Skidway Lake, MI

Skidway Lake is the largest community in Ogemaw County by population and the clearest way into Mills Township's lake country. The CDP takes its name from Skidway Lake, while the Rifle River forms its western edge and Silver Creek runs through its center. Other small lakes—Black, Bush, Elbow, Norway, Turtle, and others—break up the map. Even the name points back to timber work: a skidway is a platform or road used to move logs. This is a water-and-woods community whose main lake lends its name to a much larger scatter of shorelines.

Skidway Lake's everyday identity is organized through Mills Township and the lake-area business community. The Skidway Lake Area Chamber dates to 1966 and was formed to promote the area's commercial, industrial, civic, and general interests. The post office ran from 1959 to 1999, so mail service no longer supplies the center it once did. Instead, the lakes, river, township, roads, and chamber network give residents their local map. Skidway Lake is a spread-out community with one named lake at its center and many more around it.