All Other Destinations and Attractions in Michigan

Gerald E. Eddy is the former chief of the Geological Survey Division and Director of the Department of Conservation. The center is a tribute to his career in geology and to his lifelong dedication to conservation and education.Interactive geology exhibits hands-on exhibits, displays, programs, and nature trails are all part of the center.

Costumed guides offer tours of the Waterloo Farm Museum featuring a 10-room farmhouse built by a German immigrant. Seven additional farm outbuildings help portray mid-19th-century pioneer life in Washtenaw County. Displays of tools, clothing, furnishings and decorations depict 19th century farm life.

Father Jacques Marquette lived among the Great Lake Indians for 9 years and helped establish a European settlement. The memorial tells the story of this Jesuit Missionary with an outdoor interpretive trail. A panoramic view of the Mackinac Bridge is also available from the grounds.

Ojibwa Indians formed the base culture of the Upper Great Lakes and Huron Indian refugees established a village here in 1671. Father Jacques Marquette, a French missionary, established a mission here, and was buried at the site. Artifacts are on display that date back to 6,000 BC.

Located at the entrance to North Higgins Lake State Park, the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum has many photographs and artifacts depicting the day-to-day life and accomplishments of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrolled over 100,000 young Michigan men to perform a variety of conservation and reforestation projects. The group was discontinued upon the United States' entry into World War II.

The Michigan Firemen's Memorial is a 12-foot bronze statue by Detroit's Edward Chesney that pays tribute to all firefighters. There is an annual Firemen's Memorial Festival in September.

The Huron retired in 1970, she was the last lightship on the Great Lakes. Lightships were like floating lighthouses anchored in areas where it was too deep, expensive or impractical to construct a lighthouse. Built in 1920, she was stationed on Lake Michigan until 1935 when she was transferred to Corsica Shoals in Lake Huron. For the next 36 years she guided mariners into the narrow dredged channel of lower Lake Huron leading to the St. Clair River.

Port Huron Museum presents Blue Water Area's art and history through exhibitions and special programs. The complex includes the Carnegie Center, Huron Lightship, Thomas Edison Depot as well as American Indian relics, marine items and a pioneer log house. Fine art exhibits are also included.

Huron City has been preserved, as it was 100 years ago. The exhibits are original to the site so visitors can enter historic buildings in their original setting. The House of Seven Gables is a preserved Victorian mansion with original furnishings.

Perch fishing trips are offered on this 20 passenger boat.

Tahquamenon Falls State Park encompasses close to 40,000 acres of mainly undeveloped woodland. The Upper and Lower Falls are the centerpiece of the park. Recreational opportunities within Tahquamenon Falls State Park include camping, hiking, backpacking, fishing, canoeing, snowmobiling, cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

The carriage and boiler houses of the Henry A. Chapin home were joined together and remodeled to form the Fort St Joseph Museum. The Chapin mansion was built in 1882.The Museum has a wide variety of collections that range from the town's beginning in 1691 to the story of the Underground Railroad to pictographs drawn by Chief Sitting Bull.

Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve is a 105-acre nature preserve with surrounding gardens, a railway garden, woodland trails and tallgrass prairie. The visitor center includes gallery shows, exhibits and a fern conservatory.

The Chippewa Nature Center consists of over 1,000 acres, with habitats ranging from deciduous and coniferous woods to rivers, ponds, wetlands and upland fields. Onsite facilities include a natural/cultural history library, and an 1870 Homestead Farm with cabin, schoolhouse, heirloom/herb garden, and farm animals.

The Herbert H. Dow Historical Museum is housed in a replica of a gristmill, chronicles the life of the founder of Dow Chemical Company. A nearby shed is where Herbert H. Dow conducted his pioneering chemical experiments. Other exhibits include Dow's first office, and his father's workshop.

The Midland Center for the Arts presents concerts, plays and musicals. It also has a museum that covers science, history, technology and health. An art gallery and the hands-on science museum, Hall of Ideas, are also featured.

Dow Gardens was established in 1899 and now features 110 acres of trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and flowers.

