As official visits commence this upcoming weekend, let’s take a look at the five most important recruits officially visiting Michigan this summer.
Michigan
These are Michigan’s most treasured views: 16 stunning scenic spots to visit
Michigan is home to some of USA TODAY’s most treasured views
From Pictured Rocks to Torch Lake to Belle Isle in Michigan, discover some of USA TODAY’s Most Treasured Views in America for 2025.
Scenic views can be found all over Michigan. If you’re looking for a peaceful moment, an opportunity to be awed or even the perfect Instagram photo, Michigan is packed with beautiful places to take in with your eyes — or your camera.
This is part of a new USA TODAY network project showcasing breathtaking — and perhaps, underappreciated — views throughout the United States. These are some of the most beautiful landmarks, scenic vistas and hidden gems you can truly treasure in your area.
We’ve put together a list of 16 of the most treasured views in Michigan.
The selections are a mix of nature and architecture. Some locations are prime tourist attractions, while others are a little more out of the way. They are found throughout Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas with many highlighted by Michigan’s lakes and waterways. Others shine when surrounded by Michigan’s fall colors.
Michigan’s immense beauty can’t be completely captured in a short list, but these spots are some of the locations that stand out in the state.
[ Most Treasured Views in America: National | West | South | Middle America | Northeast ]
Tahquamenon Falls
Tahquamenon Falls is literally in Paradise … Michigan. The most recognizable images usually come from the waterfalls at either the Upper Falls or Lower Falls, but the state park is nearly 50,000 acres.
The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and has a drop of nearly 50 feet. It’s more than 200 feet across and has a maximum water flow of more than 50,000 gallons per second. The Lower Falls is located 4 miles downstream and consists of a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island that can be reached by a rented rowboat.
Miners Castle at Pictured Rocks
Miners Castle is one of the most famous landmarks along the Pictured Rocks shores, according to the National Parks service.
The rock formation was named by Englishman Alexander Henry’s employee’s when they were exploring the area for minerals in 1771.
You can find it about 5 miles east of Munising on Alger County Road H-58, then 6 miles north on Miners Castle Road.
It’s the only cliff area in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore that’s accessible by vehicle.
Kitch-iti-kipi
Kitch-iti-kipi is known as one of Michigan’s more alluring attractions, according to the DNR.
Kitch-iti-kipi is that state’s largest freshwater spring and it’s name means “The Big Spring.” The spring in located in Palms Brook State Park in Manistique.
Visitors love the spring’s crystal-clear water with an emerald green bottom.
Porcupine Mountains
Among Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park’s 60,000 acres in Ontonagon is the stunning Lake of the Clouds. The mountain lake is one of the amazing views at Michigan’s largest state park.
It’s the most photographed feature in the park, according to the Porcupine Mountains Ontonagon Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
When the leaves of the lush trees surrounding the lake change colors in the fall, visitors get a fresh take on the breathtaking view.
Lighthouses along the Great Lakes
Michigan has more than 120 lighthouses, more than any other state in the country. They protect the state’s coastline, allowing the Great Lakes to create a stunning backdrop when you’re viewing them. You can almost feel history when looking at them since many have reached or are nearing 200 years old.
Some favorites in the state to visit are the Grand Haven lighthouses, Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington and Whitefish Point Light Station in Paradise.
Mackinac Bridge
Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge, one of the state’s most famous and iconic architectural marvels, connects the state’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. The ivory and green suspension bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac, connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, over five miles.
Sightseers enjoy viewing the bridge from all angles. You’ll see visitor photos next to the bridge, while crossing the bridge and even traveling underneath by boat.
Arch Rock on Mackinac Island
Arch Rock is the most famous rock formation on Mackinac Island. The limestone rock forms an arch that is more than 50 feet wide. It’s believed to be about 4,000 years old and hollowed out by splashing waves when water levels were much higher, according to the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau.
While the formation is stable for now, don’t wait a lifetime to see it. It’s predicted erosion from wind and water will one day probably cause it to fall down.
Visitors can find it on the east side of the island on the shores of Lake Huron. The formation can be viewed from both the interior and perimeter of the island.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Looking down at the sand dunes and Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire is basically a rite of passage in Michigan.
The national park features miles of sand beach and bluffs that tower 450 feet above the lake.
While the park covers more than 71,000 acres and includes other unique natural features, it’s the sand dunes that get the most attention.
Tunnel of Trees
A scenic drive on M-119 in Emmet County is perhaps best taken in the fall as the autumn colors of tree leaves enveloping the route offer a breathtaking view.
The dense woods create a canopy that’s famous in the state.
The stretch is about 20 miles long and goes from Harbor Springs to Cross Village.
Tulip Time in Holland
Be immersed by millions of tulips when they’re in bloom during Tulip Time in Holland. The flowers are planted all around the city each year and generally begin blooming in late April and last through mid-May.
During that time, visitors can be surrounded by the brightly colored tulips.
