Michigan wllz

A view out one of the portholes on the way up the top of Big Sable Lighthouse. Photos by Bryan Laviolette

This is the second installment in a series of stories about West Michigan tourist destinations.

LUDINGTON — For more than a century, shipping captains counted on lighthouses and their keepers to keep the light shining, warning them of dangerous shallow spots throughout the Great Lakes.

All of Michigan’s lights have been automated for decades, but most of them continue to serve, only with a completely different purpose.

Today, while many of the lights continue to serve as beacons, all of them offer a window into the past, teaching visitors how folks lived in the “old days.”

While visiting Ludington State Park this week, we toured Big Sable Lighthouse, a 1967 structure lovingly restored by the Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association, which also maintains the Little Sable Point Lighthouse at Silver Lake and the Ludington North Breakwater light at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River.

The view from the top of Big Sable Lighthouse.

At Big Sable, volunteers share their time to give visitors a taste of what it was like to work there in the late 1800s when there was no road, no electricity and no central heat. All provisions had to be delivered to the lighthouses via the freeways of the day — the Great Lakes themselves.

Visitors can also climb the 130 stairs to the top of the 112-foot-tall tower for a bird’s eye view of the Lake Michigan coast.

Part of the fun of seeing Big Sable is the trip to get there. Located two miles north of the entrance to Ludington State Park, the only vehicles allowed on the road to the lighthouse are those of park workers and SPLKA volunteers. Everyone else has to walk or ride a bike. If walking that distance is a problem, the park offers a monthly shuttle to the lighthouse in the summer.

With about 116 lighthouses in Michigan — there is some debate about the actual number; do you count the bombed-out shell of Waugoshance Light near Mackinaw City, which was used by the military for target practice? — “lighthousing” has become a popular pastime.

My wife, Kim, and I have been avid lighthousers since our marriage seven years ago. We want to see all of Michigan’s lights and so far have marked off 45. Our problem is that we have seen almost all of the easily accessible lights in the Lower Peninsula. A boat, helicopter or airplane are necessary to see most of the ones we haven’t seen, or a trip to the Upper Peninsula. With three teenagers at home, our big lighthousing expeditions will have to wait a few years.

Seeing lighthouses means driving through some of Michigan’s most picturesque areas. Instead of flying by on the freeway, hurrying to your destination, lighthousing requires driving along the lakeshore hopping from one quaint town to the next.

The Ludington area represents one of the best stretches. Michigan’s west coast is home to the world’s largest freshwater sand dunes and the beach towns that cling to the lakeshore are delightful places to visit. From St. Joseph all the way to Mackinaw City, charming towns pop up every hour or so.

We like to take a weekend, choose an area and find a few lighthouses to visit. For example, start at St. Joseph, then drive up to South Haven and on to Grand Haven to take in three beautiful lights, located in three lovely towns just waiting for you to discover. That makes for a pleasant weekend trip.

To get started, check out the Michigan Lighthouses Web site built by Penrose Photography. It includes some basic information about most of the lights and, most importantly, maps to each light.