A friend prior to our visit had just come back and said the road was good for a change. Land access is by a poorly marked dirt road that goes for miles through the pines and dunes. Maritime artifacts have been collected and are displayed throughout the grounds, and a walkway gives access to all points of interest while also helping prevent further erosion.Ī trip to this lighthouse fits in well as an addition to a visit to Whitefish Point and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and/or Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The Crisp Point Light Historical Society has a website at Slowly this light is being reclaimed by Lake Superior. There is no fee for climbing the tower, but there are several places where donations are accepted. Volunteer keepers stay on the grounds during the summer months, taking care of upkeep and keeping the visitor building and lighthouse open. Climbing the tower here provides some amazing views, and as an added bonus there’s a good chance you’ll be one of a handful of people back here at any time. It was a few years before we made it back, and we were surprised the first time we visited and found preservation efforts in progress. This made us try even harder the following year, and when we finally arrived we found things in pretty rough shape (see photo above this paragraph). In 1997 we carefully followed directions but found ourselves struggling with vehicle clearance, unmarked roads, downed trees and quickly disappearing daylight. This lighthouse has always been a special one for us due to the fact that our first attempt to get to it was unsuccessful. A visit to Crisp Point takes a little bit of patience and a drive of more than 17 miles on unpaved roads that can occasionally be in pretty rough shape. The 58-foot-tall tower still stands tall and is freshly painted, a new entrance building was constructed, a visitor center/store/restrooms building was added a few years ago, and shore stabilization efforts are ongoing to prevent further erosion. The light was also recently named as one of this year’s Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program grant awardees as they will receive $25,000 towards the ongoing process of restoring the light and surrounding area. Today, thanks to the amazing efforts of the Crisp Point Light Historical Society, this lighthouse once again shines bright as a true testament to how successful lighthouse preservation efforts in this state can be. Many years later, erosion threatened to destroy the entire lighthouse complex, and ended up claiming all but the tower. It is the only Michigan lighthouse between Au Sable Point (Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore/to the west) and Whitefish Point (to the east). For many years in the early 1900s, the Crisp Point Lighthouse helped guide mariners past a dangerous section of Lake Superior waters.
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