20 surprising facts about Lake Michigan

The other great lakes, Superior, Ontario, Huron, and Erie, all share borders with Canadian provinces.

At 58,030 km², Lake Michigan is the third largest of the great lakes by surface area and the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world.

Some people, however, would consider Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to be one lake. The two are connected by the Straits of Mackinac, and the two lake basins are at a similar depth. Combined, they would be the largest lake in the world.

Because of the lake, the state of Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any U.S. state. The coastline is roughly 5,292 km.

The earliest human inhabitants around Lake Michigan are believed to the Hopewell people. Their culture declined around 800 AD, and the area was then inhabited by the Late Woodland Native Americans.

The name “Michigan” is thought to come from Indigenous words meaning “great water” or “big lake”. These include “mishigamaa” or “mishigamaw” in Algonquin, “meicigama” in Chippewa, and “mishigami” in Ojibwa.

Because of its glacial history and geography, Lake Michigan has the most freshwater sand dunes in the world.

The eastern shores of Lake Michigan are covered with these large freshwater sand dunes. In fact, tour operators offer adventurers dune buggy rides on them.

Along the northern shores, people can also hunt for Petoskey stones. The unique pattern on these beautiful rocks were formed by fossilized coral thousands of years ago.

Also near the town of Petoskey is a large submerged marble statue of Christ. In the winter, onlookers can look through a hole bored through the ice to view the crucifix.

Lake Michigan also has its own version Bermuda Triangle. Known as the Michigan Triangle, many ships and an aircraft have gone missing in the area.

Before the invention of radar in the 1940s, the narrow Straits of Mackinac proved to be a dangerous place to navigate. Many ships have met their demise here, and today there is the Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve, where divers can explore 12 marked shipwrecks.

Such dangerous waters means that there are also plenty of lighthouses. Michigan has the most lighthouses of any state, somewhere between 100 and 247.

While scanning for shipwrecks, archeologist Mark Holley discovered an arrangement of stones described to look like an “underwater Stonehenge.” These rock formations are smaller however and in the shape of a V. It is hypothesized that the formation was part of a prehistoric hunting contraption.

In 2010, a diver discovered the infamous Westmoreland shipwreck, a steamer that sank in the winter of 1854. The ship was rumoured to contain $100,000 in gold coins and 280 barrels of whiskey, and it is one of the best preserved ships from the 1850s in the world.

A long-distance swimmer named Jim Dreyer swam across Lake Michigan in 1998, and in 2003, he swam the 679-km length of the lake.

Lake Michigan is a prime location to fish for brown trout.

Two ferry services also run across the Great Lake, connecting Michigan and Wisconsin.

Sea lampreys, an eyeless, toothy fish, was introduced to Lake Michigan in the 20th century. Attacking many of the native fish, sea lampreys were dubbed the “vampire of Lake Michigan” because they latched onto and sucked the blood of other fish.

Vegetarian piranhas with human-like teeth have been caught in waterways near Lake Michigan. The animals were likely dumped by pet owners no longer caring for their fish.