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  • Tour Overview
  • Tour Highlights

Tour Dates & Pricing

Day itinerary, departure cities.

Choose Your Departure Year:

Experience the beauty of Lake Michigan and scenic locales in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois including two nights on Mackinac Island. Begin with a tour of Lambeau Field and the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Next we arrive in Door County, the Cape Cod of the Midwest, for a classic Wisconsin fish boil, a tour of the famous Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Peninsula State Park, and more. Travel through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Mackinac Island for old-world charm and lakeside leisure with two nights on the island and a tour of the island by horse-drawn carriage. After completing the full circle around Lake Michigan arrive back in Chicago for a tour of the Windy City before we return home.

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Additional Tour Information

Your holiday vacations experience includes:, all accommodations featuring.

  • 1 night at the Sonesta Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel
  • 2 nights at Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay
  • 2 nights on Mackinac Island
  • 1 night at the Embassy Suites Grand Rapids Downtown
  • 1 night at Sonesta Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel

Attractions & Highlights

  • Lambeau Field guided tour
  • National Railroad Museum
  • Door County
  • Peninsula State Park feat. Eagle Bluff Lighthouse tour
  • Door Peninsula Winery
  • Door County Maritime Museum
  • Mackinac Bridge
  • Scenic ferry ride to Mackinac Island
  • Mackinac Island horse-drawn carriage tour
  • Scenic Lake Michigan shoreline
  • Charlevoix Mushroom House Tour
  • Music House Museum
  • Chicago guided city tour feat. Navy Pier

10 Excellent Meals Featuring

  • Traditional Door County fish boil
  • Grand Luncheon Buffet at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island
  • Holiday Vacations Farewell Dinner in Chicago

June 23, 2024 - June 30, 2024

Price Per Person

Final Payment Date: 04/24/2024

August 25, 2024 - September 1, 2024

Final Payment Date: 06/26/2024

September 8, 2024 - September 15, 2024

Final Payment Date: 07/10/2024

September 15, 2024 - September 22, 2024

Final Payment Date: 07/17/2024

September 22, 2024 - September 29, 2024

Final Payment Date: 07/24/2024

Day 1 : Fly to Chicago

Our tour begins with a flight to Chicago, Illinois. We have overnight accommodations near the O’Hare airport.

Day 2 : Lambeau Field & Fish Boil

We travel through scenic countryside to Green Bay and tour storied Lambeau Field, home to Wisconsin's pro football team! Experience the rich history of railroads in America at the National Railroad Museum through a series of fascinating displays and actual railroad cars including the Big Boy and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s command car. We continue to picturesque Door County and check in for our stay in Sturgeon Bay. For this evening’s Welcome Dinner we are guests at a fish boil, a scrumptious tradition from Door County’s Scandinavian settlers. The catch of the day is fresh Whitefish from Lake Michigan. We are invited to watch as it is prepared with potatoes and onions over an open fire! Enjoy delicious Door County cherry pie for dessert, a regional treat.

Day 3 : Door County

Enjoy a full day discovering Wisconsin’s Door County, the Cape Cod of the Midwest. Door County has more miles of shoreline, lighthouses, and state parks than any other county in the United States. Wave-battered cliffs, sun-kissed beaches, wooded retreats, quaint farms, and lush orchards await us. We travel into Peninsula State Park to tour the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse and view the beautiful woodland and scenic shoreline within the park. Enjoy time at leisure to explore the charming waterfront community of Fish Creek, and afterward, visit Door Peninsula Winery for a true taste of regional flavors. Located along Sturgeon Bay’s busy waterfront, the Door County Maritime Museum highlights the area’s intriguing maritime roots. We explore the unique exhibits and learn about the rich shipping and fishing industries of the area.

Day 4 : Mackinac Island

This morning we depart Sturgeon Bay and travel through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Our route passes through evergreen forests, hardwood forests, and along portions of Lake Michigan’s scenic shoreline. Soon we approach the Straits of Mackinac, the waterway connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Here, we drive across the Mackinac Bridge, one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. The bridge opened in 1957 and connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. At the southern end of the bridge is Mackinaw City, where we board a high-speed ferry for our crossing to Mackinac Island. This charming island is three miles long by two miles wide and transportation on the island is limited to carriage, bike, horse, or foot! Our accommodations for the next two nights are on Mackinac Island.

Day 5 : Tour by Carriage

We depart our hotel this morning in horse-drawn carriages for a tour of Mackinac Island. The island’s Victorian architecture recalls a time of days gone by. Our carriage tour ends at the elegant Grand Hotel for a sumptuous lunch! This succulent feast includes garden fresh salads, savory cheeses, slow roasted meats, seafood, and fresh baked pastries. After lunch there is time to unwind and enjoy the marvelous views of the Straits of Mackinac from the rocking chairs on our hotel's 660-foot porch. You may also browse several interesting areas of the hotel that are open to the public. The afternoon is free to relax, sightsee on your own, or visit historic sites. You may choose to visit Fort Mackinac where costumed guides, memorabilia, and original buildings recall military life during the War of 1812. Tonight, we enjoy our second evening on the island.

Day 6 : Charlevoix

After a delicious included breakfast, we board a ferry and return to the mainland. We travel south along the scenic Lake Michigan shoreline to the charming waterfront town of Charlevoix. Enjoy a guided tour of architect Earl Young’s “mushroom houses,” famously custom built to fit natural landscapes resulting in a fairytale appearance. Next, step back in time at the Music House Museum to explore a unique collection of rare antique musical instruments including nickelodeons, music boxes, and pipe organs. We arrive in Grand Rapids for a restful evening.

Day 7 : Chicago

Following breakfast we head south towards the Windy City. A relaxing drive brings us to Navy Pier in the heart of Chicago’s lakefront. There is time for lunch on the pier before a local guide joins us to view many of Chicago’s famous landmarks. After settling into our hotel, we enjoy a Holiday Vacations Farewell Dinner.

Day 8 : Fly Home

Fly home from Chicago, long remembering our adventures in the Upper Midwest.

Airport Pickups

Choose a State:

Birmingham - Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport

Fayetteville/Bentonville - Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport

Little Rock - Little Rock National Airport

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San Diego - San Diego International Airport

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Denver - Denver International Airport

Hartford - Bradley International Airport

Washington - Ronald Reagan National Airport

Washington - Washington Dulles International Airport

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Fort Myers - Southwest Florida International Airport

Jacksonville - Jacksonville International Airport

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Moline - Quad City International Airport

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Omaha - Eppley Airfield

Newark - Newark Liberty International Airport

Albuquerque - Albuquerque International Airport

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Cincinnati - Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

Cleveland - Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

Columbus - John Glenn Columbus International Airport

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Oklahoma City - Will Rogers World Airport

Tulsa - Tulsa International Airport

Portland - Portland International Airport

Allentown - Lehigh Valley International Airport

Harrisburg - Harrisburg International Airport

Philadelphia - Philadelphia International Airport

Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh International Airport

Charleston - Charleston International Airport

Greer - Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport

Rapid City - Rapid City Regional Airport

Sioux Falls - Sioux Falls Regional Airport

Knoxville - McGhee Tyson Airport

Memphis - Memphis International Airport

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Austin - Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

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Houston - George Bush Intercontinental Airport

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Appleton - Appleton International Airport

Baldwin - Groome Transportation

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Green Bay - Austin Straubel International Airport

Hudson - Groome Transportation

Madison - Dane County Regional Airport

Menomonie - Groome Transportation

Milwaukee - Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

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Lake Michigan Circle Tour

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Stories from Western & Midwestern USA

Activty levels.

lake michigan circle tour book

Tour days tend to be shorter in length, at a relaxed pace, and include lots of unscheduled time for leisure. Expect standing and walking for extended periods of time on flat surfaces, mostly low altitudes, and consistent temperatures.

lake michigan circle tour book

Tour days usually move at a leisurely pace. Some days’ scheduled activities last longer than others. Expect standing and walking for long periods of time on occasionally uneven terrain. You may experience changes in altitude or temperature.

lake michigan circle tour book

Tour days tend to be long, move at a consistent pace, and may include long travel days. Expect standing and walking for long periods of time on uneven surfaces. Some destinations may have changes in altitude and/or temperature.

lake michigan circle tour book

Tour days tend to be long, move at a brisk pace, and may include lengthy travel days. Expect long periods of walking and standing on uneven surfaces. Scheduled activities may require physical effort or have distinct changes in altitude or temperature.

lake michigan circle tour book

Very Active

Tour days tend to be long, move at a vigorous pace, and may include lengthy travel days. Expect long periods of walking and standing on rough surfaces. Scheduled activities may require physical effort or have distinct changes in altitude or temperature.

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Lake Michigan Circle Itinerary: A 7-Day Road Trip Through 4 States

  • 20 July 2021 16 May 2023

The Lake Michigan Circle is one of the quintessential, must-do American road trips . You’ll find beaches, forests, dunes, and plenty of local breweries and wineries during your 24-hour drive. The trip spans 4 different Midwestern states and dozens of different cities. Read on for a detailed 7-day Lake Michigan circle road trip itinerary !

Last updated: 9 April 2023

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. When you purchase through links on my site, I may make a small commission (at no extra cost to you!).

Where to stay in Grand Haven

Where to stay near sleeping bear dunes, book a tour in traverse city, where to stay on mackinac island, where to stay on the upper peninsula, where to stay in milwaukee, book a tour in chicago, planning your lake michigan circle road trip.

This itinerary assumes that you’re starting in Chicago, but you can start from any part of the circle! You can also add or remove days based on how much time you have. I don’t recommend trying to do this in less than 5 days, however, as that would be too much driving at once to be enjoyable. Summer and fall are both wonderful times to take this trip since many of the activities are outdoors.

Lake Michigan Circle road trip itinerary map

Lake Michigan circle road trip itinerary

Day 1: indiana dunes, holland, & grand haven.

From Chicago, drive 45 minutes over the state line to the Indiana Dunes. The Indiana Dunes National Park takes up 15 miles of shoreline around Lake Michigan and features a unique ecosystem with lots of native birds and plants. Spend the morning here either relaxing by the beach or doing something a bit more active. Afterwards, stop by the nearby town of Michigan City, IN for lunch at Shoreline Brewery.

Fun fact: the Indiana Dunes just became a National Park in February of 2019, making it the third-newest park after White Sands (December 2019) and New River Gorge (December 2020)!

Things to do at Indiana Dunes National Park

  • Relax on one of the 8 beaches
  • Hike through dunes, forest, or wetlands
  • Kayak or canoe on Lake Michigan

Once you’ve gotten enough beach time, drive 1 hour and 40 minutes along the Dunes Highway to Holland, a city in the state of Michigan. Holland (you can probably guess by the name) is a former Dutch settlement in Michigan. The town could be mistaken for one in the Netherlands , with plenty of tulips, windmills, and European-style architecture. Spend some time exploring the town, and make sure to check out the Windmill Island and Tulip Gardens.

If you have some time, make a quick detour to Grand Rapids — there, you can check out the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, appreciate art at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and have a drink at one of the many breweries.

After exploring Holland, drive thirty minutes to Grand Haven. There are plenty of delicious dinner spots here — Rustic Roots, Mamas Thai Cafe, and Righteous Cuisine are some good options. Catch the sunset at the Grand Haven State Park Lighthouse, then head over to the Musical Fountain in town (it plays nightly at dusk).

  • Looking Glass Beachfront Inn
  • The Harbor House Inn
  • Washington Street Inn

Lake Michigan Circle: sunflowers at Indiana Dunes National Park

Day 2: Silver Lake & Sleeping Bear Dunes

From Grand Haven, drive 55 minutes north to Petite Pointe Au Sable Lighthouse (Little Sable Point Lighthouse) in Mears, Michigan. Built in 1874, this lighthouse is a great place to take in the grandeur of Lake Michigan and the surrounding sand dunes. Drive a bit farther to get to the town of Ludington, where you can stop for coffee and some pastries at Red Rooster Coffee & Community or relax at Ludington State Park.

After your morning pick-me-up, continue driving north until you reach Inspiration Point. This viewpoint off of the main highway is one of the best places to get a bird’s eye view of the Lake Michigan shoreline. There are a few stairs to reach the top, so make sure to wear some comfortable shoes!

A 45-minute drive from Inspiration Point will bring you the main attraction of the day, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The park encompasses hundreds of acres of sand dunes, lakeshore, and forest. There are plenty of activities to keep you busy, so spend your afternoon doing whatever sounds the most fun.

Things to do at Sleeping Bear Dunes

  • Dune Climb: uphill sand climbs and hiking
  • Walk or bike the Heritage Trail
  • Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
  • Canoe the Crystal and Platte rivers
  • Camping : on the mainland or on North and South Manitou Islands
  • Chimney Corners Resort in Frankfort
  • Sylvan Inn Bed & Breakfast in Glen Arbor
  • Cedar Ridge Cabins in Honor

Lake Michigan Circle: lighthouse on the beach in Silver Lake, Michigan

Day 3: Traverse City & the Leelanau Peninsula

From Sleeping Bear Dunes, drive 45 minutes to Traverse City. Make sure to stop at Cherry Republic Gift Shop and Pyramid Point Trailhead along the way. You’re in wine country now — sampling some locally-produced bottles is a must today!

