New Interactive Map Details All Existing Great Lakes Lighthouses
We've heard of the tunnel of trees tour that you can take up the east coast of Michigan, but now you may have just what you need to take the ultimate Michigan Lighthouse tour. The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association has published a free, on-line interactive map of lighthouses in the Great Lakes region. The map, which can be viewed here, places a dot on all of the active lighthouses along the Great lakes Region, which spans Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York and Canada.
Each lighthouse is provided with information regarding its operation status, whether it is currently open to the public, and how you can access each lighthouse. Provided is a brief history of each lighthouse as well. If you want to take an east coast trip to cover all the lighthouses, here's a list of each lighthouse and the city it resides in, starting in St. Joseph:
- St. Joseph Pier outer
- South Haven South Pier
- Holland Harbor
- Grand Haven outer
- Muskegon South Pierhead
- White River, Whitehall, MI
- Little Sable Point, Mears, MI
- Pentwater Pier
- Ludington North Pierhead
- Big Sable Point
- Manistee North Pierhead
- Manistee Main
- Frankfort North Breakwater
- Point Betsie, Frankfort, MI
- Robert H. Manning Memorial, Empire, MI
- Grand Traverse, Traverse City, MI
- Old Mission
There are also two lighthouse that can be found on this tour, but you'll need a ferry or a boat to get to them. The North Manitou Shoal & South Manitou Island are part of the Sleeping Bear National Park, but located on islands in Northwest Michigan.
SEE MORE: Michigan Tunnel of Trees Tour