Lower Peninsula of Michigan

Geography

Main article: Geography of Michigan

The Lower Peninsula is bounded on the west by Lake Michigan and on the northeast by Lake Huron, which connect at the Straits of Mackinac. In the southeast, the waterway consisting of the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie separates it from the province of Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the south by the states of Indiana and Ohio. The southern border is irregular: the border with Indiana was moved 10 miles northward from its territorial position to give Indiana more access to Lake Michigan, and its slightly angled border with Ohio was part of the compromise which ended the Toledo War. The peninsula is a part of the Great Lakes Plain, which includes large parts of Wisconsin and Ohio.

At its widest points, the peninsula is 277 mi long from north to south and 195 mi from east to west. It contains nearly two-thirds of Michigan's total land area. The surface of the peninsula is generally level, broken by conical hills and glacial moraines usually not more than a few hundred feet tall, most common in the north. The highest point in the peninsula is not definitely established, but is either Briar Hill at 1,705 ft above sea level, or one of several points nearby in the vicinity of Cadillac. The lowest point is at the shore of Lake Erie at 571 ft. The western coast features extensive sandy beaches and dunes produced by Lake Michigan and the prevailing winds from the west. The relatively shallow Saginaw Bay is surrounded by a similarly shallow drainage basin. Several large river systems flow into the adjacent Great Lakes, including the Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, and Manistee rivers (Lake Michigan), and the Au Sable and Tittabawassee–Shiawassee–Saginaw rivers (Lake Huron). Because of the networks of rivers and numerous lakes, no point on land is more than 6 mi from one of these bodies of water, and at most 85 mi from one of the Great Lakes (near Lansing).

Flora and fauna

The American Bird Conservancy and the National Audubon Society have designated several locations on the peninsula as internationally Important Bird Areas.

Geology

The Lower Peninsula is dominated by a geological basin known as the Michigan Basin. The basin is a nearly circular pattern of sedimentary strata in the area, with a nearly uniform structural dip toward the center of the peninsula. The basin is centered on Gladwin County, where the Precambrian-age basement rocks are 16000 ft deep. Around the margins, such as under Mackinaw City, the Precambrian layer is around 4000 ft down. This 4000 ft contour of the bedrock clips the northern part of the peninsula and continues under Lake Michigan to the west. It crosses the southern counties of Michigan and continues on to the north beneath Lake Huron.

Climate

Most monthly temperatures in the peninsula range from a low of 14 degrees to a high of 84 degrees Fahrenheit.

Regions

The peninsula can be divided into four main regions based on geological and geographical differences; the amount of urban areas or rural areas; minority populations; and agriculture. The four principal regions listed below can further be separated into sub-regions and overlapping areas:

• Northern Michigan
• Central or Mid-Michigan
  • The Thumb
  • Tri-Cities
  • Southern Michigan
• West Michigan
  • Southern Michigan
  • Michiana
• Southeast Michigan
  • Metro Detroit

Transportation

Major airports

• Alpena County Regional Airport (APN) (Alpena)
• Bishop International Airport (FNT) (Flint)
• Capital Region International Airport (LAN) (Lansing)
• Cherry Capital Airport (TVC) (Traverse City)
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) (Romulus)
• Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) (Grand Rapids)
• Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (AZO) (Kalamazoo)
• MBS International Airport (MBS) (Saginaw)
• Pellston Regional Airport (PLN) (Pellston)

Highways

Interstate Highways in the region include:

U.S. Highways in the region include:

The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Passenger rail

The peninsula is served by three Amtrak routes that travel up to 110 mph, namely the Wolverine, Pere Marquette, and Blue Water routes.

Intercity bus

Various intercity buses transport people across the peninsula, including the Michigan Flyer that travels from Lansing to the Detroit Metro Airport with stops in Brighton and Ann Arbor, and the D2A2 nonstop bus from Detroit to Ann Arbor.

Notes

References

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2. (November 8, 2013). "Update: U.P. Added to White House Medicaid Map". [[WWTV]]-TV.
3. "The Upper Peninsula Is Not Optional".
4. Parrish, P. J.. (2007). "A Thousand Bones". Simon and Schuster.
5. Hayden, Maureen. (October 14, 2014). "Retracing a border incites tensions between Indiana, Michigan".
6. "IHB: Indiana's Northern Boundary Line".
7. Andrews, Evan. (September 2018). "The Toledo War: When Michigan and Ohio Nearly Came to Blows".
8. "Michigan Geography from Netstate".
9. Bingham, Emily. (May 26, 2017). "8 amazing water facts only Michiganders can brag about".
10. (February 28, 2010). "Michigan's IBAs are online". Michigan Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program.
11. (August 22, 2014). "Great Lakes Circle Tour". Great Lakes Information Network.
12. "Michigan Flyer {{!}} Michigan Bus to Detroit Metro Airport".
13. "D2A2 – Connecting Detroit and Ann Arbor".