Things to do in Traverse City

  • Wander around the charming downtown area
  • Get a cider flight at Acoustic Tap Room
  • Have a tasting at a winery
  • Visit Mission Point Lighthouse

Where to stay in Traverse City

  • Chateau Chantal Winery and Inn
  • Hotel Indigo Traverse City
  • The Spring Lighthouse B&B

lake michigan circle tour book

Day 4: Mackinac Island

Drive 2 hours from Traverse City over to Mackinaw City. Along the way, you’ll drive through the Tunnel of Trees, one of the most scenic routes that feels like you’re getting swallowed by all the nature around you. When you get to Mackinaw City, you’ll need to take the ferry over to Mackinac Island (pronounced like Mack-i-naw ). Adult tickets cost $27 per person with the option of adding a bike pass for $12.

Buy ferry tickets here

Mackinac Island was founded in 1780 and occasionally, it seems like time has stopped completely. There are no cars allowed on the island, due in part to an 1898 ban on “horseless carriages” that has remained unchanged. You won’t find any chain hotels, either — every accommodation option is unique and family-owned. Biking is a popular way to get around the island, as are horse-drawn carriages. Mackinac Island is the best place in the Midwest to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life!

Things to do on Mackinac Island

  • Rent a bike (or bring your own) and bike around the perimeter of the island. The M-185 Bicycle Route is 8.2 miles (13 km) long and takes about an hour to complete.
  • Check out Arch Rock
  • Take a horse-drawn carriage tour
  • Learn some local history at Fort Mackinac
  • Sample some world-famous fudge at Murdick’s
  • Grab lunch at Mighty Mac Hamburgers
  • Pine Cottage Bed & Breakfast
  • The Inn at Stonecliffe
  • Grand Hotel

Note: Hotels on Mackinac Island are notoriously expensive. To save some money, take the ferry back over to the mainland and stay in Mackinaw City or St. Ignace for the night.

Lake Michigan Circle: ferry to Mackinac Island, Michigan

Day 5: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Today, you’ll leave the Lower Peninsula and cross over the Mackinac Bridge to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Although it’s only a 15-minute drive across the Straits of Mackinac, the Upper Peninsula feels like a different world from the colonial vibe of Mackinac Island. Its proximity to Canada , heavily forested hills, and lack of decent cell service make it feel like you’re at the ends of the earth. Spend today exploring all of the beautiful marvels of nature the UP has to offer.

Things to do on the Upper Peninsula

  • Kayak to Lover’s Leap
  • Hike Chapel Basin
  • Relax at Miners Beach
  • Take in the blue waters of Kitch-iti-kipi, a scenic natural spring
  • Explore Fayette Historic Townsite
  • Hike up the Porcupine Mountains
  • Magnuson Grand Pioneer Inn and Suites in Escanaba
  • Kewadin Sault Ste Marie Hotel in Sault Ste Marie
  • Landmark Inn in Marquette

Tollway onto Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Day 6: Wisconsin’s lakeshore

On day 6 of our Lake Michigan circle itinerary, you’ll cross into our fourth and final state — Wisconsin. Land of New Glarus beer, Cheeseheads , and Midwestern hospitality, driving down Wisconsin’s lakeshore is a pleasure in and of itself. Although not quite as scenic as Michigan’s side of the lake, you’ll be sure to soak in some beautiful views along the way regardless.

Things to do on Wisconsin’s eastern coast

  • Stop by the historic town of Marinette
  • Eat some cheese curds in Green Bay
  • Cheer on the Packers at Lambeau Field
  • Go swimming at Point Beach State Forest
  • Attend a concert at Milwaukee’s annual Summerfest
  • Check out some art at the Milwaukee Art Museum
  • Hike the Seven Bridges area
  • The Muse Gallery Guesthouse
  • Ambassador Hotel
  • Hyatt Place Milwaukee Downtown

Milwaukee's SummerFest

Day 7: Chicago

End your week-long trip right where you started — the Windy City, one of the greatest big cities in the world! Today, you’ll do some sightseeing and finish off strong with some hearty Chicagoan food. You’ve earned it after all that driving!

Things to do in Chicago

  • Take cheesy mirror pics at the Bean
  • Stroll down Michigan Avenue and do some shopping
  • Stand on the edge of the Willis Tower (…ahem… Sears Tower ) Skydeck
  • Order some deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s or a Chicago-style hot dog from Superdawg
  • Ride the ferris wheel at Navy Pier
  • Cheer on the Bears at Soldier Field

⇉ Chicago Summer Activities: The 21 Best Things to Eat, See, and Do

⇉ Winter in Chicago: The Best Things to Eat, See, and Do

Where to stay in Chicago

  • LondonHouse
  • theWit Chicago

Niki stands in a glass box, Sears Tower, Chicago

If you have more time on your Lake Michigan circle tour

This Lake Michigan circle itinerary can be easily extended by spending a bit more time in each destination. Additionally, you can add stops to your trip in the following locations:

  • New Buffalo
  • Downtown South Haven
  • Benton Harbor
  • St. Joseph: Silver Beach County Park
  • Silver Lake State Park
  • Downtown Muskegon
  • Isle Royale National Park
  • Door Peninsula, the “Cape Cod of the Midwest”: Door County, Peninsula State Park, Fish Creek, Sturgeon Bay, and Egg Harbor
  • Take a boat trip to Washington Island
  • Port Washington
  • Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve

Things to know before your Lake Michigan circle trip

  • If time is not a factor, you can extend your trip to become a full Great Lakes Circle Tour , adding on Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River! The full drive is 6,500 mi (10,460 km) long and takes over 100+ hours of driving.
  • Some of the state highways in Illinois are toll roads. You can pay any unpaid tolls after the fact on the Illinois Tollway website .
  • Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake that’s entirely inside the United States! You won’t be needing your passport for this single-nation circle tour.

Thanks for reading this Lake Michigan circle itinerary! I hope you found it helpful for planning your own road trip.

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Join the conversation

Thanks for this itenerary! We did it exactly as is written this past June 2023. We did stay 2 days in Glen Arbor at the Sylvan Inn. We rented bikes in town and rode out on the heritage trail. We also rented kayaks to go down the creek there (can’t remember the name) That was my favorite place! I also really liked Traverse City. Unfortunately we did experience some of the smoke from the Canadian fires in both Milwaukee and Chicago, but it wasn’t horrible. We had beautiful weather on Mackinac Island however. I loved all the cherry stores, but was there too soon for the actual fruit! However we experienced no mosquitos that Michigan is known for. Beautiful sandy beaches, and friendly people!!

Following your itinerary! Shoreline Brewery is a must. Jasmine I’d the best!

Hi Niki! We are planning on using your itinerary this summer for a road trip with our 3 boys (ages 10,8,4). We want to spend a couple days in Chicago to kick it off. Which stops would you cut out while traveling with kids? (least kid-friendly activities). Thanks!

Hey Lauren! That sounds like an awesome trip! I’d say that the majority of this itinerary is actually super kid-friendly, especially if you go at your own pace and leave some extra room to stop between cities. Most of the suggestions I’ve listed are outdoors and/or free which is awesome! Running down sand dunes, exploring Mackinac Island, and camping/biking/hiking around Door Peninsula would be my must-dos with kids. If I had to pick one stop to get rid of, it would be the Leelenau Peninsula — there’s not as much to do and the kids would probably find the wineries/breweries boring. Chicago in particular is a really family-friendly city. Depending on what they’re interested in, I’d recommend checking out Lincoln Park Zoo, the Children’s Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, and the Museum of Science and Industry! Happy travels 🙂

Thanks so very much for your great website…. I was lucky to find you while considering my trip around Lake Michigan next Septembfer

I spend half an hour to read this website’s articles or reviews all the time along with a cup of coffee 🙂

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Great Lakes Circle Tour: Reliving History Along Lake Michigan's Circle Tour Route

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Great Lakes Circle Tour: Reliving History Along Lake Michigan's Circle Tour Route Paperback – January 1, 1998

  • Print length 245 pages
  • Language English
  • Publisher Amherst Pr
  • Publication date January 1, 1998
  • Dimensions 7 x 1 x 10.25 inches
  • ISBN-10 0942495780
  • ISBN-13 978-0942495782
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  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amherst Pr; First Edition (January 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 245 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0942495780
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0942495782
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1 x 10.25 inches
  • #195 in Midwest US Travel Guides (Books)

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lake michigan circle tour book

Circling Lake Michigan

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 (WMTA) to create the route and its official guidebook. Along the way, find more than 100 lighthouses, countless islands, unique attractions, parks and natural areas, miles of glorious beaches, quaint harbor towns, an internationally-recognized urban center, 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 (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 route can now be found online at Lake Michigan Circle Tour: Lighthouse Driving Itinerary .

Recommended stop: Indigo Bluffs – Sleeping Bear Dunes  in Empire

lake michigan circle tour book

Lighthouse Passport Club

Lighthouse hunting is an addicting hobby, and one shared by hundreds of thousands of people around the globe. The U.S. Lighthouse Society’s Lighthouse Passport Program and Club is the perfect complement to this passion allowing you to record your lighthouse visits, and achieve recognition for your accomplishments.

To purchase your very own passport, you can sign up online at www.uslhs.org or by calling 415-362-7255.

Lighthouse Links

Enter to win.

Enter to win 2 VIP Tickets to the Michigan Beer and Brat Festival at Crystal Mountain!

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Samantha Brown's Places to Love

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

  • April 12, 2018

When it comes to Great American road trips along the water, California’s Pacific Coast Highway gets all the press. But I say the middle coast is incredibly underrated. Why not drive around Lake Michigan?

There are two ways to tackle this 900-mile, 14.5-hour drive. The first is to complete it all at once. The other? Break it into two separate trips—the north loop and the south loop. A ferry between Manitowoc, WI and Ludington, MI make it easy to bisect the huge body of water. The 620 passenger vessel can accommodate tour buses, RVs and cars, and takes about four hours. Sounds like a fun adventure to me!

In addition to resources on GoRVing.com , both Michigan and Wisconsin’s tourism boards do a great job of pointing you toward RV campgrounds along the route.    

Tackling the serene North Loop

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

Kick off your trip in Ludington, Michigan, heading north toward Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and Traverse City. With its rich blue waters, white sand beaches and nothing but water on the horizon, it’s easy to see why this town is called the Caribbean of the North.

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

If you can, allot a few days here. Explore Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, the five local lighthouses (I have a thing for lighthouses!), and explore many great restaurants. From breakfast at the Grand Traverse Pie Company to Asian-inspired food at Alliance Restaurant, there’s no shortage of great places to grab a bite.

Next, it’s on to the “Tip of the Mitt” (aka the top of Michigan—you’ll notice locals regularly use their palm to denote locations within the state). Stop in Petoskey’s downtown, which overlooks Lake Michigan and offers terrific shopping, then continue on to Mackinaw City. From here, you must must must take the ferry to famous Mackinac Island. It’s one of my favorite places in the country. Touristy, sure, but I adore any place where no cars are allowed (here’s my travel guide to the island ). Simply leave your camper or RV on the mainland and head over for the day or even overnight.

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

From Mackinaw City, you’ll cross the “The Mighty Mac,” the 10th largest over water suspension bridge in the world. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (aka the U.P.).

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

For one of the strangest attractions in the area, visit Saint Ignace’s Mystery Spot , an area where gravity, allegedly, seems to have gone haywire. Is it a natural phenomenon… or cheesy tourist roadside stop? Hmm… maybe both. The route through the U.P. is quite rural, but offers many opportunities to immerse yourself in nature. Fall colors explore here, and there’s tons of great hiking and mountain biking.

Continue on to Marinette, WI. This area is known for its series of scenic and accessible waterfalls, located primarily in Marinette County’s Parks System. From there, it’s on to Green Bay, home of the Packers and historic Lambeau Field.

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

If you can, allocate a few days to picturesque Door County, WI. A weekend and holiday playground for Milwaukee and Chicago residents, you’ll find quaint shops, wineries, restaurants, pretty campgrounds and more on this peninsula. And with that, you’re headed to Manitowoc, home to the largest maritime museum on the Great Lakes, and where you can hop aboard the ferry back to Ludington.

Exploring the scenic South Loop

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

The south loop kicks off in Manitowoc. Head south down I-43 Sheboygan and into Milwaukee. If you’re lucky enough to drive through on a Friday, hit up one of the city’s many fish frys. In fact, no matter where you are in Wisconsin, this happens every single Friday. Think fried cod or perch served with tartar sauce, potato pancakes, apple sauce and coleslaw. Paired with a Wisconsin brewed beer or an old fashioned, it’s the quintessential ‘Sconnie meal.

