Five Midwest lighthouses to love

I recently read an article online listing what the author judged as the five “most alluring” lighthouses in the United States.

The list included some admittedly stunning and scenic lighthouses, but not one of our beautiful Midwest lights made this list.

So to start to remedy this omission, I offer this list of Midwest lights I’ve particularly enjoyed visiting over the years.

• Point Betsie Lighthouse, near Frankfort (MI) on Lake Michigan, celebrated its 150th birthday last year. I’ve frequently visited Betsie throughout the years and enjoyed many hours walking along the long expanse of white sand beach where the light stands sentinel.
• Marblehead Lighthouse, near Port Clinton (OH) on Lake Erie, is within a couple hours’ drive of home, so it is another light I’ve often visited. Greenery and red ribbons decorate the light tower during the winter holidays, and the rocky shore is a great place for shore fishing and enjoying a the summer breeze off of the lake while seeing the muted outlines of Cedar Point amusement park rides across the lake in the hazy distance.
• Split Rock Lighthouse, near Two Harbors (MN) on Lake Superior, sits perched high on a cliff overlooking Minnesota’s scenic north shore area. I loved taking the nearly 200 stairs down the steep cliff from the light to the water to take photos, although the climb up those same stairs was quite the project!

• Big Sable Point Lighthouse, near Ludington (MI) on Lake Michigan, requires a little time to get out to and photograph. The level terrain of the 1.5-mile trail out to the light is a fairly easy walk, even during winter if there isn’t too much snow.
• Copper Harbor Lighthouse, near Copper Harbor (MI) on Lake Superior, is another lighthouse that requires a little extra time to visit. A short ferry ride takes visitors out to the tip of the rugged Keweenaw Peninsula for tours of the lighthouse from late May through mid-October.

These are only a few of our many beautiful Midwest lighthouses.

Do you have a favorite Midwest lighthouse?

© Dominique King 2009

Comments

[Tim]

All great Lights. I especially like the short ferry ride to the Copper Harbor Light in the old Navy Lifeboat. A fine trip.

[Sue]

Good list. But Lake Huron lighthouses are missing. :)

I hereby nominate Pte. Aux Barques
between Port Hope and Grindstone City as an accessible lighthouse, and gorgeous besides. And the view from the park cannot be beat.

http://www.pointeauxbarqueslighthouse.org/

[Dominique]

Tim-that was a fun boat ride, wasn't it?

Sue-We've been up to Pte Aux Barques a few times, and I suspect you'll see a story about that lighthouse, and others, here at one point :)
This is why I called the list "5 Midwest lighthouses to love", instead of "best", "most scenic" or some other superlative. I think we have so many pretty lighthouses on the Great Lakes, and I can't wait to do more stories about them!

[Linda]

I did those Split Rock steps with four kids. We went back up the roundabout way. :-)

I like the little lighthouse in Escanaba, MI, as well.

[Dominique]

Linda--I can only imagine the fun with four kids!
Michigan's Upper Peninsula has a lot of great lighthouses. It's been years since I was down to Escanaba, but we did a batch of the Lake Superior lights in Michigan not so long ago.
Now I'm wondering if that great Native craft store where I bought a lot of great beads is still in Escanaba...yup, looks like Noc Bay Trading Company is still around http://www.nocbay.com/

[Susan]

Based on what you have here, I think I like Point Betsie the best.

I must admit that I didn't realize there were so many in the Midwest.

[Dominique]

Susan-Point Betsie is one of our favorites, too. We've gone to that area "Up North" for many years and always make time to get out to that lighthouse. I especially enjoy it when I have time to walk out a mile or so and back along the beach. It's also a favorite place for a lot of people to gather and watch the sunset in summer...almost like a party out there some nights.

[Two Harbors MN]

The Two Harbors light house will always and forever have a special place in my memories, my heart, my family.

[Dominique]

Two Harbors is definitely a beautiful lighthouse! I love the North Shore area and hope we'll be able to get back up that way one of these years.

We've got so many beautiful lights here on the Great Lakes, and I thought it was a real shame when I saw the "alluring lighthouse" list that included no lighthouses from our region of the country. I can see there could be at least one sequel post to this list :)