Michigan is an American state in the Midwest and the heart of the Great Lakes region. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name was a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigami, meaning "large water" or "large lake. The state has many attractions, famous landmarks, and scenic state and national parks and forests. In addition to the Great ones, it has about 12,000 inland lakes, 38 deep-water ports, more miles of coastline than any state but Alaska, and more lighthouses than any other U.S. state. Its agriculture features tourist-friendly fare such as cherries, blueberries, peaches, apples, and grapes.

Overview

Michigan is the only state in the U.S. consisting of non-contiguous non-island territory. The Lower Peninsula has the majority of the population (in the south), while the Upper Peninsula, separated from it by Lake Michigan and a bit of Lake Huron, is mostly rural. Until 1957 the only way to drive from one to the other was to go all the way around Lake Michigan, or take your car onto a ferry.

The state is blessed with many natural beauties. Primary on that list are its Great Lakes (much of Superior, Michigan, and Huron, and a little bit of Erie), the waters of which are now depicted on official maps of the state. The upper peninsula region contains many of Michigan's natural wonders, including the Pictured Rocks, Mackinac Island, Isle Royale, Tahquamenon Falls, the Porcupine Mountains, and the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The lower peninsula however has expansive forests, rivers, and inland lakes in the north (such as Huron and Manistee National Forests), humongous sand dunes (such as at Sleeping Bear Dunes), and countless miles of beautiful shoreline. In the autumn, "color tours" of the changing leaves in northern Michigan are popular.

It's also one of two states where each person carries a map at all times, the other being Wisconsin. Stick out your right hand (palm toward you) and you have a map of the lower peninsula. Stick out your left hand (again with your palm facing you, fingers pointing to the right) and you have an approximate map of the upper peninsula. So don't be surprised if a resident tells you where a city is by pointing at his hand.

Michigan's economy was previously dominated by the auto industry, but has diversified somewhat as that and other traditional manufacturing industries have moved their facilities elsewhere, and is beginning to attract more information technology, life sciences, and high-tech manufacturing jobs. Tourism is a growing segment of the economy, focusing in winter on activities in the snow, and in summer on the state's extensive beaches, lakes, and rivers. Hunting, fishing, and sailing are among the many outdoor activities.

Get In

By plane
 • Michigan has several airports, but most international or cross-country travelers will fly into Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) just west of the city, or transfer there to a smaller airport elsewhere in the state.
 • Grand Rapids' Gerald R. Ford International (GRR) also has daily flights from various parts of the country.
 • Regional airports (which also have direct flights from cities in nearby states, such as Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati) include Detroit's Coleman A. Young (DET), Flint's Bishop (FNT), Lansing's Capital City (LAN), Kalamazoo/Battle Creek (AZO), Muskegon (MKG), Midland/Bay City/Saginaw (MBS), Traverse City's Cherry Capital (TVC), and Marquette's Sawyer (SAW).

By car
Driving into Michigan can be accomplished by one of the highways that enter and extend through Michigan. From Ohio, I-75 goes through Detroit, Flint, and Bay City, and Mackinac city, ending in the U.P. city of Sault Ste. Marie. From Indiana and Illinois, I-94 passes through Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and Detroit, and ends in Port Huron in the thumb of Michigan. I-196 branches from I-94 and continues up the lakeshore to Grand Rapids. I-69 enters from east Indiana and Indianapolis, crossing I-94, and passing through Lansing, Flint, and Port Huron. US-131 stretches from I-80/90 in northern Indiana through Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Big Rapids, Cadillac, and northward. The Upper Peninsula can be entered from Wisconsin via US-2 from Duluth, and US-41 from Green Bay or Milwaukee. Michigan has major bridge/tunnel border crossings from Ontario, Canada located in Detroit (from Windsor) and Port Huron (from Sarnia), with a less heavily used crossing at the northern twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie.

By train
Amtrak provides daily rail service on three routes to Michigan, out of its hub in Chicago. The Pere Marquette travels through St. Joseph and Holland to Grand Rapids. The Wolverine travels through Kalamazoo, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and Detroit, to Pontiac. The Blue Water passes through Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Flint, on the way to Port Huron. A connecting bus also runs from Kalamazoo north on US-131 to St. Ignace.

By ferry
Car/passenger ferries from Milwaukee and Manitowoc, Wisconsin operate during warm months, crossing Lake Michigan to Muskegon and Ludington, respectively.

Attractions

If it can be done on or in the water, Michigan probably offers at least a little of it, somewhere in the state. Fishing, sailing, and motorboating are popular on both the Great Lakes and inland lakes. The Great Lakes are a bit cool for some tastes, even in the summer, but are still very popular beach destinations, along with swimming in the warmer lakes inland. Canoeing is also popular on the rivers snaking through protected forests. Some people do surf, mostly the often-substantial waves coming across Lake Michigan, but it won't impress the dudes back home at Hermosa Beach or Waikiki.

In winter, replace water with snow and ice. Hardcore anglers keep fishing through the ice. Although serious alpine skiers might find the idea of skiing in glacier-smoothed Michigan laughable, there are many downhill ski areas, with the most popular resorts in the still-textured Charlevoix/Grand Traverse region of the state. Some great cross-country skiing can be found in both peninsulas, and any incline with a population of kids nearby becomes a sledding hill.

