I think that if many people were asked “Is Detroit a Great Lakes city?” their response would be a confident “Yes!”. But if then asked, “What Great Lake is it on?”, confidence in their answer might wane. In fact, if their familiarity with the region or mental geography is limited, they may become stumped. Because the answer is that Detroit is not on one of the Great Lakes. But it does sit on water that is part of the Great Lakes system (remember – the largest freshwater system on earth!).

We’re moving on today from Lake Huron-Lake Michigan (remember – technically one body of water!), to Lake Erie. But we’re making a stop along the way in Detroit on the banks of the Detroit River, a 28 mile straight ushering water south and west to the mouth of Lake Erie. The water is flowing at origin from Lake Huron, down the St. Clair River and into Lake St. Clair and then into the Detroit River.

The Detroit River is a significant stretch of international border between the United States and Canada. There are currently two automobile crossings, the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, managed by border agencies on both sides. More than 40,000 people cross the border each day.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Detroit River was one of the busiest commercial waterways on earth with the rise of the auto industry in Detroit. In 1907 the river moved 67 million tons of shipping commerce out to destinations around the world. By comparison, New York City moved about 20 million tons that year. 

But decades before automobiles were built and started crossing the Detroit River, it was a different crossing. It was a  final stop for many routes on the Underground Railroad. Code name “Midnight”, Detroit was the most active entry point along the US-Canada border for enslaved people escaping to freedom.

There were several reasons for this:

1. Slavery was outlawed in Michigan, and by the 1830s Detroit had developed an established Black population, some of whom courageously accepted the profound risks of assisting enslaved people;
2. By 1833 Canada had declared that enslaved people could not be extradited to be returned to their owners and granted legal immigration status to Blacks, making it the closest thing possible to freedom; 
3. The river is relatively narrow and shallow, making it navigable by even smaller boats, although winter months would have been a perilous trip.

Second Baptist Church of Detroit and the First Baptist Church of Amherstburg on the Canadian side of the river coordinated many of the crossings. The basement of the Second Baptist Church was likely the last place in America that some enslaved people spent time before leaving for Canada. You can arrange for a tour of the church. Across the river, 30 minutes south of Windsor, is the Amherstburg Freedom Museum which consists of a church and a log cabin built by people who escaped slavery via the underground railroad.

The last steps to freedom for many people were actually a distance covered on the waters of the Great Lakes.    

Perhaps because it is the only Great Lake with all of its shoreline in the United States, Lake Michigan seems to hold a special place in many hearts and minds. 

There are lots of impressive stats to share. Lake Michigan is the second largest Great Lake by volume and the third largest by surface area. It has the world’s largest collection of freshwater sand dunes. Area surrounding the lake is home to over 12 million people, including Chicago, the largest city on the Great Lakes.

Indiana Dunes National Park from Conde Nast

The word “Michigan” is believed to derive from indigenous words meaning “great water” or “big lake”. These include “mishigamaa” or “mishigamaw” in Algonquin “meicigama” in Chippewa and “mishigami” in Ojibwa.

A road trip around Lake Michigan would offer almost too many fantastic stops to list. This itinerary from the roadtrippers site starts in Milwaukee and then heads north towards Door County, Wisconsin, “the Cape Cod of the Midwest”. 

Heading north from Wisconsin leads into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP), which you know I love for its wildness, quirkiness and solitude (and Joe Pera!). After driving eastward on the UP, the route drops you back into Michigan’s Mitten via the Mackinac Bridge.

The route from there takes you south through beautiful shoreline and quaint, picturesque towns – Charlevoix, Petoskey, Traverse City, and Sleeping Bear Dunes area before landing down on Michigan’s weekend escape towns like South Haven and Saugatuck. Westerly winds blow surface water to the east, making the water on these east coast destinations on the lake warmer in summer months.

At the southern end of the lake one finds a relatively unknown gem – the 45 miles of Indiana’s Lake Mighigan shoreline, which includes Indiana Dunes National Park. 

From there, the route will take you up into Chicago. When one thinks of Chicago, the sprawling built city comes to mind. And maybe deep dish pizza or hot dogs? But make no mistake – the city is inextricably connected with Lake Michigan. In the warmer weather, it really is a beach town with crowds of people at Oak Street Beach, Rainbow Beach and Park and North Avenue Beach. All year round, you can walk and bike miles along Lake Shore Drive or visit Navy Pier’s myriad attractions, food and programs.

I would venture to guess that many of you have spent time on Lake Michigan. If you have a favorite memory or place or a hidden gem, I’d love to hear about it! Reply to my newsletter or drop me a message through the website!

We’re going to continue on our tour of the Great Lakes, moving from Lake Huron to its partner, Lake Michigan. As I’ve shared before, Huron and Michigan are really one body of water, joined at the Straits of Mackinac. 

