Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one in the group located entirely within the United States. It is bounded, in a clockwise direction from the south, by the U.S. states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The word "Michigan" was originally used to refer to the lake itself, and is believed to come from the Ojibwa Indian word mishigami, meaning "great water."

Geography

Lake Michigan (43°30'N, 87°30'W) is the only one of the Great Lakes wholly within the borders of the United States; the others are shared with Canada. It has a surface area of 22,300 square miles (57,750 square km), making it the largest freshwater lake in the US, the largest lake entirely within one country, and the 5th largest lake in the world. It is 307 miles (494 km) long by 118 miles (190 km) wide with a shoreline 1,640 mi (2,633 km) long. The lake's average depth is 279 ft (85 m), while its greatest depth is 925 ft (282 m). It contains a volume of 1,180 cubic mi (4,918 cubic km) of water. Its surface averages 577 ft (176 m) above sea level, the same as Lake Huron, to which it is connected through the Straits of Mackinac.

Major cities

Some 12 million people live along Lake Michigan's shores. Many small cities in Northern Michigan are centered around a tourist base that takes advantage of the beauty and recreational opportunities offered by Lake Michigan. These cities have large seasonal populations that arrive from Chicago and inland cities in Southern Michigan. The southern tip of the lake is heavily industrialized. Cities on the shores of Lake Michigan with populations larger than 30,000 include:

Illinois

Indiana

Michigan

Wisconsin

Beaches

Lake Michigan beaches, especially those beaches in Michigan and Northern Indiana, are known for their beauty. The sand is soft and off-white, known as "singing sands" due to the squeaking noise made when one walks across it (caused by the high quartz content). There are often high sand dunes covered in green beach grass and sand cherries, and the water is usually clear and cold (between 55 and 70 °F/13 and 21 °C) ^*, even in late summer. Lake Michigan beaches in Northern Michigan are the only place in the world where one can find Petoskey stones, the state stone, aside from a few inland lakes in that region.

The beaches of the western coast and the northernmost part of the east coast are rocky while the southern and eastern beaches are sandy and dune covered. This is partly due to the prevailing winds from the west which also cause thick layers of ice to build up on the western shore in winter.

Chicago annually imports fresh sand to replenish the popular city beaches but much of the city waterfront is covered by seawalls, harbors or developments.

Steel mills are visible along the Indiana shoreline, and the pollution caused by these mills is believed to contribute to the color of sunsets.

The Chicago Skyline can be seen from the Indiana shore and parts of extreme southwest Michigan and southeastern Wisconsin, but when standing on the beaches in Wisconsin or Lower Michigan, it is impossible to see across the lake, providing a view similar to that found on ocean coasts.

Car ferries

Motorists can cross Lake Michigan by the SS Badger, a ferry that runs from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Lake Express, established in 2004, is another ferry. It allows motorists to cross the lake between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at a much higher speed than the Ludington ferry.

Islands

Parks

Several state parks are located on the lakeshore as well as the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, both part of the National Park System. Part of the shoreline is also in the Hiawatha National Forest and the Manistee National Forest. Part of the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is located in Lake Michigan.

Lighthouses

Geology

Geologically and hydrologically, Michigan and Huron are the same body of water (sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron), but are geographically distinct. Counted together, it is the largest fresh water body in the world by surface area. The Mackinac Bridge is generally considered the dividing line between them. Both lakes are part of the Great Lakes Waterway. In earlier maps of the region, the name "Lake Illinois" has been found in place of "Michigan."

External links

EPA's Great Lakes Atlas

Great Lakes | Lakes of Illinois | Lakes of Indiana | Lakes of Michigan | Lakes of Wisconsin

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