Lake Michigan is the third largest of the Great Lakes and the only one that lies fully inside the United States. Lake Michigan forms a link in the inland waterway system that reaches from the Midwest east to the Atlantic Ocean and south, through the Mississippi River, to the Gulf of Mexico.
Indians who lived on the shores of the lake called it Michi-guma, which means big water. Michi-guma became Michigan through popular use.
General description
Location.
Lake Michigan extends southward into Michigan, dividing that state into two peninsulas. Wisconsin and Illinois form its western border. A small part of Indiana touches the southern end of the lake.
Size.
Lake Michigan is 307 miles (494 kilometers) long and up to 118 miles (190 kilometers) wide. It covers 22,300 square miles (57,800 square kilometers).
Other features.
Lake Michigan’s maximum depth is 923 feet (281 meters), with an average depth of 279 feet (85 meters). In the early 2000’s, its surface was 577 feet (176 meters) above sea level, down from historical averages.
Large bays include Green Bay at the northwestern corner of the lake and Grand Traverse and Little Traverse bays on the east side. Large rivers that enter Lake Michigan include the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Pere Marquette, Muskegon, Manistee, Manistique, and Escanaba in Michigan, and the Menominee and Fox in Wisconsin. The Chicago River flows out of Lake Michigan. It once flowed into the lake, but its course was reversed (see Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal ).
Commerce
Routes.
Lake Michigan empties into Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac. The St. Lawrence Seaway connects Lake Michigan with the Atlantic Ocean. Lumber, grain, and mineral products from this region are shipped to all parts of the world. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Chicago and Illinois rivers connect the lake with the Mississippi River.
Ports.
Important commercial ports on the lake include Escanaba, Menominee, Muskegon, Port Dolomite, Port Inland, and Stoneport in Michigan; Green Bay and Milwaukee in Wisconsin; Burns Harbor, Gary, and Indiana Harbor in Indiana; and Chicago and Waukegan in Illinois. By the late 1900’s and early 2000’s, many former commercial and fishing ports on Lake Michigan shifted to tourism-based economies.
