Big Sable Point Lighthouse sits midway on Lake Michigan's eastern shore near Ludington, Michigan. On the National Register of Historic Places, the lighthouse was built with state funds in 1867 to guide mariners through a treacherous stretch of the shoreline, where twelve ships wrecked in 1855. In 1968, a century of light-keeping ended at Big Sable when the station was automated.
The Trail
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources owns the lighthouse, and the Sable Points Lighthouse Association operates the station, which is open to the public. You can access the 2-mile trail to Big Sable by paying the entrance fee to Ludington State Park. You can either hike or bike on the trail.
We thought the trail, which parallels Lake Michigan, would allow us to see the lake during our hike. Not so. The trail lies in a trough between two dune ridges. The foredune, which runs adjacent to the beach, entirely blocks the view of the lake, but designated side trails allow you to scramble up the dune for a lake view. While we stayed in the trough, the trail offered lessons in dune ecology that kept us interested during the entire hike.
Colorful interpretive signs identified features unique to the dunes, as well as the plants and animals able to live in the dunes' extreme environment. For instance, we learned that the existence of ponds in the trough depends on Lake Michigan water levels. The ponds provide habitat for Fowler's toads and tadpoles. In the dry sand habitat, plants like hoary puccoon and beach pea thrive, and critters like the wolf spider and the sand digger wasp create homes.
Big Sable
You'll know you're nearing your destination when you see the 112-foot, white-and-black-banded light tower poking above the dunes. Big Sable presents a charming sight with its red-roofed, white cottage and tall light tower still providing a beacon for ships on Lake Michigan.
If you go, give yourself plenty of time to explore when you reach the lighthouse. You can swim a nearby beach and tour the light station, which, be warned, contains a gift shop.
Another Nearby Lighthouse
In the town of Ludington, you can also visit the North Breakwater Lighthouse by walking to the end of the breakwall from Stearns Park. From the lighthouse, you can wave to passengers on the deck of the S.S. Badger, the only coal-fired steamship in operation in the United States.
Pamela Crowe - Pamela Crowe
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