Michigan

Top Regions of the Great Lakes State

Four Flags Area Apple Fest, Downtown Niles
Four Flags Area Apple Fest, Downtown Niles

10. Southern Michigan

U.S. Route 12 Heritage Trail (US-12 Byway) – “The Route 66 of Michigan” – offers a great opportunity to take a classic road trip.

US-12 starts at Campus Martius Park at the center of downtown Detroit. Like the spokes of a wheel, major routes start in several directions. Michigan Avenue (Eastern US-12 Byway) heads west across the southern tier of Michigan.

Once US-12 gets to the Irish Hills it looses the Michigan Avenue name and then becomes Chicago Road (Central US-12 Byway).

When US-12 joins Detroit Road (M-60) on the southside of Niles it changes names again, to Pulaski Highway (Western US-12 Byway).

Bavarian Inn Restaurant
Bavarian Inn Restaurant, Frankenmuth

9. Michigan’s Thumb

Great Lakes Bay Coast is home to the Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City.

Blue Water Coast starts with Turnip Rock at the top of Michigan’s Thumb near Port Austin. Blue Water Bridge crosses into Canada at the head of the Saint Clair River. The Thumb also includes the Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park near Cass City.

Bordering this region is Michigan’s Little Bavaria: Frankenmuth (a small town gem). Bavarian Festival is celebrated in June. In July they host 18th Century reenactors at their Cass River Colonial Encampment. The Summer Music Fest in August celebrates Polish, German and Slovenian ethnic style music. They get an early start on Oktoberfest in September.

Hartwick Pines State Park
Hartwick Pines State Park

8. White Pine Michigan

The Eastern White Pine is the State Tree of Michigan, and it can be found throughout Northern Michigan’s forests, including: Manistee National Forest, Huron National Forest, Pere Marquette State Forest lands, Au Sable State Forest lands, and Mackinaw State Forest lands, especially the home of Michigan’s elk herd, Pigeon River Country. Hartwick Pines State Park has beautiful, tall white pines and it tells the history of logging in Northern Michigan.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls
Upper Tahquamenon Falls

7. Eastern Upper Peninsula

Upper Tahquamenon Falls is the second largest waterfall east of the Mississippi, after Niagara Falls. Also nearby, Whitefish Point with its lighthouse and its Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum (shipwreckmuseum.com), as well as Paradise, Michigan, home to the best whitefish you have ever had – Brown Fisheries Fish House. The Wild Blueberry Festival (wildblueberryfestival.org) in Paradise is superb. Crisp Point Lighthouse (crisppointlighthouse.org) and the Lake Superior State Forest around the Two Hearted River are two of the many hidden gems in the area – Shipwreck Coast.

The Upper Huron Coast includes Sault Sainte Marie, Les Cheneaux (Hessel & Cedarville), and DeTour Passage (DeTour Village & Drummond Island).

Kitch-iti-kipi (“big cold water”), originally called the “Mirror of Heaven” by early Native Americans – it is Michigan’s largest natural freshwater spring – part of Palms Book State Park – along the Top of the Lake Coast.

Miners Castle, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Miners Castle (left), Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

6. Central Upper Peninsula

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (nps.gov/piro) runs along Lake Superior, from Munising to Grand Marais. It’s a great location for kayaking if you catch a good day of light waves. In winter the ice climbing is the best in the world! Also along Munising is Grand Island National Recreation Area (USFS) – managed as part of Hiawatha National Forest (fs.gov/hiawatha/grandisland). Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore‘s many waterfalls include Munising, Miners, Bridalveil, Mosquito, Chapel, Sable, and Spray Falls. And nearby are Laughing Whitefish State Scenic Site and Wagner Falls State Scenic Site.

The Hidden Coast includes Fayette Historic State Park on the Garden Peninsula, a reconstructed living museum of an industrial community that manufactured charcoal pig iron between 1867 and 1891.

Marquette’s Iron Coast & Iron Ranges includes the Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Marquette, Ironwood, Iron River, Iron Mountain, Iron Belle Trail, Sylvania Wilderness & Recreation Area (part of Ottawa National Forest), and the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Ishpeming.

A moose
A moose

5. Western Upper Peninsula

      • Isle Royale National Park
      • Copper Coast – Keweenaw National Historical Park
      • Porkies Coast – Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park

Isle Royale National Park – The island’s remoteness and rustic natural setting without modern amenities make it one of the least visited national parks. This national park (nps.gov/isro) is the site of the longest running predator-prey study – following the wolf-moose populations on the island (isleroyalewolf.org).

Western Upper Peninsula also includes Keweenaw National Historical Park and Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park.

