Cycling around the Great Lakes:
Lake Michigan,U.S.A
Harvey MacHattie, Dylan MacHattie, Stephen Kamnitzer
19 days, 2100 km, June 2002.
This trip was a follow-on to our rides around Lake Erie in 2001, Lake Huron in 2000, Lake Ontario in 1999 by
the same trio. In 2004 we rode around Lake
Superior.
- Monday June 3, 2002: Drive from Toronto to Grand Haven, MI. Stay in
motel for the night. Rains all day.
- Day 1: South Haven, MI to Van Buren State Park, MI
(110 km)
- Day 2: Van Buren State Park, MI to Warren Dunes
State Park, MI MI (76 km)
- Day 3: Warren Dunes State Park, MI to
Dunewood Campground, Indiana Dunes National Lakshore, IN (76 km)
- Day 4; Dunewood Campground, Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore, IN to Oak Park, Chicago, IL (112 km)
- Day 5: Oak Park, Chicago, IL to Illinois
Beach State Park, IL (98 km)
- Day 6: Illinois Beach State Park, IL to
Mequon, WI
- Day 7: Mequon, WI to Point Beach State Park, WI
- Day 8 Point Beach State Park, WI to Potawatomi
State Park, WI.
- Day 9: Potawatomi State Park, WI, rest day, ride
on the Door Peninsula
- Day 10: Potawatomi State Park, WI to Oconto, WI
- Day 11: Oconto, WI to Escanaba, MI
- Day 12: Escanaba, MI to Indian Lake State Park,
Manistique, MI
- Day 13: Indian Lake State Park, Manistique, MI to
Straits State Park,St. Ignace, MI
- Day 14:Straits State Park,St. Ignace, MI to
Petoskey State Park, MI
- Day 15:Petoskey State Park, MI to Traverse City
State Park, MI
- Day 16:Traverse City State Park, MI to Sleeping
Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI
- Day 17:Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
to Ludington State Park.
- Day 18:Ludington State Park to Muskegon State
Park, MI
- Day 19:Muskegon State Park, MI to Grand
Haven, MI
Total distance: 2100 km (1300 miles)
- 5 flats (Stephen:2, Dylan:3)
- 1 worn out tire (Dylan)
- 2 broken mirrors (Dylan and Stephen)
- 1 broken derailleur cable (Stephen)
- 1 broken brake cable (Dylan)
- 1 worn out brake pad (Harvey)
MAPS USED ETC
- AAA Road Maps for Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.
- Official State Highway Maps for Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin (obtained via
e-mail requests to State Tourism offices)
- Wisconsin Biking Guide (from http://www.travelwisconsin.com).
Shows the extensive off-road rail trail network in south eastern Wisconsin along the coast
of Lake Michigan as far north as downtown Milwaukee. Is an extension of the trail that
starts in Chicago and go north.
- Chicagoland Bicycle Map (from www.chibikefed.org),
- Chicago Bike Map (free from the City of Chicago)
- Michigan County Bike Maps (1 inch = 2 miles), from Michigan Dept of Transportation, P.O.
Box 30050, East Lansing, Michigan 48909 but these were NOT very useful and are bulky.
- Wisconsin State Bike Maps, Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, look on the web for how to
get these. I called a Wisconsin bike store whose address I found somehow on the web. I
think there are four of them , we used the northern and easterly ones. The roads are
coloured as per volume of traffic, paved shoulder etc. I liked these maps. They have a
list of bike stores which is not altogether accurate anymore.
- From www.adventurecycling.org 's Bicycle
Touring Map, North Lake, Section 2, Escanaba, MI, to Mackinaw City, MI , excellent map,
part of a series about cross-country US cycling (waterproof maps). (used one of these on
the south short of Lake Erie also).
- From www.railtrails.org, a brochure "Rail to
Trails Conservancy, Michigan Field Office" with all the rail trails in Michigan, we
cycled the paved 35 miles or so Hart-Montague trail which was very nice.
- "Round Lake Michigan", Harvey Botzman, Cyclotour Guide Books, very detailed,
good for planning but we did not use it while we cycled as we wanted to save on weight.
ALL YOU REALLY NEED IS 1 or 2 and 5, 7, 8 and 9 are nice to have also. A
Milwaukee map would have been nice...we had to ask the way a lot especially as it was
getting late.