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

Next stop? Chicago. Route 137 joins Lakeshore Drive (US-41), taking you past the Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier and the Shedd Aquarium. Indiana is but a blip on the Circle Tour, passing through industrial Gary (birthplace of Michael Jackson), then onto Dunes Highway near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. If weather permits, stretch your legs along the sandy shoreline, or hike the West Beach Dune Succession Trail and boardwalk. Nearby you’ll find the town of Beverly Shores, where you may view the five historic Century of Progress Homes from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

The Dunes Highway continues on to Michigan City (which is actually in Indiana), then into the Great Lakes State. Explore the Riviera of the Midwest’s charming towns, like the wine lover’s haven of New Buffalo; St. Joseph and its delightful lighthouse and beach; and Holland, known for its Dutch heritage, quaint shops and restaurants, and its annual springtime Tulip Festival . Both Grand Haven and Muskegon are great stops for beach adventures, spectacular views of lakeside dunes, wilderness trails and more. There are plenty of places to park your RV for a night or extended stay.

How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

The farther north you drive, the more scenic and less populated the landscape. Meander through the communities of Whitehall, New Era, Shelby, and Hart, as well as Silver Lake Sand Dunes. The blue waters adjacent to the dunes are so crystal clear, you can actually view a wreckage of three ships that sunk on November 11, 1940. Art lovers will adore Pentwater, which hosts arts and crafts fairs all summer long. Fifteen minutes north of Pentwater, you’ll be in Ludington, where you may catch the ferry back to Manitowoc.

Have you driven the Lake Michigan Circle Tour? Any tips for making the most of the experience?

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When it comes to Great American road trips along the water, California’s Pacific Coast Highway gets all the press. But I say the middle coast is incredibly underrated. Why not drive around Lake Michigan?

This Post Has 15 Comments

Do have a map of this tour?

Try this link. https://www.wmta.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Lighthouse-Map-for-Web-2018.pdf

I loved the info. I grew up in Zion IL. Do you have a map of this tour?

I loved this info and grew up 50 miles north of Chicago in Zion. I wondered if you have a map of this tour?

I did this trip late last Sept in my T@b camper for 2-1/2 weeks. Made it as far as Mackinaw Island, but not the upper peninsula, It was the hottest two weeks MI had experienced all summer. Stayed in state parks all around the lake down to Holland. Let me just say, Lake Michigan is absolutely beautiful and the beaches and clear water made for some great swimming! I highly recommend Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat Park, the wineries on Traverse Bay, and the trip back in time on Mackinaw Island! Can’t wait to go back and go up into the Upper Peninsula!!!

@Kathy – Hello! I will be driving a camper for a 5 day trip around Lake Michigan, coming from Chicago. I saw your comment and was wondering if you had any additional suggestions/tips for camping. Sleeping Bear is definitely on the list already. I’m just trying to research easy places to stay for a night or two on the trip. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Stephanie

Try this on a Harley….. so much more fun.

I would love a paper map of the circle tour. Is that available? Been looking at lots of sites and see nothing. Thanks for any help.

My husband and I took a week’s vacation to drive around Lake Michigan a number of years ago – stopping and staying in many of the lakeside towns along the way. Even though we’ve vacationed in west and northern Michigan our whole lives, we discovered things we had never seen before or hadn’t seen in years. Shopping in Saugatuck, swimming in Lake Michigan all along the way, seeing Dorr County, WI, Lambeau Field and New Buffalo for the first time. Driving through the Tunnel of Trees along Lake MIchigan north of Harbor Springs (and lunch or dinner at Legs Inn in Cross Village on a shelf overlooking the lake.) Hanging out in Chicago. But somehow we missed Silver Lake Sand Dunes, still need to go back to see them! If you’re going now, check out some of the many craft breweries along the way — Greenbush (Sawyer, MI), New Holland (Holland, MI), Founders (Grand Rapids, MI), Right Brain, Workshop, & North Peak (Traverse City, MI), Short’s (Bellaire, MI), 3 Floyds (Munster, IN) — and tour the not-so-small Miller brewery in Milwaukee! And those are just the ones we’ve been to – there are many more. It’s a great trip, so beautiful!

Great tip. Harbor Spring Michigan is a must-do. Don’t forget Johans Backereys in Petosky and Harbor Springs!

Teri. I liked your comment around the Lake Michigan tour that you and your husband did, that is some thing that me and my wife would like to do this coming week, do you have a map or places that you may recommend to stop by. will appreciate if you can share it.

Alfredo & Austria

I would like a paper map, how do I get one?

West Michigan provides a paper map of the circle tour. It also shows most of the Lake Michigan Lighthouses on the route. You can print off your own map by downloading it or send a request and they will mail one to you. https://www.wmta.org/lake-michigan-lighthouse-map-circle-tour/lighthouse-driving-itinerary/ You can also visit the: State of Michigan Historical Markers web site for additional places to visit: State of Wisconsin Historical Markers: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS15267 State of Illinois Historical Markes: http://www.historyillinois.org/HistoricalMarkers.aspx State of Indiana Historical Marker: https://www.in.gov/history/2350.htm I am also going to suggest a side trip to Beaver Island, Michigan which is the largest inhabited island in Lake Michigan, with a year round population. You can fly there from Charlevoix airport (15mins) or take the ferry from Charlevoix (2 and 1/2 hours) leave your car in Charlevoix you can rent a car (advance reservation suggested or rent a bike). There are a couple of primitive campgrounds that are only $10 a night both right on Lake Michigan! Thank you Samantha for your suggestions as well.

As a lifelong Mighigander, I have a few must see places that I visit whenever I vacation on the Lake Michigan shoreline: 1) Horizons bookstore in Traverse City- one of America’s great bookstores 2) Northern Latitudes Distillery in Leland 3) Scalawag’s Seafood in Traverse City and Mackinaw City 4) The Omelette Shoppe in Traverse City 5) Grand Traverse Winery in the Old Mission Peninsula

I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, so I’m glad Sam mentions it. Pere Marquette beach there is indeed beautiful. Downtown is a short exit off US-31 and has a great brewery, Pigeon Hill, and I believe a distillery nearby as well. South of downtown is the excellent Hearthstone restaurant, from which you can easily get back to US-31. Head north on US-31, between Muskegon and Whitehall, and you’ll find Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park and water park. There are several camping options in the area, including Duck Creek RV Resort, which is across the street from Michigan’s Adventure.

I currently live in Chicago, where I’ve been for several years. I love the city, but it’s probably not the best place to visit on this driving tour. You can get around best without a car, and parking is really expensive. Also, since there’s a lot to do here, I think it warrants more time and thus a separate visit. If/when you do come to Chicago, my advice is to also get out of downtown and into the real neighborhoods, as they all offer cool restaurants, shops, pubs, festivals, etc. and more character.

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How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

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Because life's too short to stay home …, circling lake michigan, a road trip around this sandy inland sea uncovers multiple personalities..

The beach at J.W. Wells State Park.

© Beth Gauper

If Lake Superior is the drama queen of the Great Lakes, then Lake Michigan is president of the pep club.

It's beautiful, popular and a lot easier to get along with than its tempestuous sister. Its shores are lined with sand, not jagged cliffs, and its beaches attract festive crowds every summer.

It's the only Great Lake you can circle without a passport, and if you don't want to drive around the whole thing, you can take a short cut on a car ferry.

It's still a little moody, though. Shipwrecks litter the bottom, because sandy shoals can snag a boat as surely as rock.

But Lake Michigan hardly is wild. It's been thoroughly domesticated, with two giant cities near its foot, a bevy of beach towns on the east and a long chain of state and national parks.

The 1,100-mile tour of its shores is a classic road trip, featuring the world's largest freshwater dunes, a fabled island, a restored ghost town, the world's third-longest suspension bridge and one magnificent beach after another.

The route goes through four states — five, if you count the Upper Peninsula — and you can travel from steel mill to heron habitat in 10 minutes.

It's never boring, that's for sure.

We traveled it the third week in June, right before the tourist season started in earnest.

Seven years earlier, we'd done the half-Circle Tour, cutting off the southern part by taking the car ferry between Ludington, Mich., and Manitowoc, Wis.

This time, we wanted to see the famous beaches between Ludington and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. We wanted to stay overnight on Mackinac Island and spend time in Traverse City. We wanted more of everything.

Ruins at Fayette Townsite.

A Circle Tour is drive-by tourism; the first time, you can't do much more than gape, snap a photo and move on.

The second time, you try to catch what you missed the first time. But you still have to keep moving.

Starting on the Wisconsin-Michigan border

We started at the Menominee River, where Marinette, Wis., and Menominee, Mich., sit on opposite sides.

The working-class Upper Peninsula is far removed from the wealthy enclaves of Lower Michigan; its spiritual home is Green Bay, not Grosse Pointe. Much of the land was tax-forfeited during the 1930s and now is state and national forest.

Our first stop was J.W. Wells State Park, where we stayed in the first of a string of very nice state-park cabins.

For details, see Michigan's great lake cabins .

The next day on the beach, we ran into a couple from Manistique who love to explore the area.

They mapped out the things they thought we should see: Fayette Historic Townsite on the Garden Peninsula, Kitch-iti-kipi Spring near Indian Lake, the hiking trail down the 100-foot gorge of the Cut River near Naubinway.

U.S. 2 hums with vehicles heading cross-country, but few stop at nearby attractions.

You have to drive 17 miles down the Garden Peninsula to see the Fayette Historic Townsite , but once there, it's easy to imagine the description in the 1882 Schoolcraft County Pioneer: "Fayette looks like a little Chicago this week; the harbor is full of boats and business is brisk."

The little company town on the cliff-lined bay was a boom town in the 1870s and '80s, when its giant furnaces smelted ore into iron.

Today, visitors wander paths between the preserved music hall, hotel, bank, superintendent's home and boardinghouse, each with exhibits on the people who lived, worked or entertained there.

Kitchi-iti-kipi Spring.

Thirteen bottles that once contained 9,000 doses of morphine were found behind the walls of one house, and visitors can try to answer the question, "Who do you think was the morphine addict?"

We were barely back on the highway before we made the 11-mile detour to Palms Book State Park and Kitch-iti-kipi Spring .

From our raft, we gazed at its bubbling bottom through a viewing well. We were propelled by a 10-year-old girl from Victoria, B.C., who liked to crank the cable along which it rode.

Ten thousand gallons a minute hurl themselves upward through a limestone fissure, making the white sand on the bottom dance and swirl. It was hypnotizing, like watching an emerald-tinted aerial view of an erupting volcano.

We continued east through Manistique, whose high-school teams are called the Emeralds after the spring. There's a lovely beach there, right around the corner from the red pierhead light, but we were headed for St. Ignace and the ferry to Mackinac Island.

A bicyclist rides by Fort Mackinac.

Mackinac Island by bicycle

We'd brought our own bikes, and as soon as we arrived on the island, we circled it on the eight-mile Lake Shore Road, also known as M-185, the only state highway in the nation that doesn't allow cars.

In the golden light before dusk, it seemed sun-kissed and magical.

There's more to this fabled island than fudge shops and Fort Mackinac, which I toured on my first visit. This time, we poked into every nook and cranny, from wooded nature trails to the ruins of a British fort.

We crossed paths with the crowds only on Main Street and the path to Arch Rock, to which most tourists ride on horse-drawn trolleys.

Toward the end of Sunday afternoon, we returned to watch the big Lilac Festival parade, featuring the cross-dressing Scottsville Clown Band.

Soldiers at Colonial Michilimackinac.

After two nights, we returned to St. Ignace and crossed the five-mile Mackinac Bridge, thinking about the Yugo that was blown over the side in 1989 by gale-force winds. Luckily, it was calm that day.

Colonial Michilimackinac, a re-created British fur post, is right on the strait in Mackinaw City and a great stop for families, especially those with kids who might like to see soldiers fire cannons and muskets.

For more about the Circle Tour with children, see Lake Michigan with kids .

We kept going to Cross Village and the Legs Inn, a folk-art landmark whose fieldstone façade is lined with white stove legs.

It was founded by a Polish immigrant in 1921, and we guessed, correctly, that it would be showing World Cup soccer games. So we settled at the bar to eat a plate of pierogis and watch Spain play Honduras.

Nearly everyone else was on the flower-filled patio, sampling some of 100 beers served by young, dirndl-clad waitresses from Poland. Just beyond, the lawn rolled to the shore of Lake Michigan.

Bicycling on the Little Traverse Wheelway.

Down the Tunnel of Trees

We couldn't imagine a better place to while away an afternoon, but we kept going down M-119, also called the Tunnel of Trees.

The twisting road, barely wide enough for two cars to pass, has views of Lake Michigan and is famous for its spring wildflowers and fall color.

But it was June and we'd just spent two days bicycling on Mackinac's more-scenic M-185, so we weren't that impressed.

The drive ends in the old-money enclave of Harbor Springs. We drove on to the new-money enclave of Petoskey, where we tried in vain to find a trailhead of the 23-mile Little Traverse Wheelway, thinking one of us could ride it to Charlevoix.

We rode it later, one May, and it was beautiful. For more, see Bicycling in western Michigan .

Charlevoix is a pleasant tourist town squeezed between Lake Michigan and big Lake Charlevoix.

It's known for its ties to Ernest Hemingway, who spent his boyhood summers there, and for the stone "mushroom houses" designed and built by local resident Earl Young.

From downtown, we took a stroll along the channel to Lake Michigan, past Young's Weathervane Inn. As we left town, we wound through the adjoining neighborhood, past some of his whimsical homes.

On Grand Traverse Bay

Traverse City is the first of the big beach towns. For more, see America's freshwater Riviera .