The Marquette Maritime Museum is housed in the old City Waterworks building. The building is a one story, stone, Richardsonian Romanesque style structure. The maritime heritage of Marquette and Lake Superior is chronicled through boats and models, a lighthouse lense collection, photographs and charts that are on display.

The Marquette County Historical Museum houses all types of artifacts, photographs, maps, archives and library materials relevant to the history of the Upper Great Lakes region. Pioneer artifacts, mining and lumber displays are featured.

Presque Isle offers year-round recreational opportunities. In summer, it offers swimming, boating, fishing and sandy beaches. Visitors in winter can enjoy a variety of ice and snow activities.

The Upper Peninsula Children's Museum engages families in interactive exhibits featuring science, nature, weather, a recreated retail store and a youth studio.

Visitors can follow the growth and development of the sport of skiing from its beginnings nearly 5,000 years ago to the present at the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum. Displays at the museum are dedicated to the skiing heritage of skiers, snowboarders and ski sport builders from the United States.

Cornish Pumping Engine is one of the largest steam engines built in North America. A museum of artifacts celebrating all aspects of the areas rich heritage of mining with everything from photographs to mining equipment, geological specimens, and other artifacts from the mining days on display.

The Iron Mountain Iron Mine takes visitors on guided tours through 2600 feet of underground drifts and tunnels to 400 feet below the earth's surface to experience iron mining.

The Menominee Range Historical Museum is housed in the former Carnegie Library. Over 100 exhibits depict local history from American Indians to the 20th century through chronological displays and re-created period rooms.

Stagecoach Stop U.S.A. is a 19th century village and theme park featuring a general store, trading post, print shop, ice cream parlor, bank, arcade and lumberman's carriage museum. Over 10,000 antiques are displayed, and craftspeople present their work such as glass blowing and blacksmithing. Staged gunfights and old-fashioned train rides complete with a holdup take place daily.

St Joseph's Shrine is located at the site of an early religious settlement established in the late 1790s by Father Gabriel Richard, minister to the Potawatomi Indians. The church is a combination of the original fieldstone chapel, erected by Irish settlers in the mid-1840s, and a 1929 addition.

Mystery Hill offers 20-minute tours through exhibits that seem to defy the laws of gravity, such as water running uphill. A miniature 19-hole golf course and a remote control car racetrack are other highlights!

The Gilmore Car Museum was founded in 1966 by Donald S. Gilmore, an antique car collector and philanthropist. The Museum features over 200 antique, classic and collector cars that span a 100 year period. The exhibits are housed in nine restored historic Michigan barns with such unusual vintage vehicles as an 1899 Locomobile as well as early steam, electric and gasoline powered cars.

The National Miniatures Trust Museum features miniature dollhouses and roomboxes that have been donated by artists and collectors. The Trust Museum is housed in a historic farmhouse on the grounds of the Gilmore Car Museum.The scale-model miniatures include miniature sets or scenes within the houses and rooms on display.

Housed in a restored passenger/ freight depot, the Crawford County Historical Museum in Grayling features exhibits of lumberman tools and historical photos. The rooms in the Crawford County Historical Museum are dedicated to the one-room schoolhouse, a grocery store, old-fashioned entertainment, Fred Bear memorabilia and the history of the Department of Natural Resources. Other exhibits highlight life as a trapper's wife, a seamstress, and a doctor.

Hartwick Pines State Park features one of the few remaining tracts of virgin pines in the Midwest. Hiking, mountain bike trails and fishing opportunities are available. Hartwick Pines Logging Museum is located within the park and visitors can return to the state's 19th-century logging era. Within the forest visitor center and logging camp buildings, exhibits and period rooms tell the stories of the loggers, rivermen, and entrepreneurs who powered Michigan's white pine industry.

Seney National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 for migratory birds and other wildlife. Some of the common species that can be observed include Canada geese, mallards, black ducks, and wood ducks. Other animals that live on the Refuge include black bear, coyote, beaver, spruce, and sharp-tailed grouse, and woodcock; they are not always visible.