The city of Detroit hosts four major professional sporting teams: the Tigers (baseball), the Lions (American football), the Red Wings (hockey), and the Pistons (basketball). The Lions, Redwings and Tigers all play in stadiums in downtown Detroit, the Pistons play in Auburn Hills approximately 25 miles northwest of Detroit. Detroit also hosts the North American International Auto Show each January. Big-city casino gambling with four major casinos (supplementing the several Native American casinos in more remote areas of the state) is Detroit's latest addition. Detroit serves as the cultural and entertainment hub of the metropolitan region, with major concert venues, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of Art, and an active theatre scene.

In Lansing, you can visit the State Capitol Building, which was renovated in 1992. Many other state government and historical buildings are located in Lansing and East Lansing.

There are many small towns of interest in Michigan. Frankenmuth, a town in Mid-Michigan, is a replica German town. Very famous is the Zendher's and Bavarian Inn, two restaurants known for their fried chicken.

If crossing from the Lower to Upper Peninsula, or vice-versa, visit Mackinaw City, St. Ignace, and Mackinac Island. Fort Michilimackinac and an old lumber mill are located on the latter, and these are both open to the public. In order to get to the Island, you must take a ferry. Three different services are available.

There is also:

 • Isle Royale National Park
 • Mackinac Island
 • Michigan's Adventure - amusement park near Muskegon
 • Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
 • Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
 • Battle Creek is the home of Kellogg's cereals. You can take a tour of the Cereal City USA museum if you visit the town, and of course everyone gets a free sample at the end.

Food

If you're planning a trip into Michigan and you want to check off the "must-eat" local specialties, then there are four things you really should be sure to try while you're here. Interestingly, they're all centered around the northern parts of the state, so if you want to try them in their homeland, you'll want to be sure to visit the area from Traverse City to the Upper Peninsula.
 • The pasty (which rhymes with "nasty", not "hasty") is a traditional food in the Upper Peninsula, made with meat (usually beef), potato, onion, and sometimes rutabaga, wrapped in a light dough with a crimped edge. They originated from Cornwall, in southwestern England, and were brought to the area by Cornish miners who emigrated to the Upper Peninsula. The miners' wives would take everything that was left from the Sunday dinner, chop it up and wrap it in a semicircular pastry case, for their husbands to warm on their shovels and eat for lunch. These days, you can find pasty shops along highways in the UP, although their hours of operation may be limited.
 • Michigan produces rich, creamy fudge, made from milk, sugar and usually chocolate, although you can find vanilla, peanut butter, mint, praline, cranberry, and many more flavors. The most famous fudge in the state has been made on Mackinac Island since 1887, still by hand, shaping and cooling it on marble slabs, right there at the shop.
 • Not surprisingly, lake fish is popular in Michigan, particularly whitefish and lake perch. Most restaurants in Michigan that offer seafood will have at least one of the two somewhere on their menu; you can find it broiled, fried, smoked, made into salad, or planked on cedar with whipped mashed potatoes piped around the edge. Lake fish are most commonly associated with Lake Superior, so you'll find it more prominent on menus in the Upper Peninsula.
 • Michigan produces over 70 percent of the tart cherries grown in the US, as well as around 20 percent of the sweet cherries. The main cherry-growing region in the state is around Traverse City, where you'll find a cherry festival every July. Cherries, particularly dried ones, get added to some dishes to give them local flair; you may see restaurants offering a "Michigan salad" that includes dried cherries.

But although these four foods are most commonly associated with Michigan, they're by no means the state's only specialties.

 • Cudighi ("COO-duh-ghee"), a sausage-patty hoagie served with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, is relatively popular in the Upper Peninsula. It was brought to the area by immigrants from northern Italy who moved into the Iron Mountain region, around Ishpeming and Negaunee, and is flavored with sweet spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
 • In southeastern Michigan, a popular treat to celebrate Fat Tuesday and the beginning of Lent is pączki ("poonch-key"), which are baked annually in the Polish village of Hamtramck in metro Detroit. The version made in Hamtramck are like large fried jelly doughnuts, covered in powdered sugar or glazed, and most commonly filled with custard, fruit or chocolate, with plum being a particularly popular flavor.
• Michigan ranks third in the nation's production of apples, which fill the grocery stores to overflowing when they're in season.
 • The western side of the state, near the shore of Lake Michigan, is a prolific region for blueberries, growing 45 percent of the nation's total. They're not as ubiquitous on menus as cherries, but if you're in the region during the blueberry season (July through October) watch for roadside stands and "U-pick" farms in rural areas.
 • Morel mushrooms grow wild throughout the state, but are particularly common in the northern Lower Peninsula. Locals often go mushroom-hunting, and Michigan morels are sought-after by chefs statewide. There's a morel festival every May in Boyne City.
 • The growing season for the small, sweet Michigan strawberries is short, but worth taking advantage of. There's a national strawberry festival every year in Belleville.
 • Perhaps less enticing, Michigan ranks second in the nation's production of celery, mainly around Kalamazoo. There's even a celery interpretive center in the area, where you can learn about the region's celery farming heritage.
 • Maple syrup has been produced in Michigan as long as Native American tribes have lived here, and it can also be found in the form of maple candy.

Get Out

 • Chicago, the bustling unofficial capital of the Midwest, lies just beyond the state's southwest corner.
 • Northeastern Minnesota and Northern Ontario offer wilderness areas similar to those found in the Upper Peninsula.
 • Although the border crossing has become more tedious in recent years, Windsor and the rest of Southern Ontario are just across the river from Detroit.
 • Cedar Point Amusement Park and the Lake Erie Islands in Ohio are also popular nearby destinations.