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Lake
Michigan Circle Tour
While a loosely-organized "circle route" around Lake Superior was promoted
by local tourist organizations as early as the 1960s, the first official
(and signed) Great Lakes Circle Tour was the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.
The only single-nation Circle Tour (Lake Michigan being the only Great
Lake completely within the US, of course), the LMCT also has the most mileage
of any Circle Tour in the state.
Working in conjunction with the Michigan
Department of Transportation, the West
Michigan Tourist Association (WMTA) helped to make the first of the
official Great Lakes Circle Tours a reality. A short history from the WMTA website:
The Circle Tour route and its first Guide were the
culmination of innovation and hard work by the WMTA staff, led by visionary
Jack Morgan of the Michigan Department of Transportation. Just 14 months
after Morgan introduced his Circle Tour concept in 1987, agreement was
reached on routes and signed to be posted along all 1,100 miles of Lake
Michigan's shoreline.
WMTA was tapped to produce the first guide book. More
than a dozen years later, the publication continues to help travelers navigate
the four-state route, which winds through some of the nation's wildest
country and one of its largest urban centers.
When the Chicago Tribune and Milwaukee Journal ran
articles in 1988 about the colorful, 52-page Guide, no one on WMTA's staff
anticipated public reaction. On Monday following the story, 150 callers
from the Chicago area alone requested the new publication. Two days later,
an overburdened mail carrier unloaded 700 requests for the Guide from Illinois
and Wisconsin. The next day, more than 1,000 mail and phone requests poured
in.
Lake Michigan Circle Tour Route
In Michigan, the mainline of the LMCT follows signed state trunkline routes
in its entirety, although in some places the nearest state highway to the
Lake Michigan may be several miles away. This route listing lists the official
route as well as the various locally-designated and marked "Lake Michigan
Circle Tour Loops," which are generally posted with brown signs. These
loop routes are detailed below the mainline route below:
- The LMCT enters Michigan from Indiana on US-12 south
of New Buffalo and proceeds northerly through New Buffalo to I-94.
- The route leaves US-12 and
continues northerly on I-94 from
Exit 4 toward St Joseph.
- At Exit 23, the route exits I-94 and
continues northerly into downtown St Joseph via BL
I-94.
- In St Joseph, the LMCT continues northerly on M-63 into
northern Berrien Co.
- At the nothern terminus of M-63,
the circle tour proceeds northerly on I-196/US-31 toward
South Haven.
- The route leaves I-196/US-31 at
Exit 18 and loops through South Haven using BL
I-196.
- On the east side of South Haven, where BL
I-196 ends at I-196/US-31 Exit
20, the route continues north into Allegan Co on I-196/US-31.
- While the LMCT remains on I-196/US-31 at
Saugatuck/Douglas, a locally-designated LMCT
Harbor Tour loop route is signed concurrently with A-2/Blue
Star Hwy between Exits 36 and 41.
- The circle tour continues northerly on US-31/BL
I-196 toward Holland at Exit 44 when I-196 splits
off to the east.
- At
Exit 47, route signage indicates that the circle tour exits US-31 and
loops through downtown Holland following the former route of BUS
US-31/BL I-196. However,
this business loop route through Holland was removed in August 2004 (signage
removed in May 2005), but LMCT markers along US-31 itself
still indicates the route exits US-31 onto
a business route which no longer exists. Therefore, the new de facto
route for the circle tour continues northerly past Holland via the US-31 bypass.
- On
the east side of Holland, the route continues northerly following US-31 through
Grand Haven and toward Norton Shores.
- At the jct of US-31 & I-96,
the LMCT leaves US-31 and
follows BUS US-31 through
downtown Muskegon.
- Northeast of downtown Muskegon, the route continues northerly via M-120 to
North Muskegon and northeasterly back to US-31.
- Back on US-31,
the circle tour continues northerly toward Ludington, leaving US-31 twice:
once to follow the route of BUS
US-31 through the downtowns of Whitehall and Montague in northern
Muskegon Co; and again to follow the route of BUS
US-31 through downtown Pentwater in Oceana Co.
- At the end of the US-31 freeway
near Ludington, the LMCT turns east following US-10/US-31 toward
Scottville.
- At Scottville,
the circle tour turns northerly again to follow US-31 toward
Manistee, although a locally-designated LMCT
Loop Route formerly continued east on US-10 into
downtown, then northerly via Old US-31 back to US-31 and
the LMCT. (NOTE: The LMCT Loop route through Scottville was removed/decommissioned some time in late
2004 or early 2005 and no longer exists.)
- The route continues northerly from Scottville and through Manistee
on US-31.
- Northeast of Manistee, the route turns northerly to follow M-22 through
Onekama, Frankfort and Empire.
- Northeast of Empire, a LMCT
Loop Route leaves M-22 to
follow M-109 past
Glen Haven, rejoining M-22 at
Glen Arbor. (The mainline LMCT remains on M-22 between
Empire and Glen Arbor.)
- From Glen Arbor, the circle tour continues northerly on M-22 through
Leland to Northport. At Northport, M-22 and
the LMCT turn nearly 180 degrees to head southerly into Traverse City.
- At Traverse City, the LMCT returns to US-31 and
continues northerly via US-31 through
Elk Rapids, Charlevoix and Petoskey and on toward the Mackinac Bridge.
- South of Mackinaw City, where US-31 ends,
the route continues northerly on I-75 crossing
the Mackinac
Bridge and entering the Upper Peninsula at St Ignace. Between Mackinaw
City and St Ignace, the LMCT is jointed by the Lake
Huron Circle Tour.
- In St Ignace, the LMCT continues westerly along US-2 for
more than 140 miles through Manistique and Gladstone to Escanaba.
- At Escanaba, the circle tour continues southwesterly via M-35 along
the Green Bay shoreline to Menominee
- The route continues south on US-41 through
Menominee and enters Wisconsin at Marinette.
- Continue on the Lake
Michigan Circle Tour route into Wisconsin at the Wisconsin
Highways website.
Note: The "Circle Tour Road Route" description
from the GLIN
website is not only vague, but incorrect! While a good alternate route,
the LMCT does not use M-119 and C-66 through
Harbor Springs and Cross Village, I-94 does not go
to Holland, what is called "Cross Bridge" is actually "Cross Village"...
and, for Pete's sake, it's the Mackinac Bridge
(not "Mackinaw Bridge!"). The route included on this website has been personally
researched by the website author in the field.
Lake Michigan Circle Tour Loop Routes
Lake
Michigan Circle Tour - Harbor Tour (Saugatuck/Douglas)
A locally-designated loop route which helps circle tour motorists navigate
into and through the off-route communities of Saugatuck and Douglas in
northwestern Allegan Co. While most local loops are designated as "Loop
Routes" off the mainline circle tour, this particular route is actually
designated as a "Harbor Tour," although it behaves like any other Loop
Route. Also, as with all Loop Routes, this route is designated with white-on-brown
circle tour signs, using the same LMCT "logo." The route:
- The LMCT Harbor Tour begins at I-196/US-31/LMCT
at Exit 36 south of Douglas.
- The route continues northerly on A-2/Blue
Star Hwy into Douglas, passing just west of the downtown area.
- The loop route then crosses into Saugatuck, still via A-2/Blue
Star Hwy, passing just east of the downtown.
- the route ends when it meets back up with I-196/US-31/LMCT
at Exit 41 northeast of Saugatuck.
Lake
Michigan Circle Tour - Loop Route (Scottville)
When MDOT completed
a western bypass of Scottville, taking the high volume of US-31 traffic
out of town, a locally-designated LMCT Loop Route was signed, acting as
a de-facto Business Routing for US-31. Note, however, this
LMCT Loop route was removed/decommissioned some time in late 2004 or early
2005 and no longer exists. The route:
- The LMCT Loop Route began at the jct of US-10& US-31 on
the west side of Scottville.
- The route continued easterly via US-10 into
downtown Scottville.
- In downtown Scottville, the loop route turned northerly and followed
Old US-31 out of Scottville.
- The LMCT Loop Route ended at US-31 north
of Scottville.
Lake
Michigan Circle Tour - Loop Route (Glen Haven)
While the Lake Michigan Circle Tour generally follows the closest posted
state trunkline to its namesake body of water, the Sleeping Bear Dunes
area is one exception. Instead of diverting the mainline LMCT off M-22 for
only eight miles, it continues via M-22 through
to Glen Arbor and on to Leland. However, as M-109 loops
off M-22 to the west
(lakeside) through the Sleeping Bear Dunes area, it has been designated
as a LMCT Loop Route. The route:
- The LMCT Loop Route begins at the southern jct of M-22 & M-109 just
northeast of Empire and continues northerly toward Glen Haven.
- At Glen Haven, the loop route turns east and continues on M-109 toward
Glen Arbor.
- The LMCT Loop Route ends at the northern jct of M-22 & M-109 in
Glen Arbor.
Back to: Great Lakes Circle Tour page.
Additional Information
- Official
Lake Michigan Circle Tour - from the West
Michigan Tourist Association (WMTA). The WMTA helped to coordinate
the first of the Great Lakes Circle Tours in the 1980s.
- Great
Lakes Circle Tour - information from the Great
Lakes Commission. It was the GLC who originally established the
Great Lakes Circle Tours and continues to provide information on
many aspects of the Great Lakes region.
- Lake
Michigan Circle Tour - from the Great Lakes Information
Network (GLIN), which "is a partnership that provides one place online
for people to find information relating to the binational Great Lakes-St.
Lawrence region of North America." Please note that the "Circle Tour
Road Route" description from the GLIN site is not only vague, but
incorrect! While a good alternate route, the LMCT does not use
M-119 and C-66 through Harbor Springs and Cross Village... and it's
the Mackinac Bridge (not "Mackinaw Bridge!).
- Shoreline
Charms - an article by Donna Marchetti about the Lake
Michigan Circle Tour from the Michigan
Living magazine published by AAA Michigan.
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