Ultimate Lake Michigan Lighthouse Tour

Travel north along scenic Blue Star Highway from St. Joseph to South Haven to access the South Haven lighthouse. You can walk down the pier and around the light but there is no access to inside the lighthouse.

Continuing north along Blue Star Highway from South Haven you will come to Holland Harbor light. Holland's beloved and popular "Big Red" lighthouse, which stands proudly at the south side of the Holland Channel, has a long and rich history dating back to the first structure built on that site in 1870. Currently the lighthouse is owned and maintained by a non-profit lighthouse commission and is Michigan's most photographed lighthouse.

North of Holland and established in 1839, two lights on the south pier, both painted red, are connected by a lighted catwalk that also connects them to the shore. This is a beautiful lighthouse to visit in the evening to see all the lights along the pier.

The Muskegon South Pierhead and South Breakwater lighthouses were awarded to the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy in June of 2010 from the Federal Government for preservation. The lighthouses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in 1875 with Captain William Robinson, the White River Light Station now serves as a physical reminder of the rich nautical history of Michigan. The lighthouse is now a museum and open to the public. Plan a visit to the museum and climb the spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse tower, browse the many 19th and early 20th century photographs and examine our collection nautical artifacts, look out across Lake Michigan as the lighthouse Keeper did a century ago.

Take a look at a map of Lake Michigan, and you will see three prominent “bumps” along its eastern shore. Point Betsie, the northernmost of these bumps, received a lighthouse in 1858, and Big Sable Point, the next bump going south, got its lighthouse nine years later. In 1871, the Lighthouse Board noted that “a simple inspection of the chart of Lake Michigan” would demonstrate that a third-order, lake-coast light was needed on the third bump, Little Sable Lighthouse, which protrudes farther west than the other two bumps. In early records, this point was referred to by its French name Petite Pointe au Sablé, which translated means Little Sand Point.

Take US-31 into Pentwater. Turn west on Lowell Street at the north end of town, and head 1/2 mile to Charles Mears State Park. There you can walk the beach to the pierhead light. The North and South Pierhead Lights serve as beacons to guide pleasure boats into Pentwater's harbor during the busy summer season.

The black-and-white striped, 112 foot lighthouse at the Ludington State Park stands proudly on the shores of Lake Michigan and remains a testament to lighthouse keepers of the past. Big Sable Point Lighthouse was honored as 2013 Featured Lighthouse of the Year for the Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival.

Located in Manistee county, on the west end of the north pier. The light was replaced in 1873, when the new structure was augmented with a combination fog signal and light tower at the end of the wooden north pier. To make access to the light safer during stormy weather, this new light was outfitted with an elevated wooden catwalk running from the shore to the light.

This Frankfort lighthouse has long been a symbol of the city’s maritime heritage, and its likeness was incorporated into a gateway arch in 1925 to welcome travelers to the community. The arch features a replica of the car ferry "City of Green Bay" that rests on a crossbeam supported by twin lighthouses. When originally built, the support lighthouses were made of stone gathered from Lake Michigan. Another version of the arch, which was rebuilt and moved multiple times, features concrete lighthouses, while steel towers are used in the arch that currently spans M-115.

Born in 1927, Robert H. Manning was a life-long resident of Empire and worked as an insurance salesman and then as a civilian worker in supply for the Empire Air Force Station. In his spare time, Manning was an avid fisherman, and while returning to shore after an outing on Lake Michigan, he often lamented that there wasn’t a lighthouse at Empire to guide him home. After Manning passed away in December 1989, his family and friends raised funds to erect a lighthouse in his honor. While many think the lighthouse resembles the tower at Point Betsie, with three openings on one face and the tower flaring out to support the lantern room, the Manning family used an architect in Traverse City to come up with their own design. Robert H. Manning Memorial Lighthouse was dedicated in 1991.

The Grand Traverse Lighthouse has been restored and is open to the public seasonally. Visitors can tour the restored keepers dwelling and climb the Lighthouse Tower for a magnificent view of Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay. The Lighthouse sits inside Leelanau State Park.

The lighthouse is open April 30th this year. If you haven't done the climb to the lantern deck, do it this year. The number of people that took the tour in 2021 was 20,188! Tour fees help keep us open and maintain this historic site. We are open Thursday-Monday from 10 to 5. Occasionally, we are open on Wednesdays, when we have volunteers.

Named after the French explorer Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, Charlevoix, Michigan was first settled in the early 1850s and then incorporated as a village in 1879. Charlevoix is situated on an isthmus between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix and encircles tiny Round Lake, which, along with the Pine River, serves as a link between the two larger lakes.

With all this shoreline, it isn’t surprising that Charlevoix developed into a resort destination, featuring extravagant hotels and three summer associations. An early admirer of the village called it “Charlevoix the Beautiful,” and ever since the local Chamber of Commerce has been using the appellation in its promotional material.