Naturally, most of us think our North Pier Lighthouse in St. Joseph is the best of the bunch, but if you’re simply a fan of Great Lakes lighthouses no matter which port they protect, the West Michigan Tourist Association has some great news for you.
Lighthouse lovers can plan their next lighthouse adventure very easily thanks to the release today of the 2020 Lake Michigan Lighthouse Map & Circle Tour. That is a free poster-sized publication which details all of the lighthouses located on the shores of Lake Michigan, as well as the Circle Tour driving route to guide motorists around the lake.
The full circle tour driving route around Lake Michigan is also available online, and website visitors may also download a PDF of this year’s Lighthouse Map, or request that a free copy be mailed to them by clicking the link below:
http://www.wmta.org/lake-michigan-lighthouse-map-circle-tour/
Vacationers have been looping the lake for generations, but the official “Lake Michigan Circle Tour” route was not established until the 1980s when the Michigan Department of Transportation teamed up with West Michigan Tourist Association to create the route and its official guidebook. Along the way, travelers will find more than 100 lighthouses, countless islands, unique attractions, parks and natural areas, miles of glorious beaches, quaint harbor towns, and one “modern marvel” – the Mackinac Bridge.
While a loosely-organized “circle route” around Lake Superior was promoted by local tourist organizations as early as the 1960s, the first official, and signed, Great Lakes Circle Tour was the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. The only single-nation Circle Tour, with Lake Michigan being the only Great Lake completely within the US, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour also has the most mileage of any Circle Tour in the state.
Working in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Transportation, the West Michigan Tourist Association helped to make the first of the official Great Lakes Circle Tours a reality and the first publication was released in 1988 as a 52-page guide book. The guide book was transformed into a map in 2007, and the Circle Tour driving route can now be found online.
Lake Michigan Lighthouse Map & Circle Tour publications are also available in bulk quantities by contacting Travel@WMTA.org for more information.
