2019 Map of Sand Lake

About this map

Whitefish Lake and the surrounding cluster of glacial basins dominate the borderlands between Newaygo, Montcalm, and Kent counties. In this 2019 survey, the village of Sand Lake and the community of Pierson sit along the eastern edge of the quadrangle, connected by the rail-to-trail conversion of the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park. This corridor traces the historic path of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad through a landscape dotted with family-named cemeteries such as Saint John Cem and North Ensley Cem. Away from the more populated centers, the terrain transitions into the Cheney Hills and the swampy lowlands of No-Ko-Mos Lake and Lower Lake. The map details a legacy of rural infrastructure, from the small airfield at Wilds Field to the scattered settlements at Ensley Center, illustrating how modern recreation and agriculture coexist with nineteenth-century township grids.