Peninsula Point: a lighthouse and ten thousand butterflies

The Stonington Peninsula reaches far down into Lake Michigan. It runs between the two Bays de Noc, which carry the name of the Noquet people who lived on these shores. At its very tip stands one of the friendliest little lighthouses in the state. Peninsula Point Light was built in 1865, just after Escanaba’s iron docks opened. It was there to steer wooden ships safely into the bays. A shoal runs two miles out into the lake, and the light kept them clear of it. The light went dark in 1936 when a modern light offshore took over. The keeper’s house later burned. But the forty-foot brick tower still stands. You can climb its spiral stairs for free, for a panorama of water in every direction.

The point’s other claim to fame arrives on the wind. The peninsula is shaped like a funnel. Every year in late summer it gathers monarch butterflies by the thousands. They rest in the cedars before crossing Lake Michigan on the long migration to Mexico. Forest Service research found the point serves as both a nursery and a staging ground. On the right September morning the trees flicker orange. The great gatherings are thinner than they once were. Monarch numbers have fallen hard across the East. That makes the spectacle feel all the more precious.

Today the point is a day-use area in the Hiawatha National Forest. It has picnic tables, an interpretive trail, and a fossil-strewn limestone shore. The last mile of road in is narrow dirt, not suited to RVs or long trailers. It is worth every slow minute. Details at fs.usda.gov.