10 Things Every Michigander Learned Growing Up Near a Great Lake

If you grew up in Michigan, a Great Lake was probably never far from your weekend plans.

Michiganders pick up a lot from all that time near the water, and some of it sticks for life.

Here’s what growing up near the big lakes teaches you.

1. Beach Flags

At state parks along the Great Lakes, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources uses green, yellow, red and double red flags to warn swimmers at buoyed swim areas.

Green means calm conditions, though you should still use caution.

Yellow means moderate surf or currents, so you should watch for dangerous currents and high waves.

At a red flag, which signals high surf or strong currents, stay on the beach.

Two red flags go further: The department says not to enter the water.

2. Pier Currents

The National Weather Service tells Great Lakes swimmers not to pier jump because the jump could drop you directly into a structural current.

Swim at least 100 yards away from pier structures.

Michigan Sea Grant says the highest number of deaths and rescues from dangerous currents happen in Michigan, along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Dangerous currents can exceed 5 mph, which is faster than an Olympic swimmer can swim.

3. Lake-Effect Snow

Lake-effect snow starts when cold air flows over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes, according to the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA) program.

The Keweenaw Peninsula averages more snowfall than any location in the United States east of the Mississippi River.

As of early April, the Keweenaw County Road Commission reported a season total of 301.25 inches for the 2024-25 winter.

Visit Keweenaw told the Gazette the Keweenaw Peninsula closed out the previous season at 153.25 inches.

If you live in western Michigan or northwestern Lower Michigan, the program says your area can get heavy lake-effect snow.

Areas near Traverse City, Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo can see significant, often disruptive, lake-effect snowstorms.

Lake-effect snow typically diminishes late in the winter, when lake ice reduces the supply of relatively warm, moist air.

4. Petoskey Stones

Petoskey stones are fossil corals from the Devonian Period, dating back some 350 million years, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy says.

The department’s fossil guide lists collecting localities from the public beach in Frankfort to Fort Gratiot County Park.

A splash of water on a dull rock may reveal a fossil you might have otherwise missed.

Before you start collecting, check for and follow local rock collecting rules.

The guide lists a limit of 25 pounds of rock, fossil and mineral collecting per year in Michigan state parks and shorelines.

5. Longest U.S. Freshwater Coastline

Wherever you live in Michigan, the Department of Natural Resources says you’re never more than 85 miles from a Great Lake.

Michigan has 3,300 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, the longest U.S. freshwater coastline.

The state’s environment department puts the figure at 3,288 miles.

Michigan is home to 82 state-sponsored harbors along the Great Lakes and more than 900,000 registered watercraft, third in the nation.

6. Lighthouses

Michigan has over 120 lighthouses along its shores, more than any other state in the country, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Save Our Lights program.

The Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program has awarded more than $3 million in matching grants since the program began in 2000.

If you buy a Save Our Lights license plate, your purchase contributes to lighthouse preservation.

When you're ready to visit a lighthouse, head to the lighthouse guides at Pure Michigan, the state's official travel site.

7. Fall Salmon Runs

Coho salmon aren't native to the Great Lakes, but the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says they were successfully introduced in 1966.

Young fish were stocked in two Lake Michigan tributary streams, the Platte River and Bear Creek, a Big Manistee River tributary.

Depending on the tributary, coho spawning runs occur from early September to November.

The department says there's a notable fishery in late October in the Manistee River.

There's often good fishing for anglers who use spawn bags or spoons off the piers.

Migrating fish are caught in the St. Joseph River as late as Christmas.

8. Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge crosses the Straits of Mackinac, which NASA says connect Lakes Michigan and Huron.

The bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957.

It measures 26,372 feet end to end, about five miles.

The bridge's fare schedule lists a passenger car toll of $4.00.

If you don't feel comfortable driving across, the bridge's staff can drive your vehicle for you.

The driver assistance service costs $10 plus the toll and runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

9. Water Levels

Fluctuating water levels in the Great Lakes are primarily influenced by overlake precipitation, overlake evaporation and runoff, according to GLISA.

Lakes Michigan and Huron set an all-time record low monthly mean water level of 576.02 feet in January 2013.

The record high came in October 1986, when the two lakes reached 582.35 feet.

During low water periods, the state's environment department says, large beaches form and wetland vegetation may expand.

During high water periods, beaches and dunes erode and bluffs may fall into the lake.

If you live on the shoreline in Houghton, Gogebic or Iosco County, the department's recession rate studies update erosion rates first determined in the 1980s.

10. Edmund Fitzgerald

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

The ship went down about 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan.

The entire crew of 29 men was lost.

The ship's 200-pound bronze bell was recovered on July 4, 1995.

It is now on display at the museum at Whitefish Point as a memorial to the crew.