-to-northwest wind shifts. The lake runs 300 miles north to south, so a northerly builds enormous fetch and turns a flat morning into a five-foot afternoon on the south end.
Seiche events. Wind and pressure can push water to one end of the basin and let it slosh back, producing fast, unexpected water-level swings — one on the Chicago shoreline in 1954 killed several people on a pier.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

Camp or picnic

State parks

For the crew ashore

Beaches

Landmarks from the water

Lighthouses

Questions

Where is the closest public boat launch to Ludington?

Loomis Street, about 0.5 miles W of downtown in a straight line.

How many public boat launches are near Ludington?

State agency data lists 6 public launches within 30 miles: 6 trailer ramps and 0 unimproved or carry-in sites, on Lake Michigan and the bays and rivers that run into it.

What is the biggest boat ramp near Ludington?

By the lane and trailer-parking counts the agencies publish, Bridge Street (1 lane). Not every agency publishes those counts, so 5 of the 6 sites here could not be ranked.

Do boat launches near Ludington charge a fee?

None of these 6 sites publishes fee information, which does not mean they are free; city and park launches often sell a daily or season pass. Confirm with the manager before you tow.

Who sets the fishing rules on Lake Michigan near Ludington?

Michigan DNR. Seasons, limits and license rules change, so read the current regulations before you go.

Up and down the shore

Launches near other Michigan towns

Manistee, MI · 21 mi Muskegon, MI · 51 mi Manitowoc–Two Rivers, WI · 61 mi Kewaunee, WI · 63 mi Grand Haven, MI · 63 mi Sheboygan, WI · 64 mi

Source

Launch facts are from Michigan DNR, State Sponsored Developed Boating Access Sites, retrieved 2026-10-27. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with the manager before you tow. Fishing rules are set by Michigan DNR.

Downtown positions are approximate. Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain); not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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