It’s hard to find a sunrise location as special as Whitefish Point, the location where this entire journey began. I haven’t been able to return as much as I’d like, which helps Whitefish Point maintain is status as such a special place for me.
It doesn’t help that it’s a 2 hour and 41 minute drive, meaning a 5:10 a.m. departure when sunrise it at it’s latest. A summer road trip would mean leaving at about 3:10 a.m. So one day, I dream of staying at the Sunrise Cottages in Paradise.
I struggle to identify exactly what makes Whitefish Point so special, but I’m thinking it has to do something with the raw power of Lake Superior. Standing at the point, there is no shelter, you’re fully exposed to the elements. It’s also the closest point on land you can stand to where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. The times I’ve been there, Superior has never been subtle, and I don’t much desire to be there on a calm, warm, summer day.
Sunrising at Whitefish Point? Here are a few pointers.
- Be sure to checkout the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, but you’ll need to kill some time after sunrise
- Walk east to the very point, and walk west to the maze of driftward
- Look for the wishbone log, something I photograph on every trip back
- Take the M-123 loop from Newberry to Eckerman
- Grab some breakfast in Paradise
- Visit both the upper and lower falls at Tahquamenon Falls State Park
📍 46° 37' 39" N, -85° 2' 15" W
