place

Devil's Kitchen (cave)

Caves of MichiganHistoric district contributing properties in MichiganLandforms of Mackinac County, MichiganMackinac Island State ParkMichigan Registered Historic Place stubs
NRHP infobox with nocatNational Register of Historic Places in Mackinac County, MichiganNatural features on the National Register of Historic Places in MichiganProtected areas of Mackinac County, MichiganUpper Peninsula, Michigan geography stubsUse mdy dates from August 2023
Devil's Kitchen (Mackinac Island, MI)
Devil's Kitchen (Mackinac Island, MI)

Devil's Kitchen is a small cave on the southwestern shore of Mackinac Island in Michigan, United States. The cave was carved during the Nipissing post-glacial period by the waves of Lake Huron. It consists of two hollows in a rocky cliff, one directly on top of the other.Mackinac Island's brecciated limestone has eroded into a variety of unusual formations. The cave's appearance is comparable to that of a human face with an open mouth.Although shallow, Devil's Kitchen is much visited because of its location within Mackinac Island State Park on M-185, the state highway that circles Mackinac Island. Local stories allege that the Native Americans of the Straits of Mackinac considered the cave to be a numinous location inhabited by bad spirits. Allegedly, the spirits were cannibals who would capture and eat victims who ventured too close to the ill-omened location.The cave is blackened with soot to this day, allegedly from the evil spirits' cooking fires; hence the name, 'Devil's Kitchen'. It is not known whether these stories derive from actual Native American legend or were generated after the beginning of the tourism industry on Mackinac Island in the mid-19th century.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Devil's Kitchen (cave) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Devil's Kitchen (cave)
Lake Shore Boulevard,

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Devil's Kitchen (cave)Continue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 45.8545 ° E -84.64135 °
placeShow on map

Address

Lake Shore Boulevard (Lake Shore Drive)

Lake Shore Boulevard
49757
Michigan, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Devil's Kitchen (Mackinac Island, MI)
Devil's Kitchen (Mackinac Island, MI)
Share experience

Nearby Places

Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island ( MAK-ə-naw, locally MAK-ə-nə; French: Île Mackinac; Ojibwe: Mishimikinaak ᒥᔑᒥᑭᓈᒃ; Ottawa: Michilimackinac) is an island and resort area, covering 4.35 square miles (11.3 km2) in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century. It was a strategic center of the fur trade around the Great Lakes. Based on a former trading post, Fort Mackinac was constructed on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the site of two battles during the War of 1812 before the northern border was settled and the US gained this island in its territory. In the late 19th century, Mackinac Island became a popular tourist attraction and summer colony. Many of the structures on the island have undergone extensive historical preservation and restoration. Because of its historic significance, the entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. It is well known for numerous cultural events; a wide variety of architectural styles, including the Victorian Grand Hotel; and its ban on almost all motor vehicles, with exceptions only for city emergency vehicles (ambulance, police cars and fire trucks), city service vehicles and snowmobiles in winter. More than 80 percent of the island is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park.

Skull Cave (Mackinac Island)
Skull Cave (Mackinac Island)

Skull Cave is a small and shallow cave on the central heights of Mackinac Island in Michigan, United States. The cave was carved during the Algonquin post-glacial period by the waters of Lake Algonquin, a swollen meltwater ancestor of today's Lake Huron.Skull Cave is primarily of interest for its historical associations. It is believed to have been used as an inhumation site by Native Americans of the Straits of Mackinac area in the 18th century.While in active use as a site for human remains, the cave was also used as a refuge in 1763 by fur trader Alexander Henry, a survivor of the capture of Fort Michilimackinac by Native Americans during Pontiac's War. In his "Memoirs," Henry recalled a night spent as a refugee in the bone-strewn cavern.Henry recalled his ordeal as follows: On going into the cave, of which the entrance was nearly ten feet wide, I found the further end to be rounded in its shape, like that of an oven, but with a further aperture, too small, however, to be explored. After thus looking around me, I broke small branches from the trees and spread them for a bed, then wrapped myself in my blanket and slept till day-break. On awaking, I felt myself incommoded by some object upon which I lay, and, removing it, found it to be a bone. This I supposed to be that of a deer, or some other animal, and what might very naturally be looked for in the place in which I was; but when daylight visited my chamber I discovered, with some feelings of horror, that I was lying on nothing less than a heap of human bones and skulls, which covered the floor! Skull Cave is contained within Mackinac Island State Park. It is located 0.4 miles (0.6 km) north of Fort Mackinac in the island's interior. It was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on January 12, 1959, and granted state historical marker #L0004.

Mackinac Island, Michigan
Mackinac Island, Michigan

Mackinac Island ( MAK-ə-naw, locally MAK-ə-nə) is a city in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 583. Established as an important fur trading center in the eighteenth century, with a predominately French-speaking population of French Canadians and Métis, after the War of 1812 the city gained more Anglo-American residents. The US put restrictions on Canadians for fur trading. From 1818 until 1882 the city served as the county seat of the former Michilimackinac County, which was later organized as Mackinac County, with St. Ignace designated as the county seat. The city includes all of Mackinac Island and also nearby Round Island which is unpopulated, federally owned and part of the Hiawatha National Forest. The state park and the national forest make up most of the city. A unique local ordinance passed in 1895 prohibits the use of any motor vehicles on the island. The only exceptions to this are city emergency vehicles (ambulance, police cars and fire trucks), city service vehicles and snowmobiles in the winter. Today the most common means of travel is either by foot, bicycle, horse or horse-drawn carriage. Roller skates and roller blades are also allowed, except in the downtown area. Mackinac Island is home to the Grand Hotel, built during the late nineteenth century when the island started to be a summer destination. When the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time was filmed here, the city made an exception to allow the production company to use motorized vehicles on the island.