We checked into a cabin in Traverse City State Park, just across the highway from the beach on the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay.

The lakefront in Traverse City.

The 10½-mile TART Trail runs alongside the park, so we hopped on and rode to the West Arm beaches, the marina, the adorable downtown and the Old Town district.

People can and do spend a week or more here. It's both beach town and cultural capital, with free music and festivals all summer, including the giant National Cherry Festival in early July.

Bicyclists like to ride its trails and also the roads around nearby Torch Lake and up the Old Mission Peninsula, which separates the two lobes of Grand Traverse Bay, and the Leelanau Peninsula, between the bay and Lake Michigan.

When we drove up the Old Mission Peninsula , ripening cherries were bright red in the orchards, and roadside stands sold strawberries.

Local farmers also grow grapes on this water-wrapped finger of land; at Chateau Chantal Winery, we stopped for a taste of the local pinot blanc.

We visited the Old Mission Light on the tip of that peninsula, and the Grand Traverse Light at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula.

Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear.

In Leland, we stopped at touristy Fish Town, whose weathered shanties now are occupied by T-shirt shops.

Playing in a giant sandbox

From Leland, it's not far to Empire and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore . Kids adore this giant playground of sand, and we spent several days there on the first trip.

Nevertheless, we stopped to do the classic Dune Climb and hike the Empire Bluff Trail again. We hit them in the golden hour before dusk, when the vast swath of sand glowed.

In Manistee, we stopped to tour the 1930 steamship S.S. City of Milwaukee , beached on the shore like a whale with its mouth propped open.

Once, this boat transported entire freight trains across Lake Michigan. Today, it's also a bed-and-breakfast, with rooms outfitted with antique-store finds from the era and a lake view from every angle.

Tubing in Ludington State Park.

In Ludington, we picked up a picnic lunch downtown and took it to Ludington State Park, one of the most popular in Michigan.

It's like a little resort, with four campgrounds plus tubing, canoeing, swimming, bicycling, a store and evening music and stories in the amphitheater.

"People come for 50 years, and then they bring their grandkids," said friendly campground host Stub Willick. He turned out to be a drummer in the Scottville Clown Band, founded in 1903; we'd seen them performing, memorably, in Mackinac Island's Lilac Festival parade.

We rode our bikes through the dunes to the 1867 Big Sable Point Lighthouse and caught the last tour. Volunteer keeper Larry Gorsh took us up the 132 steps to the catwalk, which had a sweeping view of dunes and water.

"I've often caught myself saying to visitors, 'Look out at the ocean,' " he said.

Our next stop was Muskegon, a working port where it's not so easy to find the beach.

The beach and lighthouse at Holland State Park.

Winding our way through town, we finally found the long beach at Pere Marquette Park, and nearby the World War II submarine U.S.S. Silversides, part of the Great Lakes Naval Memorial & Museum.

Sleeping on the beach

We washed up for the night at Holland State Park in the Dutch town of Holland, where we had a camper cabin at the edge of the beach, with a view of the beloved Big Red lighthouse.

When everyone else had to leave for the day, we got to stay, and we were first on the beach in the morning.

Just south of Holland, Saugatuck is another popular beach town. Its streets were thronged with shoppers and strollers, many sampling fudge. In Lower Michigan, eating fudge is a required tourist activity, much as eating pasties is on the U.P.

On our way to lunch, we walked past the S.S. Keewatin, a passenger liner that once sailed between Thunder Bay and Port McNicoll on Lake Superior.

The beach at Warren Dunes State Park.

We would have liked to visit Oval Beach, reached via hand-cranked chain ferry across the Kalamazoo River, but we had to move on.

In South Haven, we spotted the Friends Good Will , a replica of an 1810 square-topsail sloop, coming into the harbor and its berth at the Michigan Maritime Museum .

There was a beach downtown, and also beaches all the way down the shore, each populated with sunbathers and swimmers.

It seemed to extend all the way to Warren Dunes State Park, where the beach seemed to go on forever. Giant dunes rose behind it, with paths lined by wildflowers. It was a balmy evening, and we weren't the only ones who stayed well into dusk.

On the Red Arrow Highway

From nearby Sawyer, we traveled on an old stretch of the Red Arrow Highway, part of the 1922 West Michigan Pike between Chicago and Mackinaw City.

The beach in New Buffalo, Mich.

Parallel I-94 now carries most of the traffic, but this stretch is fun for its old-time roadhouses, fruit stands and antiques stores.

Around Harbert, art galleries and an Italian ristorante appeared, signs of the Chicagoans for whom this area is a favorite weekend getaway.

In Union Pier, we stopped and bought plump berries and baked goods at the Saturday-morning farmers market.

Near the Indiana border, we stopped in New Buffalo , the closest town to the Indiana border, and spent an hour swimming at the town beach.

Then we crossed the border and started looking for Indiana Dunes National Park, which looked large on the map but turned out to be elusive.

We finally found a beach where we could park. It was beautiful, but it was flanked on both sides by steel mills, and we could see the outline of Chicago in the haze. Created by a swap with the steel industry, the park is an oasis that harbors wetlands and wildlife.

Oak Street Beach in Chicago.

U.S. 12 through Gary was a trip through the Third World, though we still were following Circle Tour signs. An astringent smell hung in the air, and the only nice building we saw was a shiny blue-glass casino.

Chicago has gorgeous beaches. But the next time we saw Lake Michigan, it was on the other side of the city at Illinois Beach State Park, near Waukegan.

It's big, with a 6-mile-long beach, trails through nature preserves, wildflowers and a campground.

Park facilities have had problems with maintenance, due to underfunding, but the beach itself is beautiful. And for campers who don't want to cook, there's a conference center with a restaurant.

Lighthouses in Wisconsin

Ahead of us lay Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee, all with gorgeous beaches and lighthouses.

Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine.

The beach in downtown Kenosha stretches from two adorable, candy-striped pierhead lights, and the 1866 Southport Lighthouse is up the hill. The Electric Streetcar Circulator makes a two-mile loop along the shoreline and through downtown and historic districts.

In Racine, the 1880 Wind Point Lighthouse is a classic Poe tower that's one of the tallest on the Great Lakes. If you're there on the first Sunday of the month from June through October, you can tour it.

A bike trail connects North Beach to the Racine Zoo and downtown, where kids can run through the multi-jet fountain at Pershing Park without getting sandy.

Like Chicago, Milwaukee is a destination in itself. Its lakeshore is lined with tourist attractions and is fun to cruise either in a car or on a bike.

Port Washington is a stop on the Interurban bicycle trail and a good place to charter a fishing boat.

Sheboygan has a lovely beach at Deland Park and is famous for its free John Michael Kohler Arts Center, the nation's premier steward of outsider art.

A captain cleaning fish from Lake Michigan.

Manitowoc, where the Wisconsin Maritime Museum includes the U.S.S. Cobia submarine, and Two Rivers are linked by a bicycle trail right on the lake.

Point Beach State Forest, just north of Two Rivers, has perhaps Wisconsin's loveliest beaches and a lighthouse whose elegance rivals Racine's.

Like Milwaukee, Door County is a destination well worth a week to itself; it's very popular, like Michigan's beach towns all pushed together on one peninsula.

If you're closing the loop, your next stop will be Green Bay , in Packer country.

It's crawling with football fans every day, but if you're there in August, you can join the festivities around the Packers' training camp , which Sports Illustrated calls one of the best and most fan-friendly in the nation.

More information

Want to do the Circle Tour? See Planning a Circle Tour of Lake Michigan .

For details on making a half-Circle Tour, see Lake Michigan with kids .

For a nine-day sample itinerary, see Lake Michigan's greatest hits .

For more on camping, see Camping around Lake Michigan .

For more on staying in Michigan state parks, see Michigan's great lake cabins .

For more about the beaches and beach towns, see America's freshwater Riviera .

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Driving Lake Michigan’s Circle Tour

lake michigan circle tour book

Posted By: Julie Henning October 17, 2022

Connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a system of locks, canals, and channels along the Saint Lawrence Seaway, a popular Midwest road trip is the Great Lakes Circle Tour, a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The Great Lakes Circle Tour consists of routes for circumnavigating the Great Lakes, either individually or collectively. The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is part of this system.

Lake Michigan Circle Tour

With 1,640 miles of shoreline touching Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour exists within the Great Lakes Circle Tour. First published by the Michigan Department of Transportation and the West Michigan Tourist Association as a 52-page guide book in 1899, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour was replaced by a website in 2007. However, you can order a printable copy of the map to be sent to your home address (we have this and like it).

Marked with this scenic road marker every ten miles, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour is roughly 1,000 miles long, the drive would take about 14 hours to complete without stopping. A key attraction on the tour is 105 Lake Michigan lighthouses, some of which are accessible only by boat. Brown “Harbor Tour” signs are intended to direct travelers on a side trip into one of the many port communities along the lakeshore.

lake michigan circle tour book

Lighthouse map, courtesy of https://lakelandboating.com/lake-michigan-lighthouse-map-updated/

Key Stops on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

Having completed the entire trip over the span of several years and several road trips and in different seasons, there’s something about Lake Michigan that sort of gets in your soul. Here are some of our recommended key stops along the route, with links embedded to more detailed stories previously published on Road Trips for Families.

West Michigan

I grew up in West Michigan, so let’s start there. Sand dunes, boardwalks, and beaches. These three things are fundamental to the childhood of anyone living within 40 miles of “The Lake.” In Holland, Tunnel Park has an amazing playground, beach, and campsites. Duck Lake State Park , north of Muskegon is an excellent spot to try skim boarding (pick your own board up at Meijer or purchase one before your trip ).

sand castle lake michigan

I Love Grand Haven Sandcastle at Grand Haven State Park

Grand Haven has a lovely boardwalk and popular state park. We visited last year and went on a sunset cruise (read more in this story ). Hug the lakeshore and continue north on M31 and you’ll pass through Ludington (where the SS Badger car ferry crosses the lake into Manitowoc, Wisconsin). Before you leave, however, be sure to stop and see the lighthouses here (we recommend a visit to Ludington State Park ).

lighthouse on the shores of lake michigan on a stormy day

Big Sable Point Lighthouse, Ludington State Park

M22 and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Arguably the most popular tourist destination in Michigan is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore , Traverse City and the Leelanau Peninsula. Once a month I see a M22 sticker on a vehicle out here in Oregon; a testament to the fact that so many of us Michiganders have moved west but still have a formative connection to this part of the world. The Oregon Dunes National Lakeshore is as close as it gets. As I mentioned earlier, some of the stops on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour are only accessible by boat/ferry, namely the Manitou, Beaver, and Squaw Islands.

lake michigan circle tour book

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

I have strong family ties with the Manitou Islands; my great great grandparents settled there after immigrating to America; read about making your own day trip to South Manitou Island in this story.

lake michigan circle tour book

South Manitou Island Lighthouse

Door County, Wisconsin

Considered the Cape Cod of the Midwest, Door County, Wisconsin is the Wisconsin tourism equivalent of Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula. Also known for wine, cherries, sailing, and shopping, over ten lighthouse stops are noted on this section of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.

lake michigan circle tour book

Scenic Views of Door County, Wisconsin

Because the wind typically travels West to East across Lake Michigan, you won’t find the spectacular sand dunes (when I first moved to Wisconsin in 1995 I was not expecting a quick and steep drop off into the water at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee – one can easily wade slowly out into Lake Michigan for several hundred feet on the opposite shore). That said, spectacular winds and deep water help put places like Sheboygan, Wisconsin on the map as the Surfing Capitol of the Midwest.

Travel south from Sheboygan and make a stop in Port Washington, home of the famous Pirate Festival . As spectacular as Michigan’s dunes are Wisconsin’s bluffs.

lake michigan circle tour book

Bluffs Overlooking Port Washington, Wisconsin

Bottom of the Lake

The bottom, or “foot” of Lake Michigan is about the opposite experience from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as it gets (we don’t have any published stories on the U.P, but we’ll fix that soon, eh!) If you have never been to Milwaukee , add it to your bucket list. Milwaukee is one of the most underrated cities in America and has lots to offer for families from museums to parks, sports, festivals, events, tours, and loads of regional, ethnic, non-chain restaurants.

lake michigan circle tour book

North Port Lighthouse Museum

A lovely stop on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour is the the North Point Lighthouse Museum is a lighthouse built in 1888, located in the picturesque Lake Park and now on the National Register of Historic Places. For more ideas on what to do in Brew City, check out my insiders guide here . Approximately 30 minutes south of Milwaukee in the town of Racine the Windpoint Lighthouse, another lighthouse/museum worth checking out.  We had a nice picnic on the beach here despite visiting in early spring when the wind can still be bitter cold from the recent ice melt.

lake michigan circle tour book

Windpoint Lighthouse in Racine, Wisconsin

Kenosha , Chicago , South Chicago , and Norther Indiana have stops along the route; the Indiana sand dunes and Indiana Dunes National Park is most definitely on our bucket list.

lake michigan circle tour book

Kenosha lighthouse. Kids for scale.

Before You Drive the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

Before you visit Wisconsin and Michigan, be sure to read these funny insider tips in these stories:

  • 15 Important Things You Need to Know Before Visiting Wisconsin
  • 15 Important Things You Need to Know Before Visiting Michigan

About the Author

Julie henning.

