Michigan's 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline

Look at a map and Michigan almost seems to be made of water. It is the only state that borders four of the five Great Lakes: Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Erie. EGLE counts 3,288 miles of Great Lakes coastline and calls it the nation’s longest freshwater coastline. That count includes 1,056 miles around Michigan’s islands.

You may also see NOAA list Michigan at 3,224 miles. That is not a typo. Shoreline totals change with the maps, scale, and rules used to trace islands, bays, and smaller bends. EGLE’s number is the one Michigan uses for coastal management; NOAA’s number comes from a national chart-based measurement. The useful takeaway is sturdy, but the tape measure matters. Michigan leads the country in freshwater coastline. It does not rank second only to Alaska when ocean coastlines are included.

The Great Lakes together hold about one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water, according to the EPA. That scale helps explain why Michigan’s shore can feel ocean-sized even though the water is fresh.

Sleeping Bear Dunes is one memorable stretch. In 2011, viewers in an ABC morning-show poll chose it as the “Most Beautiful Place in America.” That is a viewer poll, not an official ranking, but the National Park Service still records the moment. Its perched dunes are real dunes: windblown sand resting high on glacial moraines rather than down at the present beach. That is what “perched” means here.