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WHITEFISH POINT
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Centennial Cranberry Farm. Take a self-guided tour, see a film about the cranberry harvest here, and visit the gift shop with sauces and vinegars made from cranberries harvested here on one of Michigan's very few cranberry farms, one where the same family has grown cranberries since 1876 ...
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Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum & Whitefish Point Light Station. It's at the end of the road, but the parking lot of this superb museum is often full, a reflection of how much it has to offer, from Lake Superior's first lighthouse to an eerie atmosphere to convey the haunting world of underwater shipwrecks ...
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Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. Many birders come to count, to band, to examine birds and to enjoy the massive spring and fall migrations at this birding hot spot where Whitefish Point juts out into Lake Superior. There's a small nature center and shop, and spring weekend programs. But the windswept point, Hawk Overlook, and the beach are beautiful places anytime in summer and fall ...
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Lake Superior Nature Sanctuary/Michigan Nature Association. A remote, beautiful wilderness shoreline. Get guide through Michigan Nature Conservancy. ...
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Region: Tahquamenon & Seney, Grand Marais & Whitefish Point
WHITEFISH POINT
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Whitefish Point forms the entrance to Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay. The bay's geography concentrates both ships and migrating birds at Whitefish Point. Birds flying along Lake Superior's shoreline come here to cross northeast from Whitefish Point into Canada.
Whitefish Bay is the funnel for ships entering and leaving Lake Superior via the St. Mary's River at Sault Ste. Marie. That busy river leads to Lake Huron and the lower lakes. Whitefish Bay is protected, but the open expanse of water to the north is called "the graveyard of the Great Lakes." It bears the full force of winds from the north and west. Many vessels have sunk there, making the area a magnet for divers. The most recent and dramatic wreck was the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, but many more wrecks occurred in the late 19th century, when vessels on the lakes were smaller and far more numerous and navigational aids were more primitive.
Whitefish Point used to have the feel of being somewhere back in time and beyond the hubbub of ordinary life, when the Coast Guard station sat abandoned. Now it's a busy place indeed in summer, as the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum grows and attracts more and more visitors with its energetic marketing. The Whitefish Point Bird Observatory is increasing its membership. Birders fill many motel rooms at migration time in April (a very difficult month in Upper Peninsula tourism) and again in September. Increased exposure has led the nearby Centennial Cranberry Farm to offer tours, which led to a gift shop, which led to creating its own cranberry product line - a nice development for people who like to give "made in Michigan" products. The bird observatory and shipwreck museum say they work well together for a quality visitor experience. Some people in Paradise resent the Shipwreck Museum, its growth, and the change it has brought. They have organized as the Whitefish Point Preservation Society, and they created quite a hubbub, picked up by news wires, when they accused the Shipwreck Museum of conducting an illegal dive - an accusation that has not been substantiated.
The town of Shelldrake stood at the mouth of the Shelldrake River three miles north of Paradise. As a sawmill town it had unusual amenities. It had a hospital, and homes for 1,000 - homes with plaster walls and bathrooms and hot water heated by the sawmill burner. Today it takes some looking to find any remaining trace of Shelldrake.
Back to Tahquamenon & Seney, Grand Marais & Whitefish Point
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WHITEFISH POINT
RESTAURANTS,
LODGINGS
& CAMPGROUNDS
These are our choices, not ads.
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WHITEFISH POINT
RESTAURANTS
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WHITEFISH POINT
LODGINGS
CREW QUARTERS at the
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
(888) 492-3747 or (800) 635-1742; shipwreckmuseum.com
The Whitefish Point Coast Guard Lifeboat Station has 5 guest rooms with private baths plus a shared kitchen and ample living area. It's a fine arrangement for small-group meetings or for parties traveling together, even snowmobilers, as it's open year-round. Rules prohibit pets, children under 17, smoking, and drinking alcoholic beverages. 4 rooms have queen beds, 1 has a double. An extended continental breakfast comes with rooms, which are usually $150, but $125 Dec-March. Rate includes free admission to the Shipwreck Museum, whatever the month, and 10% discount at museum store. March, 2008
At end of Whitefish Point Road. See above. Handicap access: limited. Call. Children: not under 17.
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WHITEFISH POINT
CAMPGROUNDS
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