Southwest from the Straits lie a chain of islands. The two most prominent islands are North and South Manitou. The islands are part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and can be seen from the mainland – two distinct humps rising out of the water in close proximity to each other. 

There is a ferry from Leland that will take visitors to both islands. South Manitou is the smaller island (8 square miles) and attracts day visitors with a small museum, lighthouse, and old Coast Guard station, and a wagon tour out to the site of a shipwreck. North Manitou is much larger (22 square miles) and, other than a small village where the ferry docks, is managed as a wilderness area. Visitors come for solitude, hiking and camping. Neither island has food or medical services. 

On our visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes in 2019 I bought a children’s book at the National Park Service Visitor’s Center called The Legend of Sleeping Bear by Kathy-jo Wargin, illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen. It has a subtitle “Michigan’s Official Children’s Book”. Given this designation, I was underprepared for the story told but probably should have been tipped off by the dedication: For all mothers, whose love and dedication will be rewarded.

A synopsis of the legend, an Anishinaabe story of a sacred place: Long ago, across the inland sea that is now Lake Michigan, in the forests of what is now Wisconsin, lived Mother Bear and her two cubs. They lived happily along a stream. Sometimes Mother Bear would take her cubs to the shores of the lake and gaze out on its endless horizon.

One day there was a thunderstorm and lightning struck a tree and started a forest fire. Mother Bear and her cubs ran to the lakeshore. They had no choice but to leap into the lake and start a swim across to the other side. The cubs promised Mother Bear they would swim with all their might all through the night. Mother Bear kept checking to make sure her cubs were not far behind her. But by morning, as she saw the sun coming up, she no longer saw her cubs. Mother Bear made it to the sandy shores of the lake, surrounded by dunes. She was exhausted. But she paced up and down the shoreline, calling to her cubs. Eventually she climbed to the top of the highest dune and sat, watching and waiting for her cubs.

She waited as the seasons changed. She waited through the winter. Eventually Mother Bear fell into a deep slumber of sorrow, blanketed by sand. The great spirit of the land felt her sadness, her dedication, and her love. And so the spirit raised the cubs from the water and made them two islands, close together and within view of Mother Bear. They are North and South Manitou Islands, resting eternally near their mother.

Welp. Oh man. You can be sure I was wiping away tears when I read the book. But this story of a mother’s love is deeply touching and adds further life and meaning to this special region on Lake Michigan. The bears’ resting place brings awe, joy and peace to visitors year after year. 

Manitoulin Island in northern Lake Huron is the largest freshwater island in the world at 2,766 square feet. It is large enough to have over 100 freshwater lakes and multiple rivers itself.    

Manitoulin Island is also the home of an incredible young activist named Autumn Peltier. I was introduced to Autumn in the beautiful picture book Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior, written by Carole Lindstrom with illustrations by Bridget George. 

Autumn is Anishinaabe and an Indigenous Water Protector from Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island. The rapid evolution of her activism is nothing short of remarkable and Autumn has been nominated several times for the International Children’s Peace Prize, including being a finalist in 2022. 

2012 at eight years old: Autumn learned that many First Nations in Ontario often live on short or long-term boil-water advisories and began speaking out about this in her own community. 

2016 at 12 years old: At the Assembly of First Nations in front of thousands of people, Autumn pointedly asked questions of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about water protection and told him he is not doing enough on the issue.

2018: Autumn addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on the topic of clean water access.

2019, at the age of 14: Autumn was appointed Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishinaabek Nation. She meets with leaders of Tribal Nations and speaks nationally and internationally about Indigenous and water rights. Her voice and messages are often directly about the waters that flow in and out of the Great Lakes.

Autumn is the great-niece of the late Josephine Mandamin, an internationally recognized water and Indigenous rights activity. She was widely acknowledged as the leader of the Water Walk movement. Josephine co-founded the Mother Earth Water Walkers in 2003. The Mother Earth Water Walkers is comprised of women from different clans of the Anishinaabe who work to bring attention to water crises in their own communities and others around the world. They do this by walking the perimeter of the Great Lakes. The first Water Walk was in 2003 when the group walked 2,726 miles around Lake Superior. They carried a copper pail filled with lake water. Over the next 14 years, there were thirteen Water Walks, covering a distance of over 15,000 miles to bring attention to the issue of clean water. 

If one thing stands out in Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior, it is the voice of women and girls. To the Anishinaabe, speaking for the water is a matriarchal act. There is something that seems so right and also deeply ironic about this. Around the globe, it is often women and girls who bear the burden of accessing clean water.  In communities without easy access, women and girls may literally spend their days walking miles to and from sources of water for drinking, cooking and sanitation needs. Here’s hoping that Autumn and other young climate and environmental activists inspire all sorts of people from across the globe to take action.       

In our culture, we look at water as a living being, and we’re taught to treat it with the same respect we would show another human. Water is the lifeblood of Mother Earth. It gives all life, and there is no life without it. Autumn Peltier, Foreword to Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior