French explorers called it La Mer Douce, the sweet or freshwater sea. Later, Lake Huron took its name from the Huron Indian people who lived along its shores. The lake forms the eastern outline of Michigan’s “Mitten,” including the distinctive “Thumb” which is dotted with port towns and shelters Saginaw Bay. The Lake Huron shoreline of the Lower Peninsula is often referred to as the “Sunrise Side.” Its waters also touch the Eastern Upper Peninsula, meeting Lake Superior to the north via the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie, and mingling with Lake Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac. 

Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake and the fifth largest fresh water lake on the planet, with a surface area of 23,000 square miles. First paddled by Native Americans, and then voyageurs, traders and missionaries in the late 1600s with the start of the fur trade, it became a vital shipping route. Lake Huron’s waters, however, could be treacherous and its storms deadly; the particularly disastrous weather of November 9, 1913, sank 10 ships and drove many others into port.

More than 1,000 known shipwrecks rest on the bottom of Lake Huron, with some 200 of them off the northeastern shore near Alpena. The underwater historic sites are protected by the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and are destinations for scuba divers, snorkelers and even kayakers to explore. On land, visitors tour the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena and several lighthouses in the area.

Michigan is home to 120 lighthouses that once served as navigational aids to ships; 30 of them stand along the Lake Huron shore and many are open or accessible to visitors. Boaters today enjoy sport fishing, sea kayaking and sailing -- these waters annually challenge sailors in the Bayview Mackinac Race, better known as the Port Huron to Mackinac race. Charter fishing operations and Tall Ship sailing excursions aboard the Appledore schooners are options for those without their own vessels.

Dozens of recreational areas dot Michigan’s eastern coastline, from lakefront state parks in “The Thumb” to the northern “Tip of the Mitt” and the Mackinac State Historic Parks. The automobile-free Victorian resort destination of Mackinac Island continues to welcome visitors to the Straits of Mackinac as it has since the late 1800s, when city dwellers began to discover the refreshing qualities of a Great Lakes escape.