Michigan Highways: Since 1997.

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M-22 & M-109 junction route signage in Glen Arbor, Michigan

Michigan Highways > Other Routes > Great Lakes Circle Tours > Lake Michigan Circle Tours

Lake Michigan Circle Tour

Working in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the West Michigan Tourist Association (WMTA) helped to make the first of the official Great Lakes Circle Tours a reality. On the MDOT side, Jack Morgan, assistant to the department’s deputy director, introduced the concept of a Circle Tour in 1987. Just 14 months later, agreement had been reached on a route and signs to be posted along the 1,100-mile tour completely circling Lake Michigan. The WMTA filled the need for a guidebook and when the Chicago Tribune and Milwaukee Journal ran articles in 1988 about the new Circle Tour, 150 callers from the Chicagoland area along deluged the WMTA staff the next Monday morning, requesting the guide. Two days later, 700 guidebook requests came in from Illinois and Wisconsin and the following day an additional 1,000 phone and mail requests poured in to their offices.

Present-Day Concerns and the Tri-Modal Corridor

In November 2012, the inaugural meeting of the Lake Michigan Trails Conference was convened in Saugatuck by Western Michigan University professor Dave Lembeck. Lembeck is championing both the completion of a Lake Michigan “water trail” for kayakers, canoeists and other paddlers around the lake’s entire shoreline as well as an interconnection between the water trail, the new U.S. Bicycle Route 35 (USBR-35) and the existing Lake Michigan Circle Tour. The envisioned “Tri-Modal Corridor” would accommodate non-motorized transportation and recreation via the “water trail” in the Lake and the bicycle route on land. The LMCT would help link the various bicycle trailheads and water access points together.

Unfortunately, actual signage along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour route has deteriorated over time. While Wisconsin has generally kept the Circle Tour reasonably well posted, signage in Michigan and Illinois is lacking and long segments of the LMCT in Indiana are now completely unsigned. Indeed, when the numbered highways that the Circle Tour ran along were rerouted in Northwest Indiana in recent years, the LMCT route markers were regrettably not relocated or replaced. Furthermore, highway signing standards may have changed to the point where including Circle Tour route markers alongside the other numbered highway markers on freeway signage is no longer allowed or encouraged. While hundreds of the standard Circle Tour markers are still found alongside the roadside in Michigan, some locations where the LMCT changes directions (e.g. transitions from one highway to another) are now under-signed or completely unsigned altogether. This was cited as a major concern by the attendees at the 2012 Lake Michigan Trails Conference.

Conference attendees vowed to support the ongoing efforts of the existing organizations assembling the resources necessary to complete the Lake Michigan Water Trail and the signed U.S. Bicycle Route network now underway around the periphery of the Lake. Additionally, attendees citied a need to renew coordination and oversight of the Great Lakes Circle Tour Program within the various state departments of transportation, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the de facto coordinating agency, the Great Lakes Commission. Several of those in attendance pledged resources and a commitment to both preserve the Circle Tour routes and look for ways to improve the coordination and signage into the future. Creating background documentation, documenting and recording the officially-adopted Circle Tour route, clarifying route signage standards and formalizing a route maintenance policy are just some of the concepts put forth in the revitalization of these important tourist routes.

Lack of Official Routing & Erroneous Information

Unfortunately, for many years, the Great Lakes Commission's own description of the LMCT was largely incorrect, both in terms of the actual route and because of numerous typos and incorrect community names. For example, for sixteen years (2001–17), the "Lake Michigan Circle Tour Road Route" section of the Commission's LMCT page (archived) gave the following highly-erroneous description of the route in Lower Peninsula:

ROUTE: Follow I-96E to Holland; US-31N to Manistee; MI-22 to Traverse City; US-31 to Petoskey; MI-119 to the town of Cross Bridge; C66 to US-31; cross the Mackinaw Bridge (toll) into the Upper Peninsula

The first major issue is to get to Holland from Indiana, one needs to first follow US-12 East (not listed) before transitioning onto I-94 East (not listed), then exit that route and follow BL I-94 and M-63 through St Joseph and Benton Harbor (not listed), transitioning then onto I-196/US-31 North (also not listed!) with a loop through downtown South Haven via BL I-196 (not listed), then back to I-196/US-31 North, before exiting onto US-31 North to reach Holland. On top of that, I-96 doesn't go to Holland at all!

From Holland to Petoskey the directions are somewhat better, although loops through downtown Muskegon, the downtowns of Whitehall and Motague, and through Pentwater via the respective BUS US-31 routings are omitted. However, from Petoskey, the LMCT has never run along M-119 and even if it did, the directions erroneously call the community of Cross Village , Cross Bridge , instead! (It's never been called Cross Bridge since its was founded in 1830!) But after omitting the connection from US-31 onto I-75 once US-31, the name of one of Michigan's most famous landmarks is misspelled: the Mackina c Bridge! If these directions are this bad—and have been since it was first reported to the Great Lakes Commission in the late 1990s (based on a previous incarnation of the erronous web page)—how could anyone trust the rest of the information?

Lake Michigan Circle Tour Route

The route of the mainline LMCT in Michigan follows signed state trunkline routes in its entirety, although in some places the nearest state highway to the Lake Michigan may be several miles away. Along with the primary Circle Tour route, several marked "Lake Michigan Circle Tour Loops" have been posted using white-on-brown signs. These loops may follow state highways or utilize city streets and county roads running closer to the shoreline. These loop routes are detailed below the mainline route below:

  • The LMCT enters Michigan from Indiana on US-12 south of New Buffalo and proceeds northerly through New Buffalo to I-94 .
  • The route leaves US-12 and continues northerly on I-94 from Exit 4 toward St Joseph.
  • At Exit 23, the route exits I-94 and continues northerly into downtown St Joseph via BL I-94 .
  • In St Joseph, the LMCT continues northerly on M-63 into northern Berrien Co.
  • At the nothern terminus of M-63 , the circle tour proceeds northerly on I-196 / US-31 toward South Haven.
  • The route leaves I-196 / US-31 at Exit 18 and loops through South Haven using BL I-196 .
  • On the east side of South Haven, where BL I-196 ends at I-196 / US-31 Exit 20, the route continues north into Allegan Co on I-196 / US-31 .
  • While the LMCT remains on I-196 / US-31 at Saugatuck/Douglas, a locally-designated LMCT Harbor Tour loop route is signed concurrently with A-2 /Blue Star Hwy between Exits 36 and 41.
  • The circle tour continues northerly on US-31 / BL I-196 toward Holland at Exit 44 when I-196 splits off to the east.
  • After splitting from I-196 south of Holland, the route continues northerly following US-31 past Holland and through Grand Haven and toward Norton Shores.
  • At the jct of US-31 & I-96 , the LMCT leaves US-31 and follows BUS US-31 through downtown Muskegon.
  • Northeast of downtown Muskegon, the route continues northerly via M-120 to North Muskegon and northeasterly back to US-31 .
  • Back on US-31 , the circle tour continues northerly toward Ludington, leaving US-31 once to follow the route of BUS US-31 through the downtowns of Whitehall and Montague in northern Muskegon Co.
  • At the end of the US-31 freeway near Ludington, the LMCT turns east following US-10 / US-31 toward Scottville.
  • At Ludington rather unique LMCT Loop Route begins, although it is currently unsigned: From US-31 , the Loop route continues westerly along US-10 into downtown Ludington, then travels straight across the Lake Michigan via the S.S. Badger carferry!
  • At Scottville, the circle tour turns northerly again to follow US-31 toward Manistee, although a locally-designated LMCT Loop Route formerly continued east on US-10 into downtown, then northerly via Old US-31 back to US-31 and the LMCT. ( NOTE: The LMCT Loop route through Scottville was removed/decommissioned some time in late 2004 or early 2005 and no longer exists. )
  • The route continues northerly from Scottville and through Manistee on US-31 .
  • Northeast of Manistee, the route turns northerly to follow M-22 through Onekama, Frankfort and Empire.
  • Northeast of Empire, a LMCT Loop Route leaves M-22 to follow M-109 past Glen Haven, rejoining M-22 at Glen Arbor. (The mainline LMCT remains on M-22 between Empire and Glen Arbor.)
  • From Glen Arbor, the circle tour continues northerly on M-22 through Leland to Northport. At Northport, M-22 and the LMCT turn nearly 180 degrees to head southerly into Traverse City.
  • At Traverse City, the LMCT returns to US-31 and continues northerly via US-31 through Elk Rapids, Charlevoix and Petoskey and on toward the Mackinac Bridge.
  • South of Mackinaw City, where US-31 ends, the route continues northerly on I-75 crossing the Mackinac Bridge and entering the Upper Peninsula at St Ignace. Between Mackinaw City and St Ignace, the LMCT is jointed by the Lake Huron Circle Tour .
  • In St Ignace, the LMCT continues westerly along US-2 for more than 140 miles through Manistique and Gladstone to Escanaba.
  • At Escanaba, the circle tour continues southwesterly via M-35 along the Green Bay shoreline to Menominee
  • The route continues south on US-41 through Menominee and enters Wisconsin at Marinette.
  • Continue on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour route into Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Highways website.

Note: The route included on this website has been personally researched by the website author in the field.  

Lake Michigan Circle Tour Loop Routes

Lake michigan circle tour - harbor tour (saugatuck/douglas).

A locally-designated loop route which helps circle tour motorists navigate into and through the off-route communities of Saugatuck and Douglas in northwestern Allegan Co. While most local loops are designated as "Loop Routes" off the mainline circle tour, this particular route is actually designated as a "Harbor Tour," although it behaves like any other Loop Route. Also, as with all Loop Routes, this route is designated with white-on-brown circle tour signs, using the same LMCT "logo." The route is 7.7 miles long:

  • The LMCT Harbor Tour begins at I-196 / US-31 /LMCT at Exit 34 near Ganges (south of Douglas).
  • The Harbor Tour route proceeds easterly from the freeway along M-89/124th Ave to A-2/Blue Star Hwy.
  • The route turns northerly on A-2 /Blue Star Hwy into Douglas, passing just west of the downtown area.
  • The loop route then crosses into Saugatuck, still via A-2 /Blue Star Hwy, passing just east of the downtown.
  • The route ends when it meets back up with I-196 / US-31 /LMCT at Exit 41 northeast of Saugatuck.

Lake Michigan Circle Tour - Loop Route ( S.S. Badger carferry)

While most Lake Michigan Circle Tour spur and loop routes simply involve an alternate highway routing diverging from the mainline route, this particular spur route is unique among them. On August 29, 1998, Lake Michigan Carferry's S.S. Badger which ferries automobiles, trucks and passengers between Manitowoc, Wisconsin and Ludington, Michigan was officially designated as a Lake Michigan Circle Tour spur route. The route traverses the following path:

  • From the mainline Lake Michigan Circle Tour route at the western jct US-10 & US-31 , the route heads westerly along US-10 into downtown Ludington, turning southerly via US-10 /James St to the S.S. Badger carferry docks.
  • The route then traverses Lake Michigan itself via the S.S. Badger carferry.
  • From the carferry dock in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the Loop route, following US-10, heads southerly via Lakeview Dr, westerly via Madison St and then northerly along 8th St (with eastbound US-10/LMCT Loop using 10th St) into downtown Manitowoc.
  • The LMCT Loop Route ends at jct US-10 & US-151 in downtown Manitowoc.

Former Lake Michigan Circle Tour - Loop Route (Scottville)

When MDOT completed a western bypass of Scottville, taking the high volume of US-31 traffic out of town, a locally-designated LMCT Loop Route was signed, acting as a de-facto Business Routing for US-31 . Note, however, this LMCT Loop route was removed some time in late 2004 or early 2005 and no longer exists. The former route was 1.5 miles long:

  • The LMCT Loop Route began at the jct of US-10 & US-31 on the west side of Scottville.
  • The route continued easterly via US-10 into downtown Scottville.
  • In downtown Scottville, the loop route turned northerly and followed Old US-31 out of Scottville.
  • The LMCT Loop Route ended at US-31 north of Scottville.

Lake Michigan Circle Tour - Loop Route (Sleeping Bear–Glen Haven)

While the Lake Michigan Circle Tour generally follows the closest posted state trunkline to its namesake body of water, the Sleeping Bear Dunes area is one exception. Instead of diverting the mainline LMCT off M-22 for only eight miles, it continues via M-22 through to Glen Arbor and on to Leland. However, as M-109 loops off M-22 to the west (lakeside) through the Sleeping Bear Dunes area, it has been designated as a LMCT Loop Route. The route is 6.8 miles long:

  • The LMCT Loop Route begins at the southern jct of M-22 & M-109 just northeast of Empire and continues northerly along Dunes Hwy toward Glen Haven.
  • At Glen Haven, the loop route turns east and continues on M-109 /Harbor Hwy toward Glen Arbor.
  • The LMCT Loop Route ends at the northern jct of M-22 & M-109 in Glen Arbor.

Back to: Great Lakes Circle Tour page .  

