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Water. It's the reason European explorers and fur traders arrived in Michigan long before they got to many other parts of the Midwest. With shoreline on four of the five Great Lakes, Michigan was directly on the canoe routes that were the superhighways of the 1600s.

Water is also the primary reason travelers go to Michigan today. The state has vast forests, stretches of farmland, large cities and small towns, but it is water that separates Michigan from the other states—both physically and in terms of vacation opportunities. In addition to being surrounded by the small "seas" of the Great Lakes, Michigan has 11,000 inland lakes. You'll have to travel to the Atlantic or Pacific oceans to find better conditions for boating, fishing, swimming or simply taking in the shoreline scenery. Even then, Michigan can hold its own: It has far more land along the big water than most states on the East or West Coast. We think some of its coastal areas (Grand Traverse Bay, Pictured Rocks, Sleeping Bear Dunes) rank among the most beautiful in the U.S.

Geography

History

Michigan can thank the glaciers of the Ice Age for the Great Lakes: After the ice retreated, great water-filled basins were left in their wake. Native Americans moved into the region after the glaciers were gone, and the Old Copper Culture—named for the metal the people mined in Michigan's Upper Peninsula—began about 4000 BC. At the time of European contact, the principal tribes were the Ottawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi. They lived in small bands and depended largely on hunting and fishing, though some agriculture was practiced in the southern part of the state.

After the French arrived (Etienne Brule was the first to see Michigan in about 1618), the area became important in the fur trade. The British won control of the area in 1763, but their presence was short-lived. The land that was to become Michigan supposedly passed to the U.S. in 1783, at the close of the Revolutionary War. The British held on to forts at Detroit and Mackinac until 1796, however, and retook both during the War of 1812. In 1813, Michigan came permanently under U.S. control. At that time, forests blanketed almost the entire state.

With the opening of the Erie Canal in New York in 1825, settlers began to move into the region in great numbers. After entering the Union as a free state in 1837, Michigan rapidly began to exploit its plentiful natural resources, especially timber and minerals. Jobs attracted waves of immigrants (first Germans, then Dutch, Irish, Swedes, Finns, Norwegians, Italians and Canadians). Toward the turn of the century, wealthy families from Detroit and Chicago began to vacation along the shores of Lake Michigan and on Mackinac Island—areas that are still popular travel destinations.

The shift from horse-drawn to horseless transportation is what made Michigan into a powerhouse of manufacturing. In the late 1800s, the state had a thriving carriage industry, and this know-how quickly put it in the forefront of the automobile revolution, with Henry Ford and R.E. Olds leading the way. As the car factories boomed, both black and white workers migrated from the South to fill jobs on the production lines.

With the auto industry at its core, Michigan has become an industrial center crucial to the U.S. economy. The state's dependence on automobiles and heavy industry has had its drawbacks, however: Many factories closed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, throwing people out of work. In recent years, Michigan's businesses have become more diversified, and the unemployment rate has dropped.

Michigan, especially around the Ann Arbor area, is turning itself into a technology corridor. Many of the state's universities, especially the University of Michigan, have become front-runners of the Midwest for technological research and development. Private industry in the same arena, especially biotechnology and nanotechnology, has grown in the state. Although not on par with the likes of Silicon Valley or MIT, Michigan is remaking itself as a bastion of research, invention and application of the advanced technological landscape.

Snapshot

Michigan's main attractions include the Great Lakes, Mackinac Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Detroit, outdoor activities (golf, hunting, waterskiing, snow skiing, hiking, sailing, canoeing, lake and river fishing, camping), waterfalls, Isle Royale National Park, the Upper Peninsula, Traverse City and gambling.

Most travelers will find something of interest in Michigan. If you're going primarily to enjoy the Great Lakes, expect chilly water temperatures even in midsummer.

Potpourri

There's a bit of friction between the residents of Michigan's two peninsulas. Those from the Upper Peninsula are often branded as "yoopers" (U.P.-ers) by those from the Lower Peninsula and are often made the butt of jokes. For their part, U.P. residents sometimes talk of forming their own state, feeling rather neglected by the populous parts of southern Michigan.

According to a Native American legend, a mother bear and two cubs swam across Lake Michigan to flee a forest fire in Wisconsin. The mother arrived safely on the far shore, but the two cubs drowned. The Great Spirit transformed the cubs into the Manitou Islands, and the mother bear became the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

The Potawatomi people of Michigan decorated their hair, clothing, body, bark wigwams and goods with paint, copper and shell ornaments. They obtained copper from the shores of Lake Superior, but the seashells came all the way from the Atlantic Coast.

With 11,000 lakes and 36,000 mi/57,600 km of rivers and streams, Michigan is a great place to fish: Among the quarry are trout, perch and coho salmon.

The Mackinac Bridge, which connects the Lower and Upper peninsulas, is 5 mi/8 km in length and one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. On Labor Day, the governor leads a walk across the bridge to salute the state's labor roots.

More than 100 lighthouses dot the Michigan coastline.

Dee Stadium in Houghton is the birthplace of professional hockey. The first organized pro hockey league played there in 1904.

The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel was the world's first international underwater vehicular tunnel. It opened in 1930.

After two successful "moose lifts" from Canada, more than 200 of the antlered giants now roam their ancestral home in the Huron Mountains in the Upper Peninsula.

The state is renowned for its autumn foliage. In late September or early October, Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula transform into a spectacular tapestry of oranges, reds, yellows and golds. Locals plan their weekends—and often their weddings—around the splendor of this display.