Michigan Lights - Crisp Point

Crisp Point Lighthouse. 10/6/24 dwm

Crisp Point Lighthouse stands in a spectacular, hard to reach, location.

Of the 130-some lights we've visited, this one ranks as one of our most memorable trips. Ever.

Google maps says it's 45 miles from Grand Marais, where we spent the night, and 1-and-a-half-hours to the Crisp Point Lighthouse.

Months before the trip, I used Lighthouse Friends dotcom to look at directions. On the Visitor Information tab, they recommended looking at the lighthouse' website.

The gravel road at its best. dwm

At breakfast, we asked our server at Archie's Diner for advice on getting there. She said, "Do not turn toward to Muskellunge Lake." That particular turn was a long way into the trip but it was good information because that left turn felt like the right thing to do.

Five miles out of Grand Marais we left pavement for gravel (photo left). The nice gravel road in the photo isn't what we experienced most of the drive. An overnight thunderstorm created puddles and made the numerous turns slippery.

The further we went the more the landscape changed. Large sections of forest were cut or had burned. Our top speed for most of our drive was 35, which frequently felt too fast.

We were looking for Highway 412 when ended up at a boat landing on Lake Superior. After re-tracing our route, we clearly saw a sign for 412 that was hidden by a stand of trees when you approached from the other direction. After making the turn, my wife strongly advocated turning back as the clouds got darker and the road got worse.

Our first look at the light from the parking lot. 10/6/24 dwm

More than an hour on the back-roads through a National Forest was taking a toll, when she saw a sign with a lighthouse on it and an arrow pointing left.

That sign lifted our spirits for the final six twisting miles.

We pulled into the parking lot as another couple was leaving. When we stepped out of the car, we got our first look of the tower standing above a row of evergreens. The wind was whipping as we walked to the welcome center manned by a couple volunteers.

Looking from the east. 10/6/24 dwm

I walked on to the beach getting pelted by sand and rain as I framed the light against the big lake. Then I took shots from the other side of the tower before climbing up the tower and into the lantern which stands 58-feet above the ground.

It was a windy day, but for a lake known for its life-threatening storms, this was just another Sunday. As I looked at the lake I imagined what it might feel and sound like "When the gales of November come early." (lyric from Gordon Lightfoot's 'Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald')

In the lantern. 10/6/2024 dwm photo

This light on Superior's south shore was built to mark a point where shallow water reached far enough into the lake to endanger ships. Whitefish Point is where ships make the turn to head west across the lake but without adjustments or warning, Crisp Point would be a problem.

Funds were provided by Congress in 1902. The light was turned on May 5, 1904. (Thank you LighthouseFriends.com for the history.) The light was electrified and automated in 1941 when a lighted buoy was anchored off-shore to warn ships of shallow water.

A final shot from the boardwalk.

In 1965, the Coast Guard tore down all the buildings except the tower and a room attached to its base. 23 years later, a couple from Ohio came upon the light and were inspired to move to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where they created a Historical Society with the goal of saving the light.

When the light was decommissioned in 1992, the society got a lease of the tower in 1994. Storm damage in 1996 threatened the light's future but the society raised money to bring in rock to bolster its foundation. The visitor center and gift shop were built to look like the original fog horn building. In 2012, it received permission to operate a light for private navigation.

Despite it's remote location, volunteers wait in line to serve at this light. It's not for us because you need to bring your home, or recreational vehicle, with you while you work. Crisp Point is considered one of the most remote on the Great Lakes.

After our stop at Crisp Point and making some purchases in their gift shop, we headed to Paradise, Michigan, but we still had plenty of miles on gravel and sandy roads before turning east on Michigan - 123. Then we were looking for a place to wash off the car and to clean layers of dirt, sand, and grime from my bike (below photo).

Thankfully our hotel had rags I could use to clean the bike, the car stayed dirty until we got to Sault Ste. Marie a day later.