Topic
The Great Outdoors, page 7
From Great Lakes shoreline to waterfalls, trails, state parks, and quiet two-tracks, Michigan was made for getting outside. These notes connect the outdoor places to the communities around them.
Back to the topic overviewFrom the Porch
More notes from this topic.
Porch Note
The 'Mirror of Heaven' — and the Shopkeeper Who Made Up Its Legends
Michigan's largest natural spring is so clear you can watch trout drift 40 feet down — and its romantic 'Ojibwe legends' were dreamed up by a five-and-dime owner to draw tourists.
Read this note →Porch Note
The American Robin — and Michigan's Other Bird
The cheerful robin has been Michigan's state bird since 1931 — but the Kirtland's warbler, which nests almost nowhere but Michigan, may be the most Michigan bird of all.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Black River Waterfalls
The Black River near Bessemer gives you five waterfalls in a row — Great Conglomerate, Potawatomi, Gorge, Sandstone, and Rainbow — strung along one of the great waterfall walks in the Midwest.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Brook Trout
Michigan's state fish is a jewel-colored native of cold, clean water — and a stand-in for the trout-fishing heritage that gave the country Trout Unlimited.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Dwarf Lake Iris
Michigan's state wildflower is a tiny, vivid blue-violet iris that grows almost nowhere else on Earth — only along the northern shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Les Cheneaux Islands: A Wooden-Boat Paradise
Thirty-six islands, a maze of sheltered channels, and the country's largest antique wooden boat show every August.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Painted Turtle
The painted turtle became Michigan's state reptile in 1995 — chosen by a class of Niles fifth-graders, which might make it the most Michigan symbol of all.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Presque Isle Pair: The Oldest and the Tallest You Can Climb
Two Lake Huron lighthouses a mile apart north of Alpena — the oldest you can still climb and the tallest open to the public on the Great Lakes — with a friendly ghost story to match.
Read this note →Porch Note
The White-Tailed Deer
No symbol shapes the Michigan calendar like the white-tailed deer — state game mammal since 1997, and the reason much of the state pauses for two weeks each November.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale Walked There Across a Bridge of Ice
The wolves and moose of remote Isle Royale arrived across the water — and a 68-year study still tracks their rise and fall, with wolves now near a record high and moose crashing.
Read this note →Porch Note
Why Is Michigan Water So... Different? (No Sharks, No Salt, and "Lake-Effect" Everything)
The Great Lakes are freshwater — no salt, no sharks — and the same lakes that bury Michigan's west side in 'lake-effect' snow also create its cherry-and-apple fruit belt.
Read this note →Page feedback
See something wrong or unclear?
Send a note about this page. The page address will be included automatically.
Page feedback
Send a note
The page you're on will be included automatically.