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Experience the Great Lakes
Overview
The Great Lakes consist of four of the largest lakes in the US; Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie all found within the state of Michigan. They stretch across eight US states and the Canadian province of Ontario, the Great Lakes are huge inland seas that contain 21% of the world’s surface fresh water. The lakes share borders with these seven states; Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, the fifth Great Lake is Lake Ontario in Canada, which touches New York. This mighty group of lakes was carved out by retreating glaciers over 10,000 years ago and connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. The lakes provide crucial wildlife habitats and boast a scenic backdrop with a wide variety of outdoor activities such as kayaking, diving, boating, fishing, swimming, beaches, and more. The pristine waters and the silence of the forested wilderness lead visitors to some beautiful destinations with exciting activities.
Things to See and Do
There are many opportunities for outdoor recreation and water-related activities on the Great Lakes, from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as well as the Province of Ontario with plenty of spots to capture the vivacious spirit of summertime fun. America’s five infamous bodies of water make up an important water system for North American transportation, commerce, and recreation. These Great Lakes are the largest bodies of fresh water in the world leading to plenty of watersports and other adventures. There are numerous spectacular activities to be enjoyed all throughout the region.
The Great Lakes region leads visitors to spectacular National Parks, hidden cascading waterfalls, small-town beach resorts, fabulous art galleries, and ample water sports opportunities like boating, canoeing, and even scuba diving. There are thousands of places of interest along the shorelines to experience a wide spectrum of unforgettable and totally travel-worthy vacation memories. The Great Lakes also provide crucial wildlife habitat and a scenic backdrop for a wide variety of outdoor activities like swimming, fishing, and kayaking. The clarity of the pristine waters, with the silence of the forested wilderness, types of wildlife that can be seen include moose, deer, bears, eagles, and migratory birds.
The Great Lakes can lead travelers to some of the best cities in the country, and visit the windy city of Chicago where you can explore its superb beaches, stunning architecture, fantastic shopping, and vibrant nightlife in this beautiful city. Go to Milwaukee and explore the revitalized city where you can try craft beers, and visit the Harley Davidson Museum. Visit the “Motor City” of Detroit where you can catch a game of baseball, football, or hockey! Take a trip to the Henry Ford Museum a fascinating place devoted to the motor car. See the wonders of Mackinac Island, where you can turn back time and discover the traffic-free destination. Explore the tranquil scenery of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with walking trails, and wildlife in the unspoiled peninsula.
Experience Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore a take a guided tour of the 400-foot-high coastal Sleeping Bear Dunes located on Lake Michigan. Visit Isle Royale National Park to get a glimpse of the wildlife including bears and moose, this little-visited park lets you get back in touch with nature. Take a leisurely cruise to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, a boat trip around Wisconsin’s pretty lighthouse-studded islands.
The pure beauty of this region is simply breathtaking with clear turquoise waters, and fresh waters tucked into the serene wilderness. There are over 11,000 inland lakes in Michigan with over 3,000 miles of freshwater coastline to be explored. Go snorkeling, sailing, white sand beaches, and pink sunsets, pine, maple, and oak trees tucked into the wilderness. There is fishing, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, tubing, dune scaling, camping and more to be enjoyed. In Michigan, you are never more than 6 miles away from a body of water or 85 miles from a Great Lake.
Cedar Point is a 364-acre amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio. The park opened in 1870 and is considered one of the best, brightest, and most bomin amusement park in the world. It is considered the second oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. The park boasts a world record of over 70 rides, seventeen of which are roller coasters, it is the most visited seasonal amusement park in teh nation.
Attend the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, Ohio during the summertime, the fair usually starts around the end of July a few hours south of Lake Erie. There is live music, amazing fair food and sweets, potato sack races, wild rides, and tons of horticulture and agricultural exhibits. It has been one of the largest state fairs in the US since 1849, with a record-high attendance of 1 million visitors in 2015. There are twelve full days of the fair.
Milwaukee is a renowned city for foodies and beer lovers, this Wisconsin hotspot set on Lake Michigan’s western shores is no doubt Brew City. It has been long hailed as the world’s leading beer producer and remains firmly associated with drink since the city boasts some of the nation’s best high-end nightlife. Miller, Pabst, and Schilits can be enjoyed in this beer-making town along with plenty of craft beers and a great selection of bars and pubs. Sugar Maple, Lakefront Brewery, or Milwaukee Ale House, the only restaurant slash bar with a double-leveled patio overlooking the Milwaukee River. There are some of the finest wineries along the lakeshores visitors can sample iced wine.
Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleaveland, Ohio! Rock n’ Rollers can unite in this Ohio city that houses John Lennon’s colorful Sgt. Pepper uniform, Michael Jackson’s glove, Evis’ Cadillac, and much more. The University Circle is also found in the city and is home to the world-renowned Cleaveland Orchestra, which performs in America’s most beautiful concert hall, Severance Hall, and the Cleaveland Museum of Art, another national Best.
The Great Lakes region is home to an array of historic venues that serve as the home base for the Big Ten University athletic leagues that grace the region. The Big Ten features three of the four largest stadiums in the world, including the “Big House” over in Ann Arbor a couple of hours away. Its home stadium the University of Michigan boasts a capacity of over 107,000 which is the largest in the Western Hemisphereere. The fall football season is an especially spirited spectacle over at the Great Lakes.
There are 11,000 miles of pure coastline along the Great Lakes which lead visitors to boat, cruise, swim, kayak, fish, and have more fun on the water. The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System is used as a travel route for many boaters, the Great Lakes Cruising Company and the American Canadian Caribbean Line both offer awesome cruise companies that cruise these lakes.
