Michigan Tourism - Introduction


Hartwick Pines State Park	This page best viewed in	Lighthouse at Whitefish Point
(photo by Geoffrey Duh)	1024 x 768 size	(photo by Michelle Lee)

Welcome to Michigan Great Lakes, Great Times Michigan is truly the land of lakes, touching four of the five Great Lakes and leading to a wealth of recreational and tourist activities. Beyond the Great Lakes there are over 11,000 inland lakes and more than 36,000 miles of rivers and streams. 3,200 miles of shoreline offers beaches and swimming opportunities while 99 state parks, over 720 golf courses, more than 40 downhill ski areas, thousands of campgrounds,and numerous unique historic and cultural sites offer something for everyone.
This web project is dedicated to highlighting many of the major tourist attractions in Michigan. It examines several selected popular tourist attractions in Michigan. A state-wide overview of Michigan's other recreational tourism opportunities is also included.

Sunrise over the Straits of Mackinac
(Photo by Meg Clark)

The Why of the Where Data Sources
The data from this project was based partly on the research done by Spotts (1991) in his list of top tourist attractions in Michigan. However, other sites around the state have gained in popularity since the study and were included. Supplemental choices were supplied by Morrow (1997) and Kaercher (1998) from Travel Michigan's tourism information center. Other sites were added to reflect the diversity of tourism locations in Michigan. There are many other tourism and recreation opportunities beyond those in this project, depending on one's interests. Ski areas, campgrounds, lakes, marinas, sporting events, and cultural and historic locations abound in Michigan. There is, quite literally, something for everyone.

Sleeping Bear Dunes
(Photo by Karen Stark)

	"The Road to Nowhere" About those local maps The local inset maps of the regions were created by using Census file TIGER data. The maps were created using the on-line utilities found at: http://tiger.census.gov.
Snow sculptures in Marquette: Finn Fest '97 (Photo used by permission of Dr. Gail Vander Stoep, Copyright 1997)

The People Behind the Cameras
    Very special thanks go out to the following people for their photographic skills and the loan of the photos used in this project:
    Bill Bogle, Mark Bowersox, Dr. Daniel Brown, Dr. Jon Burley, Dr. Michael Chubb, Emily Clark, Meg Clark, Deb Cramer, Scott Crozier, Geoffrey Duh, Alice Gillespie, Michelle Lee, Karen Stark, Aron Thomas, Dr. Robert Thomas, Dr. Gail Vander Stoep, and Jen Ware
    I couldn't have done this without y'all. Thanks again.

The Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island
(Photo by Karen Stark)

Cyber-Tourism in Michigan
The state-wide information page and each of the tourist attraction pages have a few links to other sites on the world wide web. Each of these will open in its own separate window. As a standard disclaimer, I cannot be held responsible for the content of the web sites reached via the links, or any other sites that they in turn may link to. All links are valid as of 4/25/98.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
(Photo used by permission of Dr. Jon Bryan Burley, Copyright 1987)

Let's Ride!
So break out the camping gear, get out the skis, lace up your hiking boots, load your cameras, pack your swimsuit, fuel up the car, and get ready to hit the road for
tourism in Michigan!

References:
Spotts, D.M. (Ed.). 1991. Travel and tourism in Michigan: A statistical profile 2nd Ed. East Lansing, MI: Travel, Tourism, and Recreation Resource Center, Michigan State University.
Morrow, Barbara Briggs (Ed.). 1997. Michigan Travel Ideas. Michigan Travel Bureau, Lansing, MI.
Kaercher, Dan (Ed). 1998. Michigan Travel Ideas. Midwest Living Magazine.

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Northbound on I-71
(Photo by Geoffrey Duh)