Hazardous Walk Guaranteed At The Old East Breakwater Lighthouse

Driving the lake side highway between Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin one sees countless things to do; lake front beaches, small towns, roadside attractions and even the occasional Boston Terrier, deer or other wildlife. However, one attraction we couldn’t resist stopping at was the East Breakwater Lighthouse.

The Trek Out to the East Breakwater Lighthouse

Located in Manistique, Michigan, the lighthouse is a testament to the days when the area was booming with timber and pig iron production. With both of these materials being shipped from the town’s harbor, the need for a breakwater and lighthouse soon became apparent. So, in 1910 the Army Corps of Engineers constructed a concrete breakwater at the harbor. Construction on the lighthouse finished in 1916. It remained in operation until 1969. Unfortunately, as the importance of the Manistique port faded, automation occurred, and the lighthouse’s original Fresnel lens was replaced. Eventually, a private owner bought the lighthouse in 2013.

Today, visitors can still take a walk on the breakwater to see the 38-foot tall square-plan lighthouse up close. Its brilliant red tower and black lantern are visible from the beach; a fantastic view for someone spending a nice summer day in the sand. Unfortunately, we were there on a cloudy, cool day in August when the winds were gusting and the waves were pretty high.

This made the first half of the walk out to the lighthouse a bit treacherous. As a result, we were unable to go all the way to the lighthouse to get an up close look. The powerful waves had already convinced Winston that he had entered “baffie” territory. Tommy, normally our adventurous terrier, had his doubts about making the trek the rest of the way to the actual lighthouse. Louie took one look at the waves taller than him and decided that he couldn’t even happily trot along this time.

Back to the Beach

So, we viewed the lighthouse from the end of the first half of the breakwater. Then, we headed back to the beach. Once there, we took a nice walk along the shoreline. Winston enjoyed the sand between his toes and the new sniffs. Tommy enjoyed walking the line between the sand and the water and getting just a little wet. And Louie was introduced to the joy of hunting seashells. All of which we enjoyed with the lighthouse as our backdrop. After a nice long stretch of beachcombing, we headed back to the truck, ready for the next leg of our adventure.

Up Next

To see more of our adventure to the East Breakwater Lighthouse, check out our Things to Do, See and Eat video below.

Stay tuned as we head to one of my favorite states when we explore Door County, WI. In the meantime, for more Traveling with Terriers, check out our other Travel-A-Long Adventures, Behind-the-Scenes Blogs, relaxing Drive-A-Longs, and our Top 5 Tips and Tricks. For all the latest TWT apparel, swag, and our newly released book, visit our brand new Merch Store. Until next time, happy traveling!