Facts about Lake Michigan


  • Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area Spanning 32,000 sq miles. Other than lake superior if you add the other great lakes up it would be around the volume of the lake. 


  • Lake Michigan’s shore is home to one of the largest sand dunes in the world. These Dunes are named Sleeping bear dunes, they are very famous. They are located on the western coast of Michigan. The tallest dune stands about 450 feet above the shore 


  • The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system in the world. The five great lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Eire, and Ontario - span 94,600 square miles and are connected by various lakes and rivers. 


  • More than 20 % of the world's freshwater is in the great lakes. It is estimated that there are nearly 24,000 cubic miles of surface freshwater on Earth. The great lakes hold over 5,400 cubic miles of that water. 


  • Lake Michigan is the only great lake that is entirely in US territory. The great lakes such 8 states - Michigan is the state that touches 4 lakes, with borders on Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. Lake Michigan is the only great lake not touching Canada. 


  • The Empire State Building would sink beneath the surface of lake superior.  


  • The Great Lakes region is the Primary water source for more than 40 million people. 


  • Lake Erie has a Loch Ness-like sea monster. Lake Erie is allegedly home to Bessie a sea monster-like creature that has been spotted on multiple occasions for decades. The Cleveland baseball team was named after Bessie. “ The Lake Erie Monsters” 


  • Lake Michigan has its OWN Bermuda Triangle. There’s an area of Lake Michigan where many unexplained occurrences have left people bewildered that has been stumped by the Michigan Triangle – similar to the Bermuda Triangle. Occurrences have included unexplained ship disappearances and missing planes. North of the triangle near Traverse City, a strange, Stonehenge-like rock formation rests below the lake’s surface. Some believe the two phenomena are related to each other.



  • Michigan has the most freshwater coastline of any US state. 


  • Lake Superior is the Biggest and deepest lake in the world by far.


  • Lake Ontario and Lake Erie are the smallest of the great lakes.


  • Each lake name is derived from an indigenous language or French 


  • The largest fish in the great lakes can weigh more than 200 pounds 


  • Lake Superior is FULL of shipwrecks.


  • Lake Huron is home to over 30,000 Islands!


  • Lake Huron has more than 1,000 shipwrecks on the lake, with many still at the bottom


  • On Lake Huron, The Benjamin Islands in the North Channel is a must for boaters. Cruisers will find the perfect coves for anchoring surrounded by the beauty of the pink granite rock.    
  • Lake Huron was hit by the worst storm ever to hit one of the Great Lakes on November 3, 1913. The storm produced wind gusts of 90 mph (145 kph) and ocean-like waves of more than 35 feet. The storm lasted 16 hours, sank 10 ships, and killed 235 seamen.  
  • Lake Huron is the third largest of the Great Lakes in volume, with 850 cubic miles of water.  
  • On September 11, 1996, the Lake Huron cyclone, or Hurricane Huron, formed over the lake, and satellite images revealed that it resembled a tropical hurricane, complete with an 18-mile (30-km) wide eye.  
  • Georgian Bay on Lake Huron is large enough to be among the world's 20 largest lakes – even though Georgian Bay is not a lake! 
  •  In 2014, an ancient land bridge, currently underwater, that joined Ambersley, Ontario to Alpena, Michigan was discovered. This discovery revealed an ancient caribou hunting blind that dates back nearly 9,000 years.   





  • Smallest by volume, but not by surface area. Lake Erie is the fourth when it comes to surface area. Lake Erie is larger than Lake Ontario by roughly 2,500 square miles. While Lake Erie isn’t last, it is well behind the other three lakes in terms of surface area. Lake Michigan is third in terms of surface area and is over 12,000 square miles bigger.  


  • The grapes that make your wine might have grown along Lake Erie. You can thank the Lake Erie Concord Grape Belt for some delicious wine. The area is 30,000 acres of grapes running from New York to Pennsylvania along the Eastern shore. Peele Island in Lake Erie also is known as a great place to grow grapes for wine.


  • Peele Island is the largest island in the lake and one of the 13 in Canadian waters. Another popular Canadian island is Kelleys Island, which a ferry regularly runs to. The ferry transports people and cars across the lake to the popular Island for boating and kayaking. The other 18 are within the borders of the United States. Indian Island and Gard Island are both part of Michigan, while the state shares Turtle Island with Ohio. 


  • Dr. Seuss once wrote about Lake Erie. The first line of The Lorax used to be a dig at Lake Erie. Eventually, the line was removed after the Ohio Sea Grant Program contacted Dr. Seuss about Lake Erie’s improved conditions. 


  •  Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are one lake. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are culturally known as two lakes despite being connected. The splitting point is the Straights of Mackinac.
  • On November 3, 1913 “The Big Bow” hit Lake Huron. The storm was responsible for 10 shipwrecks and 235 deaths. Ocean-like waves of 35-plus feet and 90 mph winds occurred over a 16-hour period.  


  • Lake Huron has an Underwater Forest. Off the shores of Lexington, Michigan you can find 7,000-year-old petrified trees.