The Military and Space Museum honors Michigan men and women who have served in one or more of the foreign wars and/or the Space Program. It also houses the largest collection of original Medals of Honor on display in the United States, as well as the uniforms of Michigan Space Pioneers, and uniforms and flight suits of all 13 Michigan Astronauts. An exhibit featuring Michigan's POWs and MIAs from the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars is also available.

Bronner's has grown from a small sign shop that began in 1945 to a Christmas shop with over 50,000 trims and gifts. Bronner's Silent Night Memorial Chapel is open daily for viewing and meditation. Every evening from dusk to midnight, Bronner's half-mile long Christmas Lane glistens with thousands of twinkling lights.

Frankenmuth Historical Museum is housed in the former Kern Commercial House Hotel, constructed in 1905. Exhibits highlight the German settlers and history of Frankenmuth. The hands-on displays, videos, and artifacts help visitors understand how Frankenmuth became "Michigan's Little Bavaria."

Passengers can enjoy a 45-minute narrated tour of the Cass River aboard the "River Queen," an authentic paddle wheel-driven riverboat.

Fort Wilkins, located on Lake Superior, was once an active U.S Army post built to keep the peace in Michigan's Copper Country.What began in 1844, and abandoned two years later, provides a well-preserved example of mid-19th century army life. Nineteen buildings survive, 12 of them original structures dating from the 1840s.The site also includes the Copper Harbor Lighthouse Complex with a restored 1848 lightkeeper's dwelling, 1866 lighthouse, 1933 steel light tower and interpretive trails.

Delaware is an authentic Copper Mine that dates back to 1847-87. Eight million pounds of copper were removed from the five shafts that reached a depth of 1400 feet with ten various levels. Visitors can travel to the first level of 110 feet. Veins of pure copper exposed in the walls of the mine along with other geologic points of interest can be seen.

The Calumet Theatre was built with with surplus treasury money and opened March 20, 1900.Sixty to eighty events are hosted here each year including symphony, folk music, jazz, opera, theatre, dance, and community events.

The evolution of mines and mining are traced through displays of mining equipment at Coppertown USA Mining Museum. A simulated mine is located at the entrance and this allows visitors a glimpse of the miner's world.

Frederic Baraga, the first Bishop of the Upper Peninsula and the Apostle of the Great Lakes, was given the title of the "Snowshoe Priest" due to the long treks overland in the winter months. He served both the native population and the small communities of copper miners on the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Hanka Homestead Museum features a 1920s Finnish farm that has been restored and is complete with furniture, dishes, tools, and farm equipment reflective of the period.

Tibbits Opera House was opened in 1882 to house the many performers and theater companies that played Coldwater en route between Chicago and Detroit. It then served as a movie house until 1954. The Tibbits Opera House was saved from demolition and restored to host professional summer theatre, musicians, children's programs and community theatre.

This 1875 Second Empire mansion, the Wing House Museum, has many rooms with over 80 percent of the furnishings actually owned by the Wing family. Lucius M. Wing was a Civil War captain, county sheriff, and prominent businessman.

Grand Traverse Lighthouse features exhibits on area lighthouses, foghorns, shipwrecks and local history. A brick tower with separate keeper's quarters was constructed at a site east of the present Lighthouse in 1850.

Shipwreck Tours features narrated glass-bottom boat tours on three Lake Superior shipwrecks. Two of the wrecked ships are the the Bermuda, a 131-foot wooden schooner that sank in 1870; and the wooden steamer, Herman H. Hettler, which sank in 1926.

Pictured Rock Cruises began after W W II and now offers a 2-1/2 to 3 hour narrated trip along 37 miles of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Highlights of the cruise include close up views of the various rock formations.

Housed in the restored Bradley House, the museum offers exhibits about local history with three floors furnished in the style of the 1920s, while others re-create a general store and a Victorian sitting room. Marine and American Indian artifacts as well as carpentry, farming, household and lumber-related items are also on display.

The SS KEEWATIN serves as a floating museum. Built in 1907, she sailed from Govan, Scotland to Montreal, where she was cut in two for passage through the St. Lawrence and Welland canals. Once at Buffalo she was reassembled and used for the Canadian Pacific Lake Superior service.The 350 by 43 foot, 3,856 gross ton steamer now serves as part of the Keewatin Maritime Museum with tours of the staterooms, crew quarters, lounge and diningroom.

