Plan an Unforgettable Trip to Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan has been on your list for years, and this is the summer you finally point the car toward the water. Good call. Of all the Great Lakes, this is the one you can drive around without ever leaving the country, and its shoreline is long enough that you could spend a lifetime working through it. Here is how to plan a trip that earns the drive: where to sleep, where to eat, and what to do once your feet hit the sand.
First, the lake itself. Lake Michigan is the only one of the five Great Lakes that sits entirely within the United States, and it holds more water than any lake contained by a single country. Its shoreline runs better than 1,600 miles, from the famous stretch along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago up through the dunes and quiet beach towns of western Michigan. Yoopers, trolls, and out-of-staters alike make the trip for the sugar-sand beaches that slope down into water so clear it looks tropical from above. If you want a few more numbers to chew on before you go, our fun facts about the Great Lakes is a good place to start.
Where to stay near Lake Michigan
Your lodging depends on how close you want to sleep to the water, and the lake gives you the full range, from tents in the trees to a wraparound porch built in the 1800s.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is the compromise a lot of travelers land on: beach and forest in the same place. The dunes climb more than 400 feet above the lake, and you can bed down close to the shore or hike back for something more rustic. Two frontcountry campgrounds sit near the water, and if you want real quiet, the backcountry options deliver it.
Backcountry camping at Sleeping Bear
- White Pine backcountry campground
- South Manitou Island
- North Manitou Island
If you would rather have a roof and a little history, point yourself at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. The place opened in 1886, cars are still banned on the island, and you get around by horse-drawn carriage or bicycle. The main dining room and that long front porch look straight out over the Straits of Mackinac from the very tip of the Mitten. The season closes on the last night of October, when guests are invited to help empty the wine cellars, ring the closing bell, and send the summer off properly.
Getting from one stop to the next is half the fun. Much of the western Michigan shore is threaded by Route M-22, the scenic two-lane that hugs the coast through Leland, Glen Arbor, and the dune country. It has become a symbol of the region in its own right, and it makes a fine map to hang once the trip is over.
Where to eat near Lake Michigan
The hardest question of any lake day is where to eat, and there is no wrong answer. In Chicago or in a beach town of 1,200 people, you are never far from a good plate served with a Midwest lack of fuss. Order a pop, ask a local, and you will do fine. A few reliable starting points:
Chicago waterfront picks
Beach-town favorites
- The Toasted Pickle
- The Southerner
- Pennyroyal Cafe and Provisions
- Flagship Specialty Foods and Fish Market
Between meals, wander. The little towns along the coast run heavy on boutiques, galleries, and the friendliest strangers you will meet all year. That is the part people remember.
What to do on the water
Off the lake there are miles of hiking trails through dune grass and hardwood. On the lake, you pick your speed: paddleboard, dinghy, pontoon, or jet ski. Fishing is first-rate right from the shore or the piers, no boat required. A summer cast off the rocks can land you some of Michigan's best.
What is biting
- Yellow perch
- Smallmouth bass
- Walleye
- Bluegill
The lighthouses, and the wrecks below them
Lake Michigan counts 102 lighthouses along its shores, and every one of them was built for a reason. This is beautiful water, but it has a temper, and the beacons spent more than a century warning ships off the shoals. Visit a few and you will start hearing the other half of the story: the vessels that went down anyway, the ones still sitting on the lake floor, and the tales of the Michigan Triangle. Even in July, thinking about the ships preserved in that cold, dark water will put a chill on a warm day.
Bring the lake home
You will not get far along the coast before a gallery pulls you in. Local artists know this lake better than anyone, and their work has a way of holding onto the feeling of a day in the shallows with people you love. That is worth supporting. It is also worth taking home, so the trip does not fade with your tan. For more on working that beach-town look into a room, we wrote a whole post on using lake art to decorate your home.
Our own contribution to the tradition is the chart on the wall. Every depth on a Lake Michigan wood chart is carved to its true contour from layered birch, so the water you spent all summer on has a real shape you can run a hand across in February. It is the surest way we know to commemorate a trip.
Pack the cooler, roll down the windows, and take the long way up the coast. When you get back, come find your water in the Great Lakes collection and give the trip a permanent home.