Geography of Michigan

Michigan is a special state made of two parts, called peninsulas, surrounded by water. These peninsulas are next to four big lakes called the Great Lakes. The smaller part is the Upper Peninsula, touching Wisconsin. The bigger part is the Lower Peninsula, touching Indiana and Ohio. Both peninsulas are close to Ontario, a part of Canada, separated by the Great Lakes. They are also separated by a narrow stretch of water called the Straits of Mackinac.

Michigan is mostly surrounded by the Great Lakes, so its rivers and streams flow into the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed. Michigan shares parts of three Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron. It also has smaller parts of Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. Michigan has about 11,000 inland lakes! The whole state, including land and water, covers about 97,990 square miles, making it the largest state east of the Mississippi River.

Michigan’s land is mostly forests, with more than half still wooded. The state sits between about 41° and 49° north latitude, and between 82° and 91° west longitude. With its water and land, Michigan is the eleventh largest state in the United States.

Upper Peninsula

Main article: Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a forested and hilly area in the western part of the state. The Porcupine Mountains are some of the oldest mountains in the world and reach almost 2,000 feet tall. The highest point in Michigan, Mount Arvon, is in the Huron Mountains and stands at 1,979 feet above sea level. Though the Upper Peninsula is very large, it has only around 300,000 people living there.

Because of how Michigan’s land is shaped, the distance between its far corners is very long. The town of Ironwood on the far west side of the Upper Peninsula is about 630 highway miles from Lambertville on the southeast side of the Lower Peninsula. This distance keeps the Upper Peninsula somewhat separate from the rest of Michigan, giving it its own unique culture and economy.

Lower Peninsula

Main article: Lower Peninsula of Michigan

The Lower Peninsula of Michigan looks like a mitten and is 277 miles long and 195 miles wide. It covers most of the state's land. The land is mostly flat with some small hills. The highest point is either Briar Hill or a nearby spot close to Cadillac. The lowest point is where Lake Erie meets the land.

The Thumb is a special part that stretches out into Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay. The Leelanau Peninsula is located in Northern Lower Michigan.

Great Lakes

Main article: Great Lakes

Michigan is surrounded by four of the Great Lakes: Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior. Because ships have traveled these lakes for a long time, Michigan has about 150 lighthouses, the most of any state. The state shares its southern border with Ohio and Indiana.

Michigan’s northern borders are mostly water. It touches Illinois and Wisconsin in Lake Michigan, then has a land border with Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. After that, it touches Wisconsin and Minnesota in Lake Superior, and ends near the Canadian province of Ontario.

Michigan has many islands in the Great Lakes, such as Isle Royale, Grand Island, Drummond Island, Mackinac Island, and Belle Isle. After Alaska, Michigan has the longest shoreline of any state. If you count the islands, the shoreline grows even longer.

Inland lakes and rivers

Main articles: List of lakes in Michigan and List of rivers of Michigan

Michigan has many lakes. They cover 1,305 square miles (3,380 km²). Because of this, no place in Michigan is more than 6 miles (9.7 km) from a lake. And no place is more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.

The state’s rivers are usually short and not very deep. Some can be used for fun activities in boats. Important rivers include the Au Sable, Thunder Bay, Cheboygan, and Saginaw, which all flow into Lake Huron; the Ontonagon and Tahquamenon, which flow into Lake Superior; and the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, and Escanaba, which flow into Lake Michigan.

Protected areas

Main article: Protected areas of Michigan

See also: List of Michigan state parks

Michigan has many special places for nature and fun. Three important areas are managed by the National Park Service: Isle Royale National Park, in Lake Superior near Thunder Bay, Ontario; Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, along the Lake Superior coast between Munising and Grand Marais; and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, on Lake Michigan near Frankfort, Empire, and Glen Arbor.

Other protected areas include: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Huron National Forest, Manistee National Forest, Hiawatha National Forest, Ottawa National Forest, Fumee Lake Natural Area, and Father Marquette National Memorial. Michigan also has parts of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

The state has many parks and forests, including 78 state parks, 19 recreation areas, and 6 state forests. Some well-known ones are Holland State Park, Mackinac Island State Park, Au Sable State Forest, and Mackinaw State Forest.

Climate

Michigan has a humid continental climate with two different areas. The southern part of the Lower Peninsula, south of Saginaw Bay and from the Grand Rapids area southward, has hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of the Lower Peninsula and all of the Upper Peninsula has warmer but shorter summers and longer, colder winters. Some places can have temperatures below freezing from December to February, and the state often gets heavy lake-effect snow. Michigan gets about 30–40 inches of rain each year.

The state has about 30 thunderstorm days each year, which can sometimes be strong, especially in the south. Michigan gets about 17 tornadoes each year, mostly in the southern part, near Tornado Alley. Tornadoes are much rarer in the Upper Peninsula.

Geology

See also: Michigan Basin and Laurentian Upland

Michigan's land is shaped in many ways. The Upper Peninsula has rocks and big stones, with kinds like sandstones, limestones, copper, and iron. The Lower Peninsula has layers of soil and old rocks, including some with coal.

The soil in Michigan is different in many places. In the south, the soil is rich and good for plants. But in the Upper Peninsula, the land is rocky and hilly, which makes it tough to grow crops. The weather there is milder and warmer because of the close lakes.

Ecology

Michigan has many kinds of trees. You can find trees like basswood, maple, elm, sassafras, butternut, walnut, poplar, hickory, oak, willow, pine, birch, beech, hemlock, witchhazel, tamarack, cedar, locust, dogwood, and ash in its forests. These trees help make Michigan a lovely and green place to live.