The Par-Te-Tyme Cruise Boat departs from the Saugatuck-Douglas Bridge. One and a half-hour afternoon and dinner tours are offered.

The Sparks County Park occupies 465 acres and contains the illuminated Cascades, a giant waterfall and six fountains over which water tumbles in continually changing patterns. A small museum depicting the history of Cascades Falls, two golf courses, tennis courts, a picnic area, lagoons, paddleboats, batting cages and a miniature golf course are found within the park.

The JCC Community Events Center is located on the southeast corner the Jackson Community College campus and is used for community and college events.The Michigan Space & Science Center was closed in 1998 and most of the equipment and exhibit pieces were moved to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Ella Sharp Park covers 562 partially wooded acres with athletic fields, cycling and jogging paths, cross-country ski trails, a driving range and nature trails.

The Delta County Historical Museum tells the history of Delta County through its historical industries of timber, railroads and shipping. Visitors can see the gun used to end the McCarty gang, King Louis XIV's clock, the King of Siam's robe, a world class butterfly collection, and a famous dinosaur bone display.

Built in 1882, Cheboygan County Historical Museum is housed in a 2-story structure attached to the county jail. This building served as the sheriff's home until 1969. The grounds of the complex include a settler's cabin, Heritage Hall, and the Sheriff's residence with parlor, kitchen, schoolroom and bedrooms recreated in period style. The adjoining jail cells contain farming, lumbering and military exhibits and displays of women's clothing.

The Opera House, originally constructed in 1877, was twice ravaged by fires and rebuilt in 1888 and 1903. This Victorian theatre has become a center for local entertainment and the performing arts.

The galleries feature artworks by painters, photographers, potters and other artists. The Museum also houses permanent displays, including exhibits of the area's early lumbering and farming industry; the gallery of Early Man - a history of the area's first inhabitants; and the avenue of shops - a look at Alpena during the late 1800's. Located on the grounds, this group of historic buildings includes the Malz Exchange Bank, Green School, McKay Cabin and Spratt Church.

Monroe County Historical Museum is housed in a Georgian style public building that was built as a post office in 1910, on the site of General and Mrs. Custer's home. It is home to one of the largest collections of 18th and 19th century artifacts relating to Southeast Michigan.

A battle was fought here on Jan 22, 1813. It was one of the largest engagements of the War of 1812. Of the 934 Americans who fought here, only 33 escaped death or capture. Displays includes dioramas & full-size British & American soldiers, as well as a fiber-optic map presentation on the Battle of the River Raisin.

Sanilac Historic Village is located on the 1853 Estate of Dr. Joseph Loop, which includes fifteen historic buildings. The flagship building is the Doctor's 1872 Victorian mansion. The Historic Village also features a Nature Trail, Barn Theater, Platt's General Store, Dairy Museum, Carriage Barn, Banner Log Cabin, Decker Log Barn, Huckins One Room School, Hunting and Fishing Cabin, Native American Center, Ward Lake Cottage, Forestville Church, Hearse Shed, Deckerville Train Depot and Privy.

Founded in 1853 by George Wiard, the 200 acre working farm has apple orchards, pumpkin patch and a cider mill.

Dinosaur Gardens Prehistoric Zoo features nature trails and life-size reproductions of prehistoric creatures on 40 acres of forest.

Wild and domestic game animals can be seen in a natural setting at Johnny's Wild Game and Fish Park. Visitors can feed and pet deer, goats, birds and other animals. Trout fishing is also available.

Adventure Island features an 18-hole golf course, go-karts, waterslides, batting cages, bumoper boats and an arcade.

Walker Tavern was a favorite stopping place as well as a site for political and religious gatherings. The historic building was built in 1833 and includes an 1840s parlor, dining room and kitchen. The barn at Walker Historic Complex houses surveying and stagecoach exhibits.

