Michigan Interesting Places to Visit

Fort Wilkins Historic Complex and State Park - Located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in Copper Harbor. Here in 1841 copper was discovered and it was decided that military protection of the area was necessary. Fort Wilkins was built in 1844 and later on a lighthouse was set up. Married enlisted men lived just outside the fort in three log houses. In one house one can see how domestic life was in those days. Within the fort are 13 white clapboard buildings which include a fully equipped bakery, a mess hall, the quartermaster's store (which sold military and domestic items), and the sutler's (a civilian merchant who sells goods to an army) store where one could get luxury items such as champagne and peanuts. The history of the Upper Peninsula from the time copper was discovered, the United States - Chippewa Treaty of La Pointe that opened this area to white settlers came into being, up to the time that Fort Wilkins became a state park is displayed in the company barracks.

A ferry takes visitors from the Copper Harbor Marina to the Copper Harbor Lighthouse from mid-June to Labor Day. The original lighthouse was replaced in 1866. The lighthouse along with the keeper's dwelling has become a museum and family home of the early 1900's. The museum displays model ships which include Sunbeam the wooden side-wheeler that sank in the Eagle River in 1863. Nearby is a path that leads to the tip of the point and one can enjoy plants such as Labrador tea, cinquefoil, spruce, dwarf juniper, and yellow-green lichen that cling to the rocks.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore - Found in Munising. This park is 40 miles long and 3 miles wide. From the visitor's center at Munising to Sable Falls stretches the Lakeshore Trail. Miner's Castle Road leads to Miner's Castle Overlook where one can see a curved inlet of white cliffs. Lake Superior's offshore water is deeply blue then above the yellow lakebed one can see a rim of vivid green. Along the shore are white and yellow cliffs and the water is green and blue. Miner's Castle is a double crag cliff that through erosion has become to look like a medieval castle. Miner's Falls which is reached by a side road comes down between two massive cliffs. By car one can reach three campgrounds at Little Beaver's Lake, Twelvemile Beach and Hurricane River. A 1 ½ mile walk from Hurricane River leads one to the 1874 lighthouse at Au Sable Point and farther on to a 500-foot wooden log slide and the Grand Sable Banks and Dunes area. Lakeshore Trail offers 13 backcountry campgrounds. In winter this park is ideal for snowshoeing.

Tahquamenon Falls State Park - There are three sections to this 52,000-acre park - the Upper Falls, the Lower Falls, and the RIvermouth unit. The Brink stairs - an elaborate series of observation decks and steps lead one down to river level at the Upper Falls which are among the largest east of the Mississippi. The falls has a 200-foot wide lip which is about 5o feet high. The Lower Falls which are a series of falls found on an island that can be reached by a rowboat. At the Rivermouth unit visitors can find two campgrounds, swimming facilities and boat access to Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay. There are trails that lead through a thick forest whose residents are deer and bears. Moose and bald eagles can also be seen. The Tahquamenon means "Marsh of the Blueberries".

Mackinac Island State Park - The main focus point in the park is Fort Mackinac which stands on a hill overlooking the harbor and the old town. Within the fort the buildings show the history of the fort and the island and life as it was here in the 1860s and 1870s. Dioramas which seen in the commissary show how the British and their 350 Huron allies captured the island in the War of 1812. The nonmilitary history of the island - experiments on the human digestive system by Dr. Samuel Beaumont, the lives of Mackinac women such as Madeleine La Framboise who had a trading post at Grand River and Mrs. Bertha Palmer who was the "undisputed queen of Chicago society" and was present at the opening of the Grand Hotel in the days that the island was a resort. On this island no motorized vehicles are allowed. One can explore the island on foot, rent a bike, take a guided tour in a horse-drawn carriage or rent a saddle horse. In the woodlands are biking trails.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - This 71,000 acre park lies on the shore of Lake Michigan. The wonderful Sleeping Bear Dunes area can be seen from Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (7.6 miles) which also overlooks the South and North Manitou Islands. Across the dunes stretches a 9 mile hiking trail. Swimming and picnicking facilities are available at Glen Lake. Glen Haven village offers visitors the Coast Guard Station/Maritime Museum where one can see items of shipping days on the Great Lakes.

The park also has two other sections the Platte Bay and Pyramid Point. At the Platte Bay campground canoe rentals are available and there are foot trails to enjoy. At Pyramid Point there is a beach and picnicking at Good Harbor Bay. A ferry from Leland takes visitors to South Manitou Island which has backcountry campgrounds and to North Manitou Island where one can see the primitive wilderness.

Kalamazoo Nature Center - Visitors can find an interpretive center, an arboretum and botanical garden, a farm, a period homestead and nature trails. The Sun and Rain Room which stretches from the basement to the glass roof re-creates for visitors the environment which is needed by many exotic plants. A walkway takes one down to the basement where there are living snakes, fish, turtles, toads, a crow and a screech owl on display.

A greenhouse called The Growing Place has orchids, cactus, an earthworm display and offers suggestions of how to treat houseplants. Glen Vista Living Exhibit is a picture window on a tract of woodland. It is equipped with microphones that bring the sounds of the wild into the building and remote sensors show indoor temperature readings at different levels of the wood. There are cages for predatory birds outside the center and one can gain access to the Beechwood and Marsh Trails. At the Family Farm visitors can get up close to and pet horses, cows, pigs, goats and sheep. The Delano Homestead which was built in 1858 has a main house and several outbuildings. This homestead shows how life was in the mid -19th century.