Downtown Mason Classic Car Show
Downtown Mason Fourth of July Classic Car Show along Courthouse Square in front of The Deli Vault and Bestsellers

4. Motor Cities Heritage

Motor Cities Heritage – When people think of Michigan, many of them think of Detroit and Flint – which leads people to think of cars. That heritage is celebrated throughout Southeast and Mid-Michigan at classic car shows throughout the region and at sites like the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, Automotive Hall of Fame, and River Rouge Factory Tour, plus Flint’s Buick Gallery and the Durant-Dort Carriage Company – all part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area (nps.gov/auto, MotorCities.org).

Sunset, Saint Joseph Lighthouse
Sunset, Saint Joseph Lighthouse

3. West Michigan

The Michigan Riviera stretches along the the coast of Lake Michigan within the State of Michigan, from the Indiana-Michigan state line north, through New Buffalo-Red Arrow Highway, Benton Harbor-Saint Joseph, South Haven, Saugatuck-Douglas, Holland, Grand Haven, Muskegon, Whitehall-Montague, Silver Lake-Pentwater, and up to Ludington. This area is also known as Michigan’s Sunset Coast and Michigan’s Gold Coast. It includes sandy beaches, lighthouses, vineyards, orchards, and harbors.

Inland and including the southern part of the Michigan Riviera is Michigan’s Great Southwest, including many small town gems, filled with art and culture, such as Three Oaks, Bangor, Niles, Buchanan, Berrien Springs, Dowagiac, Cassopolis, Coloma-Watervliet-Hartford, Paw Paw, and Kal-Haven Trail Towns.

Grand Rapids, Michigan’s second largest city, is a bit inland from the lakeshore. It serves as the region’s anchor. The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park is a favorite for kids and adults (meijergardens.org). The Gerald R. Ford Museum and Grand Rapids Public Museum are terrific.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Point, South Manitou Island, and Glen Lake overlook from trail along Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

2. Northwest Michigan

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (nps.gov/slbe) and small town gems like Traverse City and Leland with its Fish Town make for a wonderful vacationland! The National Cherry Festival (cherryfestival.org) is held at the beginning of July each year, in Traverse City.

Fort Mackinac, Marquette Park, and Mackinac Island Harbor
Fort Mackinac, Marquette Park, and Mackinac Island Harbor, Mackinac Island State Park

1. Mackinac

Mackinac Island was established first as Mackinac National Park in 1875, the second national park established in the United States after Yellowstone National Park, then it was transferred to the State of Michigan in 1895, becoming Michigan’s first state park, Mackinac Island State Park. Part of the magic of Mackinac Island is that cars are not allowed. People enjoy the island through walking, bicycling, and horse carriages. And don’t miss the Lilac Festival (mackinacisland.org/mackinacislandlilacfestival) in early June.

Mackinac Island State Park is managed together with the nearby Colonial Michilimackinac, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, and Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park in Mackinaw City – all part of the Mackinac State Historic Parks (mackinacparks.com). Also nearby is the mighty Mackinac Bridge, the Father Marquette National Memorial, Wilderness State Park, and Straits State Park.

State Info

Michigan Historic Places

Crisp Point Lighthouse
Crisp Point Lighthouse, Newberry, Michigan

A) State Nicknames

      • The Wolverine State
      • The Great Lakes State
      • Water Wonderland
      • The Peninsula State
      • The Mitten State
      • The Auto State
Manistee River
Eastern white pines along the Manistee River, near CCC Bridge State Forest Campground, in Manistee River, near CCC Bridge State Forest Campground, in Kalkaska County

B) State Symbols+

      • Motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (Latin: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you”)
      • Flower: Apple Blossom (Pyrus coronaria)
      • Bird: American robin (Turdus migratorius)
      • Tree: Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
      • Stone: Petoskey Stone (Hexagonaria pericarnata)
      • Gem: Isle Royale greenstone (Chlorastrolite)
      • Fish: Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
      • Reptile: Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)
      • Game Mammal: White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
      • Wildflower: Dwarf Lake Iris (Iris lacustris)
      • Children’s Book: The Legend of Sleeping Bear
Michigan State Capitol
Michigan State Capitol

C) Major Metros

      1. Detroit (Flint-Ann Arbor)
      2. Grand Rapids (Muskegon–Holland)
      3. Lansing (state capital)
      4. Kalamazoo-Battle Creek
      5. Saginaw
      6. Jackson
      7. Niles–Benton Harbor
      8. Traverse City
Brown Fisheries Fish House
Brown Fisheries Fish House, Paradise, Michigan

D) Iconic Foods

      • Pasty
      • Coney Dog
      • Detroit-style Pizza
      • Frankenmuth Chicken
      • Whitefish
      • Ann Arbor Chipati Salad
      • Traverse City Cherries
      • Better Made potato chips
      • Mackinac Island Fudge
      • Fat Tuesday Paczkis
      • Vernors
      • Faygo
Four Flags Area Apple Festival Parade, Downtown Niles
Four Flags Area Apple Festival Parade, Downtown Niles

E) Festivals