Additional Information

  • - website from the author of MichiganHighways.org.
  • Lake Michigan Circle Tour History (link broken) - from the West Michigan Tourist Association (WMTA). The WMTA helped to coordinate the first of the Great Lakes Circle Tours in the 1980s.
  • Lake Michigan Circle Tour (archived) – from the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN), which "is a partnership that provides one place online for people to find information relating to the binational Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region of North America." Please note that the "Circle Tour Road Route" description from the GLIN site was not only vague, but incorrect! (See description above.)
  • --> Shoreline Charms (archived) – an article by Donna Marchetti about the Lake Michigan Circle Tour from the Michigan Living magazine published by AAA Michigan.

lake michigan circle tour book

Lake Michigan Circle Tour

The very first trip Nisheet and I took together was the Lake Michigan Circle Tour (it’s an actual thing, highway signs and all). It was a very spontaneous trip. We worked for the same company at the time, and it was the day before Labor Day Weekend. Neither of us had plans, so we thought why not? It turned out to be a great idea and was one of the best trips in the Midwest we have ever taken.

The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is a scenic route that follows highways and roads around Lake Michigan and passes through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Keep a lookout for the Lake Michigan Circle Tour signs, but if you end up on a different highway, don’t worry, just keep on to your next destination and you’re bound to end up back on the official tour route. For those not familiar with Lake Michigan, it is the 3rd largest great lake by surface area, but it is still huge. In fact, it looks just like an ocean (minus the sharks) and will take you over 1,000 miles to drive all the way around. Nisheet and I completed the circle in 4 days (and got home at 3am), but I recommend you take at least a week. We were extremely rushed and missed some stops towards the end of our journey. If you are flexible with your trip, I’d also recommend that you do not  book hotels or campsites ahead of time. You never know which stop you will want to spend extra time at. However, you must be aware that it can be difficult to find vacant campsites and hotel rooms during peak times (around Memorial day, 4th July, and Labor day). Also, we started in Chicago because that’s where we lived at the time, but you can start anywhere.

Lake Michigan Circle Tour Map Guide

Recommended Lake Michigan Circle Tour Stops:

Stop 1: chicago.

Chicago Lakefront on a beautiful day with green grass, the skyline, blue skies, and the lake

Chicago Lakefront

Chicago has a beautiful lakefront, and even has  an 18 mile trail along the shoreline that is great for biking, skating, or walking. Along the way (or nearby) you will see some of Chicago’s top attractions including the Museum of Science and Industry , Adler Planetarium , and Navy Pier .

Stop 2: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore with a power plant in the background

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

The Indiana Dunes sits at the very southern tip of Lake Michigan, and is a getaway retreat for Chicagoans. It is a unique setting with large dunes and natural beauty with power plants plopped down right next to the beaches. The visitor’s center is a great place to learn some of the area’s history. Then head over to Mount Baldy for a short hike and a nice beach. You can also go hiking, biking, and camping in the area. And it’s probably best to not climb the dunes if there are signs saying to stay off. Not only will you be preventing man made erosion, but you are staying safe. In 2013, a young boy was swallowed up by a dune and had to be rescued!

Stop 3: South Haven, MI

Salmon at the Phoenix Street Cafe, South Haven, Michigan

Phoenix Street Cafe, South Haven

South Haven will welcome you to the Michigan beach-town lifestyle. It is quaint and charming, it has cute little shops and restaurants, and of course is has a beautiful white sandy beach.  You may get excited when you see a large statue of a cartoony looking boy holding a cheeseburger outside a well known Michigan chain restaurant, Big Boy, but skip it and instead have brunch at the wonderful  Phoenix Street Cafe . There was a long wait when we went, but the smoked salmon plate and the Eggs Benedict that we devoured was worth it. Afterwards, take a stroll along the river to the beach.

Stop 4: Holland, MI

Beer and pizza at New Holland Brewery in Holland, Michigan

New Holland Brewery in Holland, Michigan

Crowded beach with blue skies and puffy white clouds at Holland Beach, Michigan

Holland Beach

Wanna brag to your friends back home that you went to Holland for vacation?  Then make a stop at  Holland, MI  which  is actually like a little Holland. The residents pride themselves on their Dutch heritage, their wooden clogs, and over 4 million tulips. Each spring when the tulips are in full bloom, Holland holds a festival called Tulip Time . Not only can you see millions of tulips, but there are parades, a craft fair, dutch dancers, and carnival food. If you miss Tulip Time, you can still enjoy the sandy white beach at the Holland State Park and the shops and restaurants on downtown’s 8th Street. Also, be sure to stop at New Holland  Brewing for some Dragon’s Milk and a pizza straight from the oven.  Tip : The beach is located in a state park  which charges an auto entrance fee, but there is FREE parking along the road only a short walk if you want to avoid the fee.

Stop 5: Grand Haven, MI

Pronto Pups in Grand Haven, Michigan

Pronto Pups in Grand Haven, Michigan

pronto Pups stand with line in Grand Haven, Michigan

Grand Haven is another quintessential Michigan beach town. The town itself is filled with shops and restaurants, and the beach is just down the road. I highly recommend eating a Pronto Pup while you are in town. It is essentially a corn dog with a stripe of either mustard or ketchup, but it is so much better as can be seen from the long lines of eagerly awaiting customers. The beach itself is very nice and has several volleyball and grilling areas. There is also a pretty lighthouse that is worth walking down the pier to see. Tip : Like Holland, the beach is technically in a state park , but you can park along most of the nearby residential streets for FREE.

Stop 6: Mac Wood Dune Rides

Mac Woods Dune Rides red truck, Michigan

Mac Woods Dune Rides

The dunes in Western Michigan are the largest collection of freshwater dunes in the world, and one fun way to explore them is by dune buggy. You can rent your own buggy, or can go on a dune buggy tour. I recommend Mac Wood’s Dune Rides in Mears, MI. The tours aren’t necessarily as exhilarating as going on your own since the buggy is more like a truck with seats in the back and they take on the dunes slower, but they are a very safe alternative and the guides are funny and very knowledge about the dune’s history, vegetation, and wildlife.

Stop 7: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan with blue sky, blue water, sloping sand, and trees

Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore

Great Hall at the Cherry Republic

Cherry Republic

Sleeping Bear Dunes is a National Lakeshore, and it was voted the “Most Beautiful Place in America” on ABC’s Good Morning America in 2011, so obviously you will want to stop here and check it out for yourself.  The park stretches across 35 miles of the Lake Michigan shoreline, and the dunes approach a height of 450 feet. Besides the massive dunes (aka. very thick beaches), you will discover ghost forests to hike through, rivers to kayak, lush forests to camp in, and starry skies to gaze at. Our favorite hiking trail is the Dunes Trail which starts at the famous Dune Climb and then continues over various dunes to the beach. Bring lots of water, sunscreen, and a hat! Tip : While you are in the area, check out the Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor for cherry everything. Extra Tip : The Platte River Campground located within Sleeping Bear Dunes is a great place to rest for the night.

Check out our Sleeping Bear Dunes blog!

Stop 8:  Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Grand Traverse Lighthouse with red roof, Michigan

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located at the very northern tip of Leelanau Peninsula. You can take a tour of the lighthouse (which is setup like a 1920s keeper home) or just admire the views. Be warned, there might be biting black flies during the hot summer days along the lake. They were very annoying when we visited.

Bonus Stop: Hearth and Vine

Pizza at Hearth and Vine, Michigan

Hearth and Vine

If you get hungry on your way to the next stop, Traverse City, stop at Hearth and Vine located near Suttons Bay at the Black Star Farms Winery . Although they are a winery, they also have excellent hard ciders and to-die-for wood-fired pizzas.

Stop 9: Traverse City

2 glasses of Wine on the Old Mission Peninsula

Wine on the Old Mission Peninsula

Traverse City  a.k.a “The Cherry Capital of the World” provides a nice change from all the MI beaches and lighthouses (although it has those too). It is has a gorgeous lakefront trail that is perfect for an evening bike ride, and it has has a wide variety of restaurants, boat tours, and wineries. Speaking of wineries, Old Mission Peninsula is nearby, and I highly recommended going on a self guided bike tour of the wineries. And don’t forget to taste some cherry wines! Also, in case you missed it earlier on your trip, the Cherry Republic has a store here as well.

Stop 10: Mackinaw City, MI

Mackinac with blue water and clear blue sky

Mackinac Bridge

Mackinac Fudge Sign

Mackinac Fudge

Mackinaw City is to fudge as Traverse City is to cherries. This city has so much lip-smacking delicious fudge that if you aren’t careful you will leave with a bellyache. Besides fudge, it is also known for the Mackinac Bridge  which is a picturesque large suspension bridge that connects the lower and upper peninsulas. If time permits, you can also take a short ferry ride to  Mackinac Island where cars are banned. Tip : Mackinac is pronounced the same as Mackinaw [mack-i-naw] .

Stop 11: Manistique

Historic Fayette with boardwalk, lake, and historic buildings

Historic Fayette

For having a population of only 3,000 people, Manistique has a lot to offer. The historic townsite of   Fayette  is nearby which once upon a time had one of the most productive iron-smelting operations in the Upper Peninsula. The buildings were eventually boarded up due to a declining market, and now you can walk around the historic site, see the buildings, learn the history, and marvel at the views. Another area attraction is Kitch-iti-kipi  which is a large spring spanning 200 feet. Manistique is also located on the edge of the Hiawatha National Forest which has camping and hiking.

Stop 12: Green Bay.

When I think of Green Bay, 2 things come to mind. Green Bay Packers and cheese. I’m not a huge football fan, but if you are, head over to  Lambeau Field for tailgating and a game (if it’s the right season) or take a stadium tour. Personally, I’d skip that and head straight for the cheese. You will definitely want to taste some fresh cheese curds that squeak when you bite them.  For fried cheese curds,  Titletown Brewing  is known to have some of the best.

Stop 13: Door County

Rocky beach at Peninsula State Park, Door County

Peninsula State Park, Door County

Door County is the Cape Cod of the Midwest, so while it is beautiful, it can be very touristy. That also means there are lots of activities to do though. You can go biking, hiking, kayaking, and camping at one of the state parks. You can take a ferry to Washington Island. Or can have a sunset dinner at one of the many restaurants.

Stop 14: Milwaukee

Unique white Milwaukee Art Museum on cloudy day

Milwaukee Art Museum

Outside of Milwaukee Public Market in the rain

Milwaukee Public Market

Another great stop during your Lake Michigan Circle Tour is the city of Milwaukee.  As the largest city in WI, this city has a lot to offer.  One of the must-stop places is the Milwaukee Art Museum , if only to view the unique movable wing-like rooftop structure that opens during the day and closes at night.  Other notable stops include the Milwaukee Public Market , Lakefront Brewery , and Miller Brewery .

Bonus Stop: Racine Danish Kringle

The city of Racine doesn’t have much to offer, however, the ONE reason you must stop here is to try the very famous Racine Danish Kringle.  This delectable oval pastry consists of 32 layers of flaky dough and comes with a variety of fillings and toppings.  There are tons of local bakeries that sell Kringle and usually they start flying off the shelf starting early in the morning and are gone by the afternoon. One of the best places to try a Kringle is at the O & H Danish Bakery .

The Lake Michigan Circle Tour Basics:

Distance: 1,000+miles (depends on actual route taken)

Length: 1 week minimum recommended, but the Lake Michigan Circle Tour can technically be driven in a day without any stops

Best Season: Late Spring – Early Fall. A lot of the beach towns along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour become dead in the winter. Plus, winters can be very snowy, especially in the upper peninsula.

Accommodations: Luxury beach resorts – rustic camping. Your choice.

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Must-visit stops along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

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lake michigan circle tour book

Any season can be road trip season! Are you feeling lost or craving something fun to do with friends, but don’t quite know where or how to start planning? We’ve got you. The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is a ~1,100-mile loop that passes through Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana following the shorelines of Lake Michigan. 

Lake Michigan is the fifth largest lake in the world! Among the five Great Lakes, it’s the second largest in volume and the third largest in surface area. Don’t underestimate the beauty and magnetism of this Midwestern body of water. Along the drive, you'll experience beaches, forests, dunes, local breweries, delicious food joints, National Parks and National Lakeshores.

Since the route is a loop, you can start anywhere you want (Chicago is popular)! Below are some places you should check out in each state you’ll pass through! Download the Outbound Collective app to find even more popular and hidden adventures along your route. 

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria – Chicago, IL

Satisfy your hunger by indulging in deep dish pizza for a true Chicago experience. Lou Malnoti's is run by the oldest family name in Chicago pizza history! The 9-inch-deep 'zas are made fresh and are the perfect easy meal to share among friends while getting a taste of Chicago.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery – Chicago, IL

Coffee lovers will enjoy the opportunity to visit the largest Starbucks in the world! Built in 2019, this Starbucks Reserve is four-stories-high – definitely not your average coffee shop! Right in the heart of Michigan Avenue, you can order any of your favorite classic Starbucks drinks, and can also choose from a selection of gourmet coffee, food, and alcoholic beverages. Grab a latte before hitting the road or stay for a while to fully experience the roastery.

