Lake Michigan–Huron

The Straits of Mackinac ( MAK-ə-naw; French: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 kilometers) wide with a maximum depth of 295 feet (90 meters; 49 fathoms), and connects the Great Lakes of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Given the large size and configuration of the straits, hydrologically, the two connected lakes are one body of water, studied as Lake Michigan–Huron. Historically, the native Odawa people called the region around the Straits Michilimackinac. Three islands form the eastern edge of the Straits of Mackinac; two are populated—Bois Blanc Island and Mackinac Island, while the third, Round Island, is uninhabited and a designated wilderness area. The Straits of Mackinac are major shipping lanes, providing passage for raw materials and finished goods and connecting, for instance, the iron mines of Minnesota to the steel mills of Gary, Indiana. Before the railroads reached Chicago from the east, most immigrants arrived in the Midwest and Great Plains by ships on the Great Lakes. The straits are five miles (8 km) wide at their narrowest point, where they are spanned by the Mackinac Bridge. Before the bridge was built, car ferries transported vehicles across the straits. Today passenger-only ferries carry people to Mackinac Island, which does not permit cars. Visitors can take their vehicles on a car ferry to Bois Blanc Island. The straits are shallow and narrow enough to freeze over in the winter. Navigation is ensured for year-round shipping to the Lower Great Lakes by the use of icebreakers. The straits were an important Native American and fur trade route. The Straits of Mackinac are named after Mackinac Island. The local Ojibwe Native Americans in the Straits of Mackinac region likened the shape of the island to that of a turtle, so they named the island Mitchimakinak, meaning "Big Turtle". When the British explored the area, they shortened the name to its present form: Mackinac.Located on the southern side of the straits is the town of Mackinaw City, the site of Fort Michilimackinac, a reconstructed French fort founded in 1715, and on the northern side is St. Ignace, site of a French Catholic mission to the Indians, founded in 1671. The eastern end of the straits was controlled by Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, a British colonial and early American military base and fur trade center, founded in 1781.

The Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve is a 148-square-mile (380 km2) state preserve in and around the Straits of Mackinac. The preserve is divided in two by the Mackinac Bridge. The waters of the preserve include the waters offshore from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, as well as all or part of the shorelines of Bois Blanc Island, Mackinac Island, Round Island, and St. Helena Island. The preserve contains at least eleven identified diveable wrecks, with more just outside the official boundaries. There are also a number of shallow sites suitable for snorkeling and kayak visits. Frequent fog and congested shipping added to the count of shipwrecks in the Straits area. Half a dozen lighthouses in and around the preserve testify to the dangers that existed prior to the invention of radar in the 1940s. However, tragedies have continued. One modern wreck within the boundaries of the preserve is Cedarville, a lake freighter transporting limestone that sank in 1965 after a collision. Divers also visit underwater formations of Mackinac breccia near Mackinac Island; one such formation, the "Rock Maze", is offshore from Arch Rock. Further east off Arch Rock, a drowned, 100-foot (30 m)-high waterfall formation, Mackinac Falls, was discovered in August 2007.

Green Island is an island in Mackinac County, Michigan. The island is located in the Straits of Mackinac in Lake Michigan. Green Island is approximately 16.46 acres (6.66 ha) in size. The island is uninhabited and covered in thicket with a few trees scattered throughout. It is .25 miles (0.40 km) south of Point La Barbe on the Upper Peninsula shore. Green Island also lies 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the Mackinac Bridge. It is privately owned.

The Mackinac Bridge ( MAK-ə-naw; also referred to as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac) is a suspension bridge that connects the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. It spans the Straits of Mackinac, a body of water connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, two of the Great Lakes. Opened in 1957, the 26,372-foot-long (4.995 mi; 8.038 km) bridge is the world's 27th-longest main span and is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. The Mackinac Bridge is part of Interstate 75 (I-75) and the Lake Michigan and Huron components of the Great Lakes Circle Tour across the straits; it is also a segment of the U.S. North Country National Scenic Trail. The bridge connects the city of St. Ignace to the north with the village of Mackinaw City to the south. Envisioned since the 1880s, the bridge was designed by the engineer David B. Steinman and completed in 1957 only after many decades of struggles to begin construction. The bridge has since become an iconic symbol of the state of Michigan.

The Mackinac Bridge Walk is an annual event held every Labor Day since 1958 in Michigan in which people may walk the length of the Mackinac Bridge. Walkers are traditionally led across by the governor of Michigan. In an average year, 40,000 to 65,000 people participate in the five-mile walk. This is nearly the combined population of the three counties connected by the bridge. The Labor Day bridge walk is the sole exception to the rule prohibiting pedestrians on the bridge.

McGulpin Point Light was constructed as a navigational aid through the Straits of Mackinac. The light began operation in 1869, making it one of the oldest surviving lighthouses in the Straits. Only in operation until 1906, the light is located on McGulpin Point, (500 Headlands Road), approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Fort Michilimackinac. McGulpin Point Lighthouse & Historic Site has been owned by Emmet County since 2008 and the facility has been an official private Aid to Navigation on the NOAA chart map since 2009. Tours were available during the 2019 season for a small fee.

Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac; it was built on the northern tip of the lower peninsula of the present-day state of Michigan in the United States. Built around 1715, and abandoned in 1783, it was located along the Straits, which connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan of the Great Lakes of North America. The present-day village of Mackinaw City developed around the site of the fort, which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. It is preserved as an open-air historical museum, with several reconstructed wooden buildings and palisade, and is now part of Fort Michilimackinac State Park.

Fort Michilimackinac State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Mackinaw City along the Straits of Mackinac. The park contains Fort Michilimackinac, which itself is dedicated a National Historic Landmark and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse as well as the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse Signal Tower which contains a foghorn.

Old Mackinac Point Light is a deactivated lighthouse located at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lighthouse is part of Fort Michilimackinac State Park in the village of Mackinaw City just east of the Mackinac Bridge. The lighthouse was constructed in 1892 along the Straits of Mackinac at the junction of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It was deactivated in 1957 and currently serves as a museum.

Nipissing Great Lakes was a prehistoric proglacial lake. Parts of the former lake are now Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Georgian Bay and Lake Michigan. It formed about 7,500 years before present (YBP). The lake occupied the depression left by the Labradorian Glacier. This body of water drained eastward from Georgian Bay to the Ottawa valley. This was a period of isostatic rebound raising the outlet over time, until it opened the outlet through the St. Clair valley, at one stage it had two stable outlets (north and south) both draining to the east.

Mackinaw City ( MAK-ə-naw) is a village at the northernmost point of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Divided between Cheboygan and Emmet counties, Mackinaw City is the located at the southern end of the Mackinac Bridge, which carries Interstate 75 over the Straits of Mackinac to the Upper Peninsula. Mackinaw City, along with St. Ignace, serves as an access point to Mackinac Island. For these reasons, Mackinaw City is considered one of Michigan's most popular tourist attractions. The Mackinaw City area is home to a number of historic sites, including Fort Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek State Park, Old Mackinac Point Light, McGulpin Point Light, and the retired US Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw.

Wawatam Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 711. The village of Mackinaw City is located mostly within the township. The township is named after Wawatam, an Odawa chief noted for rescuing British trader Alexander Henry the elder from the Ojibwas' capture of Fort Michilimackinac in 1763.