Muskallonge Lake State Park
Beachfront along Muskallonge Lake
Map showing the location of Muskallonge Lake State Park
Map showing the location of Muskallonge Lake State Park
Location within the state of Michigan
Map showing the location of Muskallonge Lake State Park
Map showing the location of Muskallonge Lake State Park
Muskallonge Lake State Park (the United States)
LocationDeer Park, McMillan Township
Luce County, Michigan
Coordinates46°40′35″N 85°38′09″W / 46.67639°N 85.63583°W / 46.67639; -85.63583[2]
Area217 acres (88 ha)
Elevation643 feet (196 m) [2]
DesignationMichigan state park
Established1956[3]
AdministratorMichigan Department of Natural Resources
WebsiteOfficial website

Muskallonge Lake State Park is a state park located in Luce County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Deer Park about 16 miles (25.7 km) east of Grand Marais along H-58.

The park encompasses 217 acres (87.8 ha) between the shores of Lake Superior and Muskallonge Lake where Native Americans once had an encampment and where a station of the United States Life-Saving Service once stood.[4]

History

The park occupies land just west of Deer Park, a 19th-century mill town that all but disappeared once the forests on which its mill depended were gone.[5] The state park is also the site of former Station Muskallong Lake (Coast Guard Station #295; later called Station Deer Park),[6] one of five such stations along the coast of Lake Superior between Munising and Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula. It was part of U.S. Life-Saving Service District 10 (later part of District 11). The other four stations along Lake Superior's "Shipwreck Coast" were Grand Marais, Two Heart, Crisp Point Light, and Vermilion Point.

Deer Park Life-Saving Station was in service from 1876 to 1909. The park was transferred from the Forestry Division to Parks and Recreation Division in 1957.[7]

Activities and amenities

The park offers swimming and fishing and includes a 159-site campground, boat launch, picnic area, playground, and trails for hiking and snow-mobiling.[4] The park has the darkest skies for a state park in the entire state of Michigan, which makes the state park a great place for astronomy.[8]

Images

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Muskallonge Lake State Park". IUCN. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Muskallonge Lake State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ↑ "When were Michigan state parks and recreation areas established?" (PDF). Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Muskallonge State Park". Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  5. ↑ Griffin, Steve (August 21, 2003). "Former lumber town full of history". Midland Daily News. Midland, Mich. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Station Muskallonge Lake, Michigan" (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Muskallonge State Park General Management Plan: Appendix_A" (PDF). Michigan Department of Natural Resources. p. A-4. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ R, Mike (August 22, 2021). "State Park Bortle 1 Scale Information In The US". CosmosPNW. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
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