To those of you have have done or live near Michigan lighthouses...tell us if you were taking friends for the first time to the "must see lighthouses of Lake Michigan"...which ones would they be...Terry & I are going to be doing some lighthousing after Rosemont in our RV. I know it would be impossible to see them all so it is my hope that some of you can give us some great ideas on which ones we should not miss. We will be towing a car so unless it is long walks to get close to some, we should not be restricted. I do have some books and magazines we are using to help with our trip. I would love to do "Door County" with the group before Rosemont but Terry seems to think we would not be able to do it and get set up in the RV park we are staying at outside of Chicago in time for the weekend. We are really looking forward to this trip. Any help and ideas will be appreciated.

Ruthie

At the end of this trip, where do you want to end up and when? That will kind of determine which lighthouses you can see. If you've got lots of time, a circle tour around Lake Michigan with your RV would be a 'Dream Tour' for most of us Lighthouse WACKOs.

Anybody done that? How long did it take?

You can so the west coast of Michigan in about 3 days without too much trouble. You will have park the RV and switch to the car to see a few (Holland, White River, Little Sable). Big Sable is probably a pass unless you hit on a weekend when they have a shutle service or you can make arrangements to drive to the light (usually one must make a mile and a half walk each way). All these are worth seeing. Further north I would want to stop at Point Betsie, but you probably should think that one thru as the roads were not that spacious and I don;t think there is any nearby parking. Brighteyes might be able to shed a little more light on this one. Some of the other lights in SW Michigan are in downtown areas, but I think you could get in there and park with your RV.

One thing to remember is that you are going to a very popular summer vacation area at the very height of the vacation season, so areas could be very, very congested. While I only mentioned those lights that I think you would have to get into the car to get to, I would say visit all the lights along the west coast as they are all fairly easy access and not too far off the road.

If you want to loop Michigan's lower peninsula, the drive down the east coast is also very enjoyable. Again. most all the lights are well worth the visit and not too hard to get to. Don't try to take the RV to Old Presque Isle unless they have thinned out the trees among which you park (I wasn't that thrilled driving our full size van and I was really glad we did not have the camper hooked on!) Be sure to visit the lights in the thumb - that's an easy day. Stay in Frankenmuth and try one of the competing chicken specializing restaurants. Stop by Bronners for all your Christmas needs. The KOA is pricey but nice.

Don't leave Arizona until you have obtained Penrose's book (A Traveller's Guide to the 116 Michigan Lighthouses) and studied it thoroughly. Keep it on your dash at all times! If you come back via Wisconsin, be sure to get Penrose's Western Great Lakes book.

Dave

I would do the circle tour around the state of Michigan's border... depending on how long you want to take you could go up one side and down the other in 5 or 6 days. If you included the UP you could do the Michigan border in a little over a week and see a ton of great lighthouses.....

I have sent you some information and directions via email to all the lighthouses on Michigans East Coast, the UP along Lake Michigan, and Wisconsin along Lake Michigan. Feel free to ask questions.

Suzanne

Dave - I've been looking over the Penrose book for the past week or so planning my Michigan trip for September. What a great resource that is! A definite must for anyone traveling in the area. I hope the driving directions are accurate!

shirin

Ruthie, please try and make the Door County trip! We would love to have you and Terry along! It should be alot of fun!

Ruthie,

The Penrose book was a great help for my trip last fall. White River is a very nice light. If you don't mind a 3 mile hike Big Sable is a beautiful light and very well restored. As Dave said if you can arrange to be there when the shuttle is running or you can arrange to drive to the light, it would be best. Little Sable is a must. Old Michigan City is also a must. All of them are good.

Randy, It looks like I will be available the week before Rosemont. Is that when the door country trip is planned?

Dale

Ruthie, go here
http://www.mdot.state.mi.us/mappub/

to order a free road map of Michigan. If it's like the one they offered a while back it lists and shows the approximate location of all of Michigan's lights.

Shirin,

I would say the Penrose maps and directions are generally right on. I can remember only one where the directions were wrong, but that was not their fault - they rerouted a road and you couldn't go as they had directed. There is a newer version than what I have, and it may have been updated. I use the book in combination with a good old road map to generally get pretty much right to the light.

Dale, we will be going to Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon pre-Rosemont, travel around Door County on Thursday and visit lights on the coast on the way back to Rosemont on Friday.

Dave

Dale, check this out. Hope you can make it! http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/forums/Forum15/HTML/000389.html

We did a circle trip around Lake Michigan in 2000 and took about 10 days. Of course you could do it in fewer days but we tried to enjoy the areas we were in as well as the lighthouses. We saw pretty much all of the lighthouses along the lake shoreline (except Big Sable because of severe thunderstorms which prevented us from hiking the trail) as well as a few which required boat rides, etc. (such as Pottawatomie). I think my favorites were Grand Traverse and Seal Choix (which is on the upper peninsula). Many of the pier lights are very similar and could be skipped if you're short on time.

The Penrose book mentioned by others was a big help.

Larry