Forty Mile Point and the Hoeft shore

Just north of Rogers City, US-23 runs right along Lake Huron through Rogers Township, and two stops make it worth slowing down. About four miles out is P.H. Hoeft State Park, 300 acres of pine forest and a long sandy beach donated to the state in the early 1920s by a local lumberman. It has a shady campground, picnic spots, several miles of woodland trails, and a stretch of the paved Huron Sunrise Trail that’s perfect for an easy bike ride along the water.

A couple of miles farther up the shore is the Forty Mile Point Lighthouse, a square brick tower built in 1896. It got its name because it stands forty miles from Old Mackinac Point — part of a chain spaced so that a ship sailing down Lake Huron would never be out of sight of a light. Today it sits in a county park with the keeper’s quarters open as a museum, and a piece of an old wooden shipwreck rests on the beach nearby. It’s a quiet, scenic spot to watch the freighters pass.

For buyers, this shore north of town offers Lake Huron frontage and woods at down-to-earth prices, with the beach, the trail, and the lighthouse all close by. You can find park details at Michigan.gov/DNR.