Sunset Point on Detroit’s Belle Isle
Located on the west side of Detroit’s Belle Isle, Sunset Point is a favorite spot of photographers.
Visitors can catch the sunset while taking in the Detroit skyline and Detroit River. It’s a calming spot during both the evening and day.
Torch Lake
Torch Lake in the northwest Lower Peninsula of Michigan is known for its clear water that has a deep Caribbean blue color.
The lake is Michigan’s longest at 18 miles and the second largest at 29 square miles.
Visitors especially love viewing the lake in the fall when the leaves of the trees surrounding the lake turn colors.
Turnip Rock
Turnip Rock, located in Lake Huron in Port Austin, is a favorite stop for kayakers and boaters.
Wave erosion sculpted the limestone rock formation’s base and created a “unique, gravity-defying pillar,” according to the Greater Port Austin Area Chamber of Commerce.
Turnip Rock is surrounded by shallow waters, sea caves and dramatic cliffs.
Ledges at Fitzgerald Park
Famous sandstone ledges and ancient sedimentary rock outcroppings line the banks of the Grand River at Fitzgerald Park in Grand Ledge.
The rock formations are believed to be 300 million years old. The 78-acre park includes 3 miles of nature and hiking trails.
The park is located at 100 Fitzgerald Park Drive.
SkyBridge Michigan
Opened in 2022, SkyBridge Michigan is a suspension bridge at Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls.
Visitors take a chairlift and can then walk 118 feet above the Boyne Valley on the 1,200-foot timber-towered suspension bridge, which the Boyne Mountain website says is the world’s longest.
The experience is especially popular in the fall when Michigan’s fall colors are visible below the bridge.
Dow Gardens
Dow Gardens in Midland has 54 acres of woodlands, ponds, orchard and meadow.
Inside the forest is a 1,400-foot-long canopy walk that’s 40 feet above the ground.
The canopy walk includes views of a forest pond from 25 feet up, a large cargo net 25 feet up in a grove of spruce trees and an orchard view with a viewing platform that has a glass floor and railings at 40 feet high.
The canopy walk is popular when Michigan’s leaves change colors in the fall.
As temperatures rise in Michigan each summer, so to do the chances of harmful algal blooms (HABs) developing in our lakes, causing a risk to both ecosystems and public health.
HABs are formed wherever there is rapid growth of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, which are naturally found in lakes, rivers and ponds. Some cyanobacteria found in blooms contain toxins that can be harmful to people and animals, and often present as blue-green, yellow or brown streaks, foam, or thick paint-like scums on the water surface, according to the Michigan Departments of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)
To help keep track of these harmful algal blooms across the state, EGLE has teamed up with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to update its online reporting form to include harmful algal blooms. Now the public can easily report suspected HABs to the state by filling out the form at Michigan.gov/HABs. Individuals can also make a report by calling EGLE’s Environmental Assistance Center at 800-662-9278.
“This new online form is an easy and efficient way for Michiganders to help monitor and safeguard our water resources,” said Jerrod Sanders, director of Water Resources Division at EGLE, in a news release. “This tool improves efficiency and helps us respond to potential risks more effectively.”
It will also allow EGLE and MDHHS staff to better understand how HABs develop, and creates the potential to send out public notifications about what areas to avoid as a way of keeping people and pets safe when they’re detected.
Breathing in or swallowing water with HAB toxins can cause asthma-like symptoms, difficulty breathing, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, runny eyes and nose, weakness, headaches or dizziness. Skin contact can also cause rashes, blisters or hives.
“If you had contact with or swallowed water with a suspected HAB and feel sick, call your health care provider or seek medical attention as soon as possible,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive.
Locations of HAB reports verified by EGLE and results of cyanotoxin testing will be displayed on the Michigan Harmful Algal Bloom Reports Map for the public to review.
For more information on health effects, causes and reports on the occurrence of HABs in Michigan lakes, visit Michigan.gov/HABs.
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Beach season is here, and Lake Michigan is the most popular of the Great Lakes for swimming. However, it can also be the most dangerous.
According to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, 81 people drowned in the Great Lakes in 2025. 36 of those drownings, or almost half, happened in Lake Michigan.
“Even an Olympic swimmer is not going to swim against the rip current,” Pat Whelan, Plainwell district supervisor for the Michigan DNR Parks and Recreation Division, said.
What makes a rip current so dangerous is the natural instinct to try and swim back to shore. However, it is not the way to escape.
“It’s a term called ‘flip, float, and follow,’ where you flip on your back so you can breathe,” Whelan said. “Follow that, float on the top of that current and follow it out into the lake until you can feel it release you. Then you’re going to swim parallel to the shore, and then the waves themselves will help push you back into the shore.”
It’s been more than 20 years since Andy Fox, 17, drowned in a rip current at Grand Haven State Park, but the pain is still fresh for his mother, Vicki Cech, who rarely goes to the beach.
