The Old Imperial Trout Farm, Indian River: Now a Parking Lot
Visiting the site where the Imperial Trout Farm used to be, you’d never know there was once a little body of water here where amateur anglers would congregate.
People came to this water hole in order to snag some fresh fish. It was kind of an odd place for a trout pond, off I-75, right in the crotch between the two “legs” of Burt Lake and Mullett Lake in Indian River.
This is one of those Michigan Roadside attractions that doesn’t seem to have much of its history recorded. It’s the consensus that it was around since the 1960s. As for when it closed down, it could be just a guess: 70s, 80s, 90s? Who knows.
What we do know is, the old trout pond is dried up, filled in, and was used for a parking lot for a few different establishments - currently it's a site for a Biggby coffee stop.
Having it so close to Indian River was a good idea, but just a stone’s throw off I-75 seems off-kilter to me.....too close to ‘civilization’.
Have a look below to see how it looked all those decades ago.....and now.