Ice Skate at Maggie Daley Park – Chicago, IL

As winter is approaching, what better way to get into a festive spirit than to go ice skating? Chicago is home to the longest ice skating ribbon in the U.S. at a total distance of a quarter-mile. This year, the skating ribbon opens November 18, 2022. If you take this road trip during the warmer months, the ribbon is used for rollerblading instead! Admission is free, and rental skates are available. Not only will you have fun doing something active outdoors in a major city, but you’ll also bask in incredible views of the city skyline and lights.

Mars Cheese Castle  – Kenosha, WI

When you think of Wisconsin, what comes to mind? …. CHEESE! Wisconsin is the #1 cheese-producing state in the country and it wouldn’t be right to pass through the state without having a cheese-related experience! Stop by this unique castle stocked with all the cheese you can imagine, plus baked goods, meats, and popcorn! It’s about an hour drive north of Chicago.

Milwaukee Public Market – Milwaukee, WI

lake michigan circle tour book

Not sure what to eat for lunch? People in the car arguing over what they’re in the mood for? The Milwaukee Public Market is sure to have something that will satisfy everyone! Get inspired by a plethora of food vendors from seafood to Thai to Middle Eastern and plant-based options! Then, take your food up to the Palm Garden seating area on the second floor. If you have the time or are stopping for the night, try out one of the hands-on or demonstration classes  and learn how to make coffee toffee and hot cinnamon peanut brittle, curate your own bottle of gin, etc. Reserve your spot ahead of time - class tickets sell out!

Point Beach State Forest – near Two Rivers, WI

This state forest boasts roughly 3000-acres of land and 6 miles of beach along the Lake Michigan coast. It’s a great spot to stop to go swimming in the hot summer months. Hike along the Ice Age Trail , visit the Rawley Point Lighthouse , or stay overnight at one of the family campsites.

Grand Traverse Pie Company – Traverse City, MI

Transport yourself to grandma’s kitchen with a trip to this pie-lovers destination! Inhale the fresh baked smells wafting your way and delight in the joy of sharing a pie with your traveling companions. The Grand Traverse Pie Company is committed to using Michigan products and suppliers whenever possible, which you can taste with each rich and flaky bite. Choose from a wide selection of options like the blueberry lemon silk pie, vernors cherry pie, and lakeshore berry crumb. They also make sandwiches, salads, quiches, and pot pies!

Great Wolf Lodge – Traverse City, MI

You can enjoy summer fun activities even in the cold weather right here at the Great Wolf Lodge’s 37,000-foot indoor water park! Stay overnight or purchase a full or half-day pass to dip your toes in the warm waters and scream your way down waterslides. 

Sleeping Bear Dunes – Glen Arbor, MI

lake michigan circle tour book

Located in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, this National Lakeshore features truly stunning sandy dunes and forests. Hike the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore  or  Drive the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive  to get a taste of this beautiful area. Michigan Ice Fest – Munising, MI

lake michigan circle tour book

Anyone who interested in ice climbing, whether you’re someone who has no experience, some experience, or an expert, should definitely check out this renowned ice climbing event! It’ll be held from February 8-12, 2023. The south shore of Lake Superior has some of the country’s best ice climbing. Learn more advanced skills and receive instructions during courses, clinics, and socials to connect with people in the climbing community! Some of the world’s best alpinists and ice climbers will be there. How often will you have the opportunity to grab a drink after a day of activity with a professional athlete?!Even if you aren’t a climber, the event is fun to spectate or attend for climbing photography experience. Online registration is $65 and $85 at the door.

Veldheer Tulip Gardens – Holland, MI

lake michigan circle tour book

Did you know you can have a very European experience right in the state of Michigan? Holland is an extremely charming town featuring European-style architecture, tulip fields, and windmills that could easily be mistaken for a village in the Netherlands. The tulips are at their most vibrant in May while lilies flourish through the spring and summer. The town is still a unique and cute stopping point even in the winter months.

Mackinac Island

lake michigan circle tour book

You’ll need to take a ferry from Mackinaw City, MI to arrive at the beautiful and serene Mackinac Island. There are no cars or chain hotels here, just charming and family-owned accommodations. Biking (rent a rig on the island) and walking are the best ways to get around. Mackinac Island State Park , which features trails and woods, covers most of the island. Hike to Arch Rock to check out a distinct geologic natural limestone arch formation.

Other Michigan Adventures:

Winter Hike Empire Bluff Trails – Honor, MI

This popular and relatively short hike will reward you with an overlook of Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, South Bar Lake, and Lake Michigan.

Winter Hike Pyramid Point Trail – Maple City, MI

This adventure offers panoramic views of Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, North and South Manitou Islands, Lake Michigan, and Leland, MI. If you plan to hike in the winter, it’s recommended that you bring crampons or microspikes since conditions can be icy.

Indiana Dunes National Park

lake michigan circle tour book

Explore 15 miles of the southern shore of Lake Michigan featuring a unique ecosystem with native birds and plants. Kick back and relax on one of the 8 beaches or hike through dunes, forests, and wetlands. Kayaking and canoeing are also great ways to explore the lake. Camp overnight to extend your time enjoying all this place has to offer like: Hike the Cowles Bog Trail , Photograph the Chicago Skyline , Hike the Dune Succession Trail .

Shoreline Brewery – Michigan City, IN

After a long day of driving and adventuring, stopping for a cold one and some contemporary American food can really hit the spot!

Road trips are the perfect time to take it easy, be present, and enjoy the ride. There are plenty of places, like the ones on this list, that are worth stopping to check out along the way. But, don’t forget that the best parts of road trips are often the spontaneous stops and unexpected treasures that you just so happen to stumble upon. Keep your eyes open!

Need more suggestions for your route? Download the Outbound app  and input your starting point and ending point. It'll suggest a route and include some awesome adventures along the way like hiking, biking, and paddling!

Cover photo: Aaron Burden

We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

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lake michigan circle tour book

Big Bend Bound: Crafting Your 3-Day Adventure

Erin Newman-Mitchell

The unparalleled beauty of the landscapes and mesmerizing dark skies at Big Bend National Park make for an essential bucket list experience. I’ll highlight and recommend some of my favorite things to see and do to help you make the most of your West Texas visit.

lake michigan circle tour book

A golden happy hour on the California coast

Hannah Sibley

I took my family to Muir Beach to relax, breathe in the salty air, and enjoy a refreshing whiskey cocktail.

lake michigan circle tour book

Lake Tahoe's trifecta: 3 Days of adventure at Zephyr Cove

Ranz Navarro

Join us on an exciting three-day journey as we uncover the beauty and excitement of Zephyr Cove Resort, a hidden gem for adventure seekers and nature lovers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

lake michigan circle tour book

10 Ways to make camping in Yosemite National Park even better

Meghan White

Whiskey, wonder, and walls (of granite)

lake michigan circle tour book

Review: Danner Mountain Light boots in Yosemite National Park

I test drove the iconic boot with a legendary reputation on a weekend in Yosemite

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10 Must-Visit Michigan Locations on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

Platte River, Sleeping Bear Dunes

Lake Michigan has the distinction of being the only one of the five Great Lakes surrounded entirely by the United States. Wisconsin, Indian, Illinois and Michigan all share this lake, which is the third largest of the five by surface area and second largest by volume. We’ve already shared our choices for 10 Must-Visit Michigan Locations on the Lake Superior Circle Tour , and today we present our choices for 10 Must-Visit Michigan Locations on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour . Of the 1,661 miles of Lake Michigan coastline, Michigan accounts for 1,058 miles. The driving portion of the LMCT covers roughly 900 miles, and would take close to 15 hours to drive with no stops.This amazing trip around the lake will show visitors everything America’s “third coast” has to offer, from stunning sandy beaches to vibrant cities. While Chicago, Indian Dunes, Wisconsin’s Door County and other attractions are top draws for the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, we’re pretty confident that Michigan offers some of the best sites to visit.

Fayette Historic State Park – Visitors to this state park on Big Bay de Noc can step back in time while visiting a 19th century museum town. There are more than 20 buildings open to walk through , and informational plaques that tell the story of what life was like once in this community centered around an iron smelter. The towering dolomite cliffs make a great backdrop against the blue water and wooden dock ruins, and the park boasts five miles of hiking trails. A small campground features more than 60 sem-modern sites.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore – In 2012, Good Morning America named Sleeping Bear Dunes and its 35 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline (plus North and South Manitou Islands) the “Most Beautiful Place in America.” If you’ve ever visited, you understand why the lakeshore won this honor, and if you’ve never been it won’t take long into your visit to see what keeps visitors coming back in greater numbers each year. Camping options range from modern at Platte River to rustic at D. H. Day and backcountry on the Manitou Islands. The “dune climb,” Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Empire Bluffs, Glen Haven Village and Port Oneida Farm District are among the top attractions to check out when you visit.

Saugatuck – Recently named Readers’ Choice for America’s Best Coastal Small Town by USA TODAY/10best, Saugatuck continues to be an all-season destination with a vibrant and historic downtown, access to Lake Michigan dunes at Saugatuck Dunes State Park , more than a handful of bed-and-breakfast resorts, and the only remaining hand-crank chain ferry in the country (Saugatuck Chain Ferry). Art galleries, shops and restaurants provide plenty to see in town, while Oval Beach, Saugatuck Brewing Company and Mt. Baldhead are worth checking out too. Mayor Bill Hess joined us in March and shared his 5 Favorite Places in Michigan .

Escanaba – The third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula and the largest U.P. city on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, Escanaba is the county seat of Delta County and home to historic attractions, recreational opportunities and more. Restaurants like Hereford & Hops and Rosy’s Diner are local gems, and history buffs will enjoy stops at the Sand Point Lighthouse and the House of Ludington Hotel. There are plenty of trails for hiking and biking, and lots of opportunities for water recreation on Little Bay de Noc.

Ludington – AAA rates Ludington as one of Michigan’s Top 5 tourist cities, thanks to its location on Lake Michigan and countless things to do. Walking the north pierhead to the lighthouse and watching the S.S. Badger leave or return to port is a favorite activity, and can be done via a short walk from downtown. Beer enthusiasts will enjoy a stop at The Mitten Bar or Jamesport Brewing Company , and there are also plenty of family restaurants and shopping opportunities. Ludington State Park is one of Michigan’s most beautiful, with forests, dunes, a dam, a river and a historic lighthouse ( Big Sable Point Lighthouse ). There are more than 20 miles of hiking trails, more than 350 campsites and opportunities for canoeing and bicycling in the summer or cross-country skiing in the winter.

Big Spring Kitch-iti-kipi, Palms Book State Park – One of Michigan’s most unique natural attractions can be found a few miles west of Manistique in the Upper Peninsula. The Big Spring Kitch-iti-kipi is a 300 x 175 x 40 pool that maintains a constant temperature of 45 degrees thanks to the 10,000 gallons per minute of water coming up from the fissures below. A self-propelled raft takes visitors out to the center of the pool, where they can gaze down and see fish swimming next to constantly-moving clouds of sand. Mineral-encrusted branches line the outside of the pool, and a handful of Native American legends are centered around this location.

Traverse City – One of the biggest Michigan cities on the LMCT, Traverse City is known for its cherry production and highly-regarded wines as well as for being a top tourist destination. Visitors will find numerous state parks, historic lighthouses, sandy beaches, restaurants, outdoor recreation areas and ski resorts. The area is also home to some of Northern Michigan’s best breweries, including Right Brain Brewery, The Filling Station , Brewery Terra Firma , North Peak, Jolly Pumpkin and Rare Bird. Trips north on the Old Mission Peninsula or Leelanau Peninsula offer stunning views in any season, and Traverse City State Park offers camping and recreation opportunities right in the city.

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Warren Dunes State Park – Located in the Southwest corner of Michigan, this beautiful state park sees almost a million visitors annually thanks to its towering dunes and scenic shoreline. Tower Hill sits 240 feet above the lake, and is a popular spot for visitors to climb before racing back down. Six miles of hiking trails and chances to watch wildlife are also popular draws, and 200 modern campsites fill up quickly in the summer months.

Grand Haven/Holland – One thing these cities have in common is great state parks on Lake Michigan with large campgrounds and sunny, sandy beaches. Each park features a historic red lighthouse, and Grand Haven’s pier is one of the best-known walks on the west side of the state. Holland is well known for its Dutch heritage – the Tulip Time festival, Nelis’ Dutch Village and Windmill Gardens (featuring the de Zwaan windmill) all pay tribute to the city’s heritage. Downtown Holland features something for everyone – shops, restaurants and breweries (New Holland, Our Brewing) and more. Grand Haven is known for the annual Coast Guard Festival, as well as a musical fountain that was once the world’s largest.

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Lake Michigan Destinations

The History of the Official Lake Michigan Circle Tour

The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is just one of the designated scenic road systems around the Great Lakes. The other four Great Lakes–Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario–each have their own Circle Tour as well. All of the tours combined comprise the Great Lakes Circle Tour.

