Recreation and Places of Interest

Michigan owes its scenic and recreational advantages to its central location on the Great Lakes and to thousands of inland lakes threaded by thousands of miles of streams. The Circle Drive around Lake Superior is an especially scenic route through the forest lands of the Upper Peninsula. The rugged landscapes common to this part of Michigan are particularly impressive in the Porcupine Mountains and at the waterfalls of the swift Tahquamenon River.

Michigan has well-developed facilities for year-round recreation. The lakeshores and riverbanks, lined with cabins, resorts, camps, and parks, attract millions of vacationers each year. There are more than 40 downhill ski areas and four times that number of organized cross-country ski trails. Many of the best alpine slopes are in the north, but there are ski slopes near Detroit and in the southwest. The northern two-thirds of the state has excellent snow for winter snowmobiling, and the coastal dunes and beaches along the Great Lakes provide summer attractions.

Michigan is a leading state in the ownership of recreational boats and in the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. Seasons exist for the hunting of various kinds of wildlife, particularly white-tailed deer and ducks. Excellent fishing is found in the Great Lakes as well as inland lakes and stocked trout streams.

National Parks and Forests

Isle Royale National Park encompasses Isle Royale, the largest island in Lake Superior, and a chain of about 200 tiny islands. Abundant with wildlife, including moose and wolves, this roadless park contains one of the few remaining areas of true wilderness in the Midwest. Keweenaw National Historical Park commemorates the copper-mining heritage of the region, which dates back 7,000 years to early Native American inhabitants and later played a critical role in the industrial development of the United States. Three national forests, Ottawa, Hiawatha, and Huron-Manistee, all with frontage on the Great Lakes, extend over 1.2 million hectares (2.8 million acres) in northern Michigan. The federal government also administers national wildlife refuges and two national lakeshores. Both of the latter are on the Great Lakes. Pictured Rocks, on the shores of Lake Superior, is noted for its spectacular multicolored sandstone cliffs. Sleeping Bear Dunes, on Lake Michigan, has extensive bare, moving dunes and fine sandy beaches.

State Parks and Forests

Michigan’s park system is one of the largest in the country. In addition to about 1.6 million hectares (about 3.9 million acres) of state forests and many game areas, the state has 99 parks and recreation areas. P. H. Hoeft and Lakeport state parks have attractive beaches on Lake Huron, and a series of state parks has been developed along the sand dunes on the Lake Michigan shore. The wilderness character of the northern woods marks the state parks at Indian Lake, Muskallonge Lake, and Porcupine Mountains. More than 15 recreation areas have been set up near Detroit.

Mackinac Island, a historic state park since 1895, consists of a series of rock terraces rising out of the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. It has been a popular tourist resort since before the American Civil War (1861-1865). Fort Michilimackinac at Mackinaw City and Fort Wilkins near the northernmost point of Lower Michigan have been restored as state parks. The ghost town of Fayette, once a prosperous iron-smelting center near Escanaba, also is a state park.

Libraries and Museums

Michigan has 381 public library systems. Free library services, provided by city, county, and regional libraries and by bookmobile deliveries to some areas, are supplemented by the extension services of the state library in Lansing. Libraries circulate annually an average of 5.2 books per state resident.

The University of Michigan contains one of the largest libraries in the nation; a comprehensive law library; a noted collection of rare books in the William L. Clements Library of American history; and the Michigan Historical Collections of materials relating to the state’s history. The Gerald R. Ford Library is located on the University of Michigan campus. The University of Michigan is also home to museums devoted to art, natural history, and life sciences. The University Cultural Center, in Detroit, includes the Detroit Institute of Arts; the Detroit Historical Museum; the Detroit Science Center; the Children’s Museum; and the Detroit Public Library, one of the largest in the United States. Cranbrook, in Bloomfield Hills, is a unique educational center composed of five separate institutions. Outstanding collections are housed in the library and galleries of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and in the museum of the Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Other fine art collections have been acquired by the Grand Rapids Art Museum; the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; the Flint Institute of Arts; and the Muskegon Museum of Art. Grand Rapids has a public museum and public library that contain large and comprehensive collections on furniture. Grand Rapids also is the site of the Gerald R. Ford Museum. A specialized exhibit is also offered by the Holland Museum, in Holland.

Perhaps the most popular museum depicting local and national history is the Henry Ford Museum and the adjoining Greenfield Village in Dearborn. The museum contains a vast collection of Americana, including Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House and the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Greenfield Village is the site of many historic homes and buildings transferred from all parts of the United States, including the courthouse used by Abraham Lincoln, the Wright brothers’ original bicycle shop, and the workshops and laboratories of Thomas Edison.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia