Maybe planning a lighthouse trip to the Great Lakes in July--where to start?

[OracleUsr]

Does anyone perusing this sub-board have a good starting point for a lighthouse trip on the Great Lakes?  I'm done with the northern Atlantic US and will need more time to go beyond there than I would have, so I thought I'd take a different tack this year.

I would assume I should start in New York State, but any lighthouse buffs from that area have other ideas?

[vdeane]

I'd need to know more about the route and extent of the trip to really say.  NY sounds good from what you've posted, but so does just about anywhere else nearby without knowing more.

[empirestate]

Yes, you could start at Tibbets Point in Cape Vincent and work westward along Lake Ontario. There are interesting lights at Selkirk, Oswego, Sodus Point, Rochester, Buffalo, Barcelona, etc. etc. A formerly obscure one north of Hilton now operates as a B&B (Braddock Point).  If you count the St. Lawrence Seaway as a Great Lake, then start even farther east, as there are at least a couple in the Thousand Islands. (You could even go east from Cape Vincent, covering the Seaway and Lake Champlain as well, if you want to be different.)

Basically you'd follow the Seaway Trail in NYS; that's pretty much its purpose.

[1995hoo]

If you don't mind going a bit further, there are 32 lighthouses around Georgian Bay (the eastern part of Lake Huron). You'd want to do a loop route that would include taking the ferry one-way between Manitoulin Island and Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula. Alternatively, you could loop around to the Michigan side of Lake Huron as one side of the loop, but I recall the Georgian Bay area being scenic enough to warrant spending some time there. (Toured the eastern side of Georgian Bay on the way back from a trip to Cochrane and Moosonee. Took the ferry to the Bruce Peninsula the following year on the way back from Isle Royale.) The lighthouses in Michigan tend to be a bit taller, though, probably because they serve(d) the main portion of Lake Huron (with the primary shipping routes) instead of Georgian Bay.

[Mdcastle]

If you ever want to see Split Rock Lighthouse up here it's lit (and you can climb up and to the top and see the mechanism) one night a year, Nov 10.

[vdeane]

Yes, you could start at Tibbets Point in Cape Vincent and work westward along Lake Ontario. There are interesting lights at Selkirk, Oswego, Sodus Point, Rochester, Buffalo, Barcelona, etc. etc. A formerly obscure one north of Hilton now operates as a B&B (Braddock Point).  If you count the St. Lawrence Seaway as a Great Lake, then start even farther east, as there are at least a couple in the Thousand Islands. (You could even go east from Cape Vincent, covering the Seaway and Lake Champlain as well, if you want to be different.)

Basically you'd follow the Seaway Trail in NYS; that's pretty much its purpose.

There are four on the St. Lawrence on the US side that are typically include in listings of the Lake Ontario lights: Rock Island, Sunken Rock, Three Sisters Island, Crossover Island, and Ogdensburg Harbor.  All of these are best viewed by boat, however car views are possible for some:
-Ogdensburg can be seen from Oswegatchie River from local streets
-Crossover Island can be viewed from a parking area on NY 12
-You might be able to get a view of Sisters Island from the area around Kring Point State Park, with binoculars or a telescope, but I don't promise anything.  It doesn't look like a good chance in Google Maps.
-Sunken Rock can be viewed from publicly accessible grounds in Alexandria Bay, just about anywhere with a view of the river; the best is probably the park containing Casino Island.
-It should be possible to view Rock Island between the houses around Fisher's landing near the end of the road, just past the northern end of NY 180.  I believe this area also offers views of the American span of the Thousand Islands Bridge.

[OracleUsr]

I'm actually flying into Detroit and hitting the Huron Lakeshore.  From the lighthousefriends.com website this seems to be awash in lighthouses even just on the shoreline area (i.e., no need to ride out into the water).

I have thought about going to the UP, but I'm not sure I would have the time.

Anything I should not miss while I'm there, besides the barrage of Clearview?