Pictured Rocks situated on Lake Superior in Michigan is a popular destination that features waterfalls, sandstone cliffs, and so much more. Niagara Falls is one of the greatest waterfalls in the region. There are numerous beautiful beaches, wildlife areas, a famed arboretum, exciting island destinations including Thousand Islands and Manitoulin Island, towering sand dunes, and picturesque lakeshores which include Sleeping Bear Dunes, National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the Indiana Dunes.
The Great Lakes
Lake Huron
Lake Huron or Lake Michigan-Huron is a body of water combining both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, joined together through a 5-mile wide, 295 feet deep, open water Straits of Mackinac. It was originally called La Mer Douce or “the freshwater sea”, by French explorers and later got its name from the Huron people who lived along the shores. The lake forms the eastern outline of Michigan’s “Mitten” including the distinctive “Thumb” which is dotted with charming port towns and shelters in Saginaw Bay. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are hydrologically a single lake, because of the flow of water through the straits keeps their water levels in overall equilibrium. The flow is generally eastward, and the water moves in either direction depending on local conditions. The two lakes combined are the largest freshwater lake by area in the world. Lake Huron is home to over 30,000 islands boasting pristine turquoise waters, unparalleled shoreline sunrises, numerous lakeside parks, gorgeous beaches, and historic lighthouses. Nearby towns include Cheboygan, Lexington, Harrisville, Rogers City, and Port Austins. Some of the gorgeous tiny islands include tiny Dollar Island and the enchanted Mackinac Island. Heron Lake State Park is the perfect place to go swimming in the clear and clean waters and do dozens of outdoor activities such as fishing, sailing, and camping.
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is located above Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, it is the largest freshwater lake in the world, the coldest and most northern of the lakes. Superior is also the clearest due to it being somewhat isolated and having long cold winters, it is also the deepest of the Great Lakes with a maximum depth of 1,332 feet. Lake Superior describes its size and volume, and its setting, the Ojibwe called it Kitchigami, which means “great lake”. During the 1600s it was called Le Lac Superior, or “upper lake” by the French explorers. It is the healthiest lake of all the Great Lakes, with extraordinary biodiversity, including a plentiful fishery, diverse coastal habitats, and a predominantly forest watershed. There are 917 miles of wonderful Superior shoreline to explore and the Upper Peninsula is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state. Many of Michigan’s best beaches can be found south of the U.P. There are no major cities resting on the banks of Lake Superior these factors combine to make Superior so clean and crystal clear. Picture Rocks National Lakeshore is on the banks of Lake Superior, a hiking area for adventurers and explorers as well as nature lovers with massive rocks carved by the power of the lake over time. There are so many things to see and do on the shores of Lake Superior, from beaches and beautiful water, white sand, ice cream shops, plenty of dining options, and downtown shopping strips. Take a trip to Whitefish Point, Grand Marais, Munising, Marquette, Houghton, Copper Harbor, or anywhere in between.
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, it is the second largest lake by volume, and third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The name was derived from the Ojibwa word Michi Gami, meaning “large lake”, it spans the entire west coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, and it is the only one of the five Great Lakes located entirely within the US. Lake Michigan is approximately 118 miles wide and 307 miles long, with more than 1,600 miles of shoreline, it reaches 925 feet at its deepest point. Lake Michigan is hydrologically inseparable from Lake Huron, joined by the wide Straits of Mackinac. The lake’s northern tier is in the colder, less developed upper Great Lake region, its more temperate southern basin contains the Milwaukee and Chicago metropolitan areas. The lake is a true treasure boasting bright beautiful blue waters, a fresh lake breeze, and varied shorelines, home to over 12 million people, many found in the booming cities of Chicago and Milwaukee. There are many charming and quaint beach towns in the north that are popular places to visit with a mix of lively and quaint atmospheres. The beautiful Michigan wilderness shores have been a playground for many of America’s industrial elite for almost three centuries. Explore sea caves, and scale majestic sandstone cliffs, climb to the top of Split Rock Lighthouse, uncover breathtaking waterfalls, and enjoy the natural beauty, rugged, scenic, and tranquil. Visit historic towns such as Sault Ste. Marie, Marquette, Copper Harbor, and Grand Marais.
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the 4th largest, and 2nd smallest of the Great Lakes and the shallowest measuring 62 feet deep. The name is derived from “erilhonan”, which is Iroquian for “long tail” with over 24 miles of sandy shoreline that stretches out as a peninsula into the deepest part of the lake. There are sweeping sand cliffs that dominate the shoreline left behind after the ancient glacial retreat. Lake Erie is the most southerly, shallow, and biologically active diverse of all of the Great Lakes. Due to it being the shallowest lake, it is also the warmest of the Great Lakes and a great summer destination for recreational activities including boating, swimming, fishing, and more. The lake is situated on the International Boundary between Canada and the US, the northern shores of Lake Erie are shared with the Canadian provinces of Ontario, specifically the Ontario Peninsula, with the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York on its western, southern, and eastern shores. Cleveland is the largest city on the lake, other major cities include Buffalo, New York, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Toledo, Ohio. Over 11 million people get their drinking water from the Lake Erien watershed due to its astounding biodiversity. The waters are highly productive the shores of Lake Erie are a critical stopover for thousands of migratory birds and butterflies. There are one-of-a-kind wildlife viewing opportunities throughout the year where butterflies, songbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl flock to the region. Lake Erie also supports the highest fish production of all the Great Lakes, it is considered the Walleye capital of the world.