The Call of the Wild Museum displays more than 60 life-like North American wild animals and game birds such as beavers, elk and polar bears in their natural settings, complete with sound effects. The museum also includes The Wildlife Theater and a hands-on learning center.

The village of Houghton Lake Area Historical Society features a school museum, operating general store, 19th century pioneer village, nature trail and a picnic area.

The crucifix, Cross in the Woods, is said to be the largest in the world, it stands 55-feet high and was made from one redwood tree. The site has an outdoor church, flower gardens and several shrines. An onsite museum features over 500 nun and priest dolls dressed in costumes of different orders.

The Museum of Cultural and Natural History houses a time line of Michigan's history from glaciers and Native American history to the lumbering trade and electricity. The dioramas feature mammals, birds and fish that are native to the area.

The Ontonagon County Historical Museum houses mining, logging, marine and social memorabilia, all displayed in various room settings and cases. The Ontonagon Lighthouse is part of the museum attractions.

Sculptured life-size Mother Goose characters are found in the Dear Acres Storybook Park along with deer and other animals that can be hand fed. Train, antique car and safari rides are also available.

The original lighthouse was erected in 1840 but then replaced in 1870. The bottom of the tower is stone (and conical) while the top is brick (and cylindrical). A 3,200-lb bell made of bronze is also on display.

Croswell Opera House is the oldest continuously operated theatre in Michigan, it opened in 1866. Acting companies, bands and famous orators from the 1800s and 1900s were featured here and then it turned to movies from 1921 to 1967.Croswell Opera House returned to live theater in 1968.

The 770-acre portion of Fort Custer National Cemetery was dedicated as a national cemetery in 1981.

Shrine of the Pines contains the largest collection of rustic white pine furniture in the world. Raymond W. Overholzer carved it as a memorial to the white pine.

Located in a century old church, the Benzie Area Historical Museum features artifacts and exhibits of Benzie County history. Highlights include displays of fishing, farming, lumber and ships.

This 110-acre wildlife sanctuary features hiking trails. There is a retail store on-site that does their own in-house printing of the nature designs of Gwen Frostic.

The Quincy Mine Hoist is believed to be the largest steam powered hoist ever manufactured. It could lift 10 tons of ore at 36.4 miles per hour.There are three options for touring the Quincy Mine Site: Surface Tour only, Surface Tour with Tram Ride, and Full Tour. All tours include the museum as well as a video-tour of the No. 2 Shaft-Rock House and a guided tour of the Nordberg team-powered hoist engine and the building it is in.The Museum is located in the 1894 No. 2 Hoist Building. It features mineralogical exhibits including a 17-tonsolid copper boulder that was raised from Lake Superior.The Cog Rail Tram car takes visitors down the steep hill that overlooks the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.

This massive Shrine-Grotto is a composite of all the major Marian shrines of the world.

From 1848 to 1855, the Jackson Iron Company and others manufactured wrought iron from local ore. This was the seed of the Michigan iron industry that flourished for 125 years and still produces nearly one-quarter of the iron ore mined in the United States.

Narrated tours along the Au Sable River are offered with historic and scenic points of interest. The round-trip cruise lasts approximately 2 hours.

The Little Traverse History Museum is housed in the former 1892 Chicago and West Michigan railroad depot with displays of Odawa Indian, pioneer and Victorian exhibits.

Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Museum is housed in the old pump house at the foot of Mount Baldhead. Exhibits at the museum feature photos and artifacts that are pertinent to the history of the area.

The Star of Saugatuck is an authentic sternwheeler paddleboat which offers 1-hour cruises on the Kalamazoo River to Lake Michigan.

Sixty-three thousand acres of wilderness offers camping, skiing, backpacking and natural history program opportunities. Lake of the Clouds scenic overlook offers a scenic view.

Silver Lake State Park contains over 1,500 acres of "Sahara Desert-like" sand dunes. The dunes can be explored by off-road vehicles to the north and by foot in the center section. Silver Lake offers fishing, swimming and boating opportunities.

Mac Wood's Dune Rides began in 1930 when Mac began the Dune Scooter Rides. Today, passengers enjoy 40 minute scenic rides over 7 miles of shifting sand dunes.