Michigan Lighthouse
Travel Guides
You Love Michigan Lighthouses. Now You Can Find Every Single One.
Geographically ordered guides with photos, history, and map links — so you never miss a light or backtrack a mile.
Every Lighthouse. Every Coast.
Three definitive ebooks, East Coast, Upper Peninsula, West Coast, covering every lighthouse, pier light, crib light, and island light along Michigan's coasts — designed to save you time and money while making your lighthouse journey more enjoyable than ever. Choose your lake, choose your journey.
Lighthouses
for Life
Three Guides. Every Michigan Lighthouse.
East Coast
From the Detroit River to Old Mackinac Point
Lighthouse Travel Guide for Michigan's East Coast
Journey from the historic Detroit River Lighthouse north along Lake Huron's eastern coastline all the way to Mackinac Point — including every crib and island light along the way.
Detroit River to Mackinac Point
Every lighthouse, pier, crib & island light
Tap-to-navigate Google Maps links — or use the listed coordinates in any map of your choice
History, tower heights & lens details
State park & camping connections
Upper Peninsula
Lighthouse Travel Guide for Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Explore the wild and breathtaking Upper Peninsula, where remote lighthouses guard the shores of Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron in some of the most spectacular scenery in the Midwest.
All UP-accessible lighthouses
Remote & off-the-beaten-path sites
Tap-to-navigate Google Maps links — or use the listed coordinates in any map of your choice
History, tower heights & lens details
State park & camping connections
From St. Ignace to Seul Choix Point
West Coast
From St. Helena Island to New Buffalo
Lighthouse Travel Guide for Michigan's West Coast
Follow the stunning Lake Michigan shoreline from McGulpin Point south to New Buffalo, past towering dunes, charming harbor towns, and some of the most photographed lighthouses in America.
McGulpin Point to New Buffalo
Every lighthouse & pier light covered
Tap-to-navigate Google Maps links — or use the listed coordinates in any map of your choice
History, tower heights & lens details
State park & camping connections
Available on Apple Books and Google Play — download to your phone and take them everywhere
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Only 9.99 each
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The Complete Series
Every Detail You Need.
Nothing You Don’t.
🗺️ Tap-to-Navigate Maps
Click any map link to open Google Maps and navigate directly to the light — or use the listed coordinates in any map app of your choice.
🎟️ Museums & Hours
Plan your visit around open hours so you can climb the tower, see the inside, and make the most of every stop.
🚗 Visit By section
Know in advance whether a light is accessible by car or requires water transportation — no surprises when you arrive.
🤝 Volunteer Keeper Opportunities
Many historical societies offer stays at lighthouses in exchange for help with maintenance, gift shops, and upkeep.
🏛️ History & Lens Details
Original light year, current light year, tower height, focal height, range, and other lenses the light has carried through history.
🏕️ State Park Links
Nearby state parks with full electric, water, and sewer hookups — so you can stay close to the lights you love.
🏠 Ownership & Access
Who owns each light, whether it's open to visitors, guided tours available, and how to be respectful of private property.
📍 Sequential Tour Order
Lights are numbered in logical tour order so you can follow along seamlessly and never double back unnecessarily.
Own the Complete Michigan
Lighthouse Collection
All three guides. Every coast. Every lighthouse, pier light, crib light, and island light in Michigan — in your pocket, ready to navigate to, whenever adventure calls.
IS THIS YOU?
These Guides Were Made
for People Who…
🏠 Are Geeked About Lighthouses
You don't just admire them from a distance — you want to find every single one.
📜 Are Inspired by Unique History
Every tower has a story. You want the facts, the dates, the lenses, and the legends.
☕ Crave Exceptional Coffee
When you travel, you're always on the lookout for that perfect coffee establishment.
⛵ Brag About Boating Adventures
Lighthouses were built for boaters — and you know the water view is always the best view.
THE AUTHORS
Written by Michiganders.
For Lighthouse Lovers.
Dawn Carlson
I didn't set out to create a travel guide. But after discovering that some of the lighthouses had been demolished, I set out to find every lighthouse in Michigan before they disappeared. And some are still in danger.
It started simply enough. I took beach trips with my kids near the St. Joseph lighthouse, then motorcycle rides along Lake Michigan stopping at whatever light we could find in the next town. One digital camera. One map with little lighthouse icons along the shoreline. A growing obsession I couldn't quite explain.
What I didn't know then was that I'd end up sleeping in my van to afford the next trip, hiring fishing charters to reach lights that were only accessible by water, and eventually hiring a pilot to reach one that was accessible by neither road nor boat. I traveled alone as a woman through the Upper Peninsula, hiked bear country with pepper spray that wasn't rated for bear, and rode out choppy Great Lakes water on a charter boat with a captain who knew what he was doing. (I never did get sea sick.)
What I discovered along the way — besides every lighthouse Michigan has to offer — was that the people of Michigan are extraordinarily kind, the small lakeshore towns are breathtaking, and the history behind these lights is worth knowing.
These guides exist so your adventure can be easier than mine was. No backtracking. No missed lights. No wasted miles. Just you, the shoreline, and every lighthouse waiting to be found.
Go. It's worth it.
— Dawn Carlson
Christopher Carlson
I'll be honest — I couldn't always go.
Dawn had a mission, and life has a way of making missions inconvenient. Work schedules, responsibilities, the ordinary demands of an ordinary week. So more often than I'd have liked, she went without me. I'd get the texts, the photographs, the stories about choppy water and empty campgrounds and strangers who became friends by the end of a conversation.
But there was one trip I wouldn't have missed.
Labor Day weekend. A paper map. Saginaw Point as our starting line. We followed the lighthouse icons around the tip of Michigan — one light after another, small towns and shorelines we'd never seen, history we didn't know we were missing. By the time we reached Traverse City we looked at each other and realized something neither of us had expected:
This is actually doable.
That trip changed everything. What had seemed like an impossible dream — photographing every lighthouse in Michigan — suddenly had a shape to it. A route. A reality.
Dawn went on to do things I still shake my head at. Hiring charter boats. Hiring a pilot. Sleeping in her van in campgrounds that were a little too quiet for comfort. She did most of it without me, but she did all of it for both of us.
These guides are the result of that Labor Day weekend, and every adventure that followed.
We made them so you don't have to figure it out the hard way. We already did that for you.
Now it's your turn.
— Christopher Carlson
"These ebooks will be with you always if you have them downloaded to your phone. The information is there when you need it, the maps take you right to the door, and every Michigan lighthouse is within reach."
— DAWN & CHRISTOPHER CARLSON, LIGHTHOUSES FOR LIFE
Your Next Lighthouse
AdventureStarts Now
Apple Books - - - Google Play
〰️
Apple Books - - - Google Play 〰️
Download to your phone today. Michigan's lighthouses are waiting — and with these guides, you won't miss a single one.
Lighthouses for Life · Michigan Lighthouse Travel Guides
By Dawn & Christopher Carlson · Available on Apple Books & Google Play · © 2026