The Lake Michigan Circle Tour has so much to offer, and the frequent road signs seem like such a fixture, it’s hard to believe that the tour has only been around for a little over thirty years. Though the shores of Lake Michigan have always been popular with tourists, for too long the shoreline towns lacked a sense of connection and presence as a whole. There wasn’t a way to encourage visitors to seek out towns and cities unfamiliar to them. The formation of an official tour around the Lake Michigan coast was looked at as a chance to promote the whole of Lake Michigan as a destination, rather than using advertising to merely highlight single communities along it. Such a tour would allow tourists to find new adventures and entertainment while offering businesses a wealth of advertising opportunities that simply wouldn’t have been available without the attention garnered by the implementation of such a grand idea. Second largest lake by volume next to Lake Superior, Lake Michigan was also the second of the Great Lakes to adopt an official tour route, again outmatched only by Superior.

lake michigan circle tour book

INSPIRATION BECOMES REALITY

The Lake Michigan Circle Tour was the brainchild of Jack Morgan, who worked for the Michigan Department of Transportation. In 1987, the governors of Michigan and Indiana struck a deal and the Lake Michigan Circle Tour was finalized in November 1988 . Signage and an official route were quickly agreed upon and implemented by departments of transportation in Lake Michigan’s four coastal states. Guidebooks were provided by the West Michigan Tourist Association, and after articles run in the Chicago Tribune and Milwaukee Journal created a demand that almost outpaced supply, the tour was off and running.

STRIVING FOR IMPROVEMENT

Though the official route has remained largely unchanged, a few additions have been introduced over the years since its adoption. The largest of these was without a doubt the addition of the Lake Michigan Carferry’s crossing as an official spur route in 1998. This new spur bisected the tour, allowing vacationers more flexibility in the way that they chose to complete the tour while adding another worthwhile experience to its many attractions. Other loops have been added over the years in order to incorporate attractions such as Sleeping Bear Dunes, or to link up with towns just off the main tour route, connecting travelers with great destinations that would otherwise be missed.

From one man’s idea, through the cooperation of many, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour has bloomed into something that brings Lake Michigan’s surrounding states together in pride. It has become something that brings people from all over the world to a greater appreciation of Lake Michigan’s natural beauty and grandeur. It’s a tour that, though relatively new, is sure to leave its lasting impression in history.

Research and Documentation

As publisher of this Lake Michigan Destinations website, we spent countless hours researching the details of the official Lake Michigan Circle Tour route.  We had the most confidence in the accuracy of the route as documented on the Michigan Highways and Wisconsin Highways websites. The author of those websites personally researched and verified the route in the field.

According to the author of the Michigan Highways and Wisconsin Highways websites, “Unfortunately, actual signage along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour route has deteriorated over time. While Wisconsin has generally kept the Circle Tour reasonably well posted, signage in Michigan and Illinois is lacking and long segments of the LMCT in Indiana are now completely unsigned. Indeed, when the numbered highways that the Circle Tour ran along were rerouted in Northwest Indiana in recent years, the LMCT route markers were regrettably not relocated or replaced. Furthermore, highway signing standards may have changed to the point where including Circle Tour route markers alongside the other numbered highway markers on freeway signage is no longer allowed or encouraged. While hundreds of the standard Circle Tour markers are still found alongside the roadside in Michigan, some locations where the LMCT changes directions (e.g. transitions from one highway to another) are now under-signed or completely unsigned altogether. and Wisconsin Highways, “Unfortunately, actual signage along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour route has deteriorated over time. While Wisconsin has generally kept the Circle Tour reasonably well posted, signage in Michigan and Illinois is lacking and long segments of the LMCT in Indiana are now completely unsigned. Indeed, when the numbered highways that the Circle Tour ran along were rerouted in Northwest Indiana in recent years, the LMCT route markers were regrettably not relocated or replaced. Furthermore, highway signing standards may have changed to the point where including Circle Tour route markers alongside the other numbered highway markers on freeway signage is no longer allowed or encouraged. While hundreds of the standard Circle Tour markers are still found alongside the roadside in Michigan, some locations where the LMCT changes directions (e.g. transitions from one highway to another) are now under-signed or completely unsigned altogether. “

Our presentation of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour information aims to provide you with the documented version of the “official” tour, while also suggesting optional routes worthy of your consideration. We have paraphrased the turn-by-turn tour information and re-organized the details into user-friendly, regions to help you plan your travels around Lake Michigan.

For more information on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, visit wmta.org .

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Great Lakes Circle Tour

The initial impetus for the creation of this website was the 2014 Great Lakes Coastal Trails Conference held on May 15–16, 2014 in Saugatuck, Michigan. The content and focus of this website will continue to grow and change over time. The navigation tools provided, including the menus across the top of each page, should help you navigate through the website. More content and new information is always in the planning. Please check back regularly to see what has been added!

As always, visitor feedback, comments, corrections and suggestions are eagerly accepted. Follow the various links under the About This Site menu above for more on how to provide your welcomed feedback.

Thanks for visiting, Christopher J. Bessert Cartographer, GIS Specialist, Highway Historian, Webmaster

Copyright © 1997-2014 Christopher J. Bessert. All Rights Reserved.  |   [email protected]   |  Last updated Thursday, May 15, 2014 .

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IMAGES

  1. Lake Michigan Circle Tour Itinerary Plan

    lake michigan circle tour book

  2. Lake Michigan Destinations

    lake michigan circle tour book

  3. Lake Michigan Circle Itinerary: A 7-Day Road Trip Through 4 States

    lake michigan circle tour book

  4. Want to take a Lake Michigan lighthouse tour? New map shows you how

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  5. Driving Lake Michigan's Circle Tour: Lighthouse Map

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  6. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

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VIDEO

  1. Lake Superior Circle Tour Series Announcement

  2. A Hmong couple cycling around Lake Michigan Bike Tour: Ep. 10

  3. Around the Lakes

  4. Lake Superior Circle Tour on a Motorcycle. July 2023. Days 1, 2, 3 of 13 day round trip

  5. Lake Michigan

COMMENTS

  1. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is roughly 1,100 miles long and would take 14.5 hours with no stops. The Lake Michigan Circle Tour was part of a plan that began in 1985 and included circle tours around all the Great Lakes. It was the brainchild of Jack Morgan, who worked for the Michigan Department of Transportation.

  2. Lake Michigan Circle Tour Itinerary Plan

    These loop routes are detailed below the mainline route below: The Lake Michigan Circle Tour enters Michigan from Indiana on US-12 south of New Buffalo and proceeds northerly through New Buffalo to I-94. The route leaves US-12 and continues northerly on I-94 from Exit 4 toward St Joseph. At Exit 23, the route exits I-94 and continues northerly ...

  3. Circle Tour of Lake Michigan: What to see and do on a scenic drive

    For half a Circle Tour, with a short cut by ferry, see Lake Michigan with kids. For details, see Planning a Circle Tour of Lake Michigan , which lists the biggest festivals. The shoreline is 1,640 miles long, but it's about 1,100 miles by car, or less if you want to skip one of the four largest peninsulas — the Door in Wisconsin, the Garden ...

  4. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    Save time and book online! Learn More . Guest Login Request a Catalog 1-888-867-2190. Destinations Find a Trip . About Us . Discover More . Guest Login; Request a Catalog ... Lake Michigan Circle Tour. Experience the beauty of Lake Michigan and scenic locales in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois including two nights on Mackinac Island. ...

  5. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    The Lake Michigan Circle Tour (LMCT) is 1,092 miles long and is the only Great Lakes Circle Tour that does not cross into Canada, as Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake situated entirely within the U.S. More than half of the LMCT exists within Michigan, while nearly a third of the route occurs within Wisconsin.

  6. Lake Michigan Circle Itinerary: A 7-Day Road Trip Through 4 States

    The Lake Michigan Circle is one of the quintessential, must-do American road trips. You'll find beaches, forests, dunes, and plenty of local breweries and wineries during your 24-hour drive. The trip spans 4 different Midwestern states and dozens of different cities. Read on for a detailed 7-day Lake Michigan circle road trip itinerary!

  7. Great Lakes Circle Tour: Reliving History Along Lake Michigan's Circle

    Great Lakes Circle Tour: Reliving History Along Lake Michigan's Circle Tour Route Paperback - January 1, 1998 by Bob Schmidt (Author), Ginger Schmidt (Author) 3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

  8. Lake Michigan Lighthouse Map, Tour Map

    Lake Michigan Lighthouse Map & Circle Tour. View the Circle Tour Driving Route. Request a Free Printed Copy of the Lighthouse Map. Lighthouse Digital Jigsaw Puzzles. Get More Lake Michigan Lighthouse Information. 2023 Lighthouse Map Sponsored By Blarney Castle Oil. On the cover: Lilac's surround the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse in Marquette ...

  9. How to make the most of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    Break it into two separate trips—the north loop and the south loop. A ferry between Manitowoc, WI and Ludington, MI make it easy to bisect the huge body of water. The 620 passenger vessel can accommodate tour buses, RVs and cars, and takes about four hours. Sounds like a fun adventure to me!

  10. Lake Michigan Destinations

    The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is roughly 1,100 miles long and would take around 17 hours (averaging 65 mph) with no stops. The entire tour is an ambitious undertaking, so for planning purposes, and ease of travel, we are simplifying and organizing this massive tour into two main segments: the Northern and Southern Lake Michigan Circle Tours.

  11. Driving around Lake Michigan: Best places to see on the Circle Tour

    For more about the Circle Tour with children, see Lake Michigan with kids. We kept going to Cross Village and the Legs Inn, a folk-art landmark whose fieldstone façade is lined with white stove legs. It was founded by a Polish immigrant in 1921, and we guessed, correctly, that it would be showing World Cup soccer games.

  12. Driving Lake Michigan's Circle Tour

    Lake Michigan Circle Tour. With 1,640 miles of shoreline touching Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour exists within the Great Lakes Circle Tour. First published by the Michigan Department of Transportation and the West Michigan Tourist Association as a 52-page guide book in 1899, the Lake Michigan Circle ...

  13. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    More than 1,000 miles long, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour would take about 14 hours without stops to complete. As the name implies, the route is a circle and weaves through four states — Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and, of course, Wisconsin. Spend a day or a week exploring this lakeside road. One day, roast marshmallows at a remote campsite ...

  14. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    Lembeck is championing both the completion of a Lake Michigan "water trail" for kayakers, canoeists and other paddlers around the lake's entire shoreline as well as an interconnection between the water trail, the new U.S. Bicycle Route 35 (USBR-35) and the existing Lake Michigan Circle Tour. The envisioned "Tri-Modal Corridor" would ...

  15. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    The Lake Michigan Circle Tour Basics: Distance: 1,000+miles (depends on actual route taken) Length: 1 week minimum recommended, but the Lake Michigan Circle Tour can technically be driven in a day without any stops. Best Season: Late Spring - Early Fall. A lot of the beach towns along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour become dead in the winter.

  16. Must-visit stops along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    The Lake Michigan Circle Tour is a ~1,100-mile loop that passes through Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana following the shorelines of Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is the fifth largest lake in the world! Among the five Great Lakes, it's the second largest in volume and the third largest in surface area.

  17. Journey the Circle Tour around Southern Lake Michigan

    At Exit 18, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour route leaves I-196/US-31 and takes you into South Haven via BL I-196. Exit 20 on the east side of South Haven marks the end of BL I-196, at which point you will continue north on I-196/US-31 into Allegan County, and on toward the Saugatuck / Douglas area. The Lake Michigan Circle Tour remains on I-196 ...

  18. 10 Must-Visit Michigan Locations on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    Warren Dunes State Park - Located in the Southwest corner of Michigan, this beautiful state park sees almost a million visitors annually thanks to its towering dunes and scenic shoreline. Tower Hill sits 240 feet above the lake, and is a popular spot for visitors to climb before racing back down. Six miles of hiking trails and chances to ...

  19. The History of the Official Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    The Lake Michigan Circle Tour was the brainchild of Jack Morgan, who worked for the Michigan Department of Transportation. In 1987, the governors of Michigan and Indiana struck a deal and the Lake Michigan Circle Tour was finalized in November 1988. Signage and an official route were quickly agreed upon and implemented by departments of ...

  20. Drive the Lake Michigan Circle Tour this fall

    October 9, 2019. Photo Credit: Jennifer Pallay. Families searching for a family-friendly road trip this fall to see wondrous sights, explore four states and enjoy nature in every direction look no further than the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. Follow state highways entirely around Lake Michigan that start in Illinois, head to Indiana, Michigan and ...

  21. Great Lakes Circle Tour

    Welcome! Welcome to the Great Lakes Circle Tour website, dedicated to the past, present and future of the scenic routes encircling four of the five Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie. This website is intended to be a clearinghouse of information on the Circle Tours, from travel and tourism information to technical specifications on ...

  22. The Great Lakes Tour: A Circle Road Trip Itinerary

    The Great Lakes tour is a circle road trip route through the United States and Canada to scenic destinations along Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario, and Erie. This guide will help you map the perfect itinerary with suggested food, lodging, hikes, waterfalls, cruises, lighthouses, and more outdoor activities.

  23. Lake Michigan Circle Tour

    Continue north on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour along M-22 until you arrive in Glen Arbor, home to three bodies of water...Lake Michigan, Big Glen Lake, Little Glen Lake. ... 2013, join the Guinness Book of World Records Challenge for the World's Largest Raft of Kayaks and Canoes. Current record is 1,903 boats; in 2012 they had 1,750. Paddle ...