“When I have company in, sometimes I’ll walk out on the pier, but as a rule I just don’t go there anymore,” Cech said. “Not that beach, because that one does have a lot of sad memories for me.”
Pictured is Andy Fox, 17, in this undated photo. Fox drowned in a rip current at Grand Haven State Park in 2006. (Cech/WWMT)
Compared to other Lake Michigan beaches, Grand Haven State Park has added safety features as conditions are known to change rapidly.
Grand Haven uses the color warning system, but at other beaches, they have flags.
At Grand Haven State Park, however, there is an electronic lighting system on an orange tower. When the life ring on that tower is pulled, Ottawa County dispatch is alerted right away.
Blue towers on the beach are equipped with cameras, providing a video feed of what is happening where the life ring was pulled.
Electric lights instead of flags are used to alert people of swimming conditions at Grand Haven State Park.
“They can push the bottom and actually talk back and forth with central dispatch,” Whelan said.
Alongside these additions, Cech would like to see lifeguards on Grand Haven’s beaches.
“I know there’s all kinds of different things we have down there. Life rings closer to the water and everything like that,” Cech said. “But I’d say the only thing which I see South Haven has finally gotten lifeguards, the ultimate would be lifeguards.”
Michigan got rid of lifeguards at state parks in the 1990’s. The DNR said it was a combination of cost and liability concerns.
South Haven, however, welcomed lifeguards back to the city’s beaches for the first time in 25 years on Monday.
Those lifeguards do not yet have chairs and towers yet, but they will be posted between each flag section, with green, yellow and red colors marking that day’s swimming conditions.
More information about the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project can be found online.
Five-star CB Joshua Dobson, June 12
247Sports “only” has Dobson ranked 43rd nationally. Meanwhile, their composite says he is the 11th-best player in the entire class. Regardless of what the analysts think of the versatile Dobson, he would be a fantastic get for the Wolverines.
Four-stars Tavares Harrington and Darius Johnson, along with three-star Charles Woodson Jr. and three-star Maxwell Miles form an excellent foundation for the class’s secondary. Dobson would not only be the cherry on top, but the hot fudge, sprinkles and peanuts, too.
Here is what he said about Michigan, according to Rivals’ Keegan Pope ($):
“Man, they’re definitely up there. Not a lot of people talk about them in my recruitment, which I don’t know why, but Michigan is strong.”
Four-star WR Dakota Guerrant, June 19
We all know about Guerrant and the Wolverines’ interest in the Harper Woods, Michigan, product. Landing four-star Quentin Burrell does ease some of the pressure of adding a potentially elite playmaker on the perimeter, especially with Oregon playing a significant role in Guerrant’s recruitment, too.
Those Ducks appear to be a serious obstacle. Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong recently talked about Guerrant’s potential pairing with Oregon on “The Wiltfong Whiparound” and how he loves their offense.
Perhaps that marriage is set in stone and Michigan is simply entertaining him on the visit. Perhaps Whittingham and Ron Bellamy can sway the in-stater to stay home.
Three-star edge rusher Ifeanyi Emedobi, June 19
The Wolverines are trending up for the Fort Wayne, Indiana edge rusher. Emedobi may seem a bit redundant with Recarder Kitchen and Jayce Brewer already preparing to don the maize and blue. However, perhaps there are plans for either of the 6-foot-6 Kitchen or 6-foot-5 Brewer to play a more complete defensive lineman role, rather than pure edge work, which feels more likely for someone of Emedobi’s stature (6-foot-1.5, 215 pounds).
Emedobi also only recently started playing football, so who knows where he ends up at the collegiate level. Considering his final four includes Penn State, Indiana and Minnesota, let’s hope Michigan — not the conference foes — gets to solve that question.
Three-star WR Charles Britton III, June 19
Another in-state wide receiver, Britton III, aka “Tre,” hails from Belleville but is drawing heavy interest from Missouri, according to Rivals.
Here is what he had to say about Michigan, via Rivals’ Allen Trieu ($):
“Really, just like being so close to home,” Britton said. “I get to visit them whenever I want really, so I can just get to see how things are going with them. They could take up with me whenever they want too. They’re in my face more, I’d say, because they’re right down the street, so I get to go to them, they get to go to me as many times as possible. So I’m just putting in new relationships and building them fast. It really is — they’re Michigan.”
The official visit should help determine if this is simply love for the hometown school or a legitimate interest in being a Wolverine.
Four-star IOL Lincoln Mageo, June 5
Mageo, from Oceanside, California, may not be regarded as a blue chip prospect, but this is a program that does not necessarily need the most highly touted trenchmen to develop stars. Mageo recently talked to Maize n Brew and praised offensive line coach Jim Harding.
“I loved watching coach Harding break down technique during indy period so that everyone could understand,” Mageo said. “That is the type of coaching that I’m looking for. A coach who takes time to break down technique and focuses on development.
Four-star Jakari Lipsey, and three-stars Sidney Rouleau and Louis Esposito make up the offensive line group in this cycle so far.
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