5 Great Lakes in 24 Hours
We’ve kicked around the idea of swimming in all five great lakes for a few years now. One of our first road trips together was the Lake Erie Circle Tour, a 629-mile drive going all the way around the smallest Great Lake. The road trip took us through several states including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and even Ontario, Canada. Along this drive, we talked about how fun it would be to visit all of the Great Lakes. This was quickly followed by the notion that it would be possible but too easy. Why not try to visit all five Great Lakes in 24 hours? Challenge accepted.
The mission was pretty simple: travel to and jump in all five Great Lakes within a 24 hour period. For those not familiar with the Great Lakes, it sounds easy on paper. When you look at the expanse of land these bodies of water cover, the enormity of the challenge sets in.
You can see us complete the challenge here!
The Great Lakes…
- Are made of 5 different lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior (HOMES)
- Span a shoreline of over 10,000 miles!
- Contain 84% of North America’s surface fresh water
- House about 21% of the world’s supply of surface fresh water
- Cover a total surface area of 94,250 square miles
Road trips can take on all types of forms; this road trip was intriguing because of the pre-planning required and the time limit involved. For us, this challenge would have to be done in the summer for two reasons – water temps and daylight hours. We’re brave but we’re not brave enough to jump in bodies of water in sub-zero temps. Doing 5 polar plunges in one day? That’s just crazy. Also, the trip would have to be complete within 24 hours or else it would be a huge bust. Meticulous planning ensued. Where would we start? What lake should be the starting point? Where should we end? Does the amount of daylight matter? How cold will the water be?
Here’s how it went down:
LAKE #1: Lake Ontario
ENTRY POINT: Confederate Beach Park, Hamilton, Ontario
TIME: 6:34am
LAKE #2: Lake Erie
ENTRY POINT: Port Dover West Pier, Port Dover, Ontario
TIME: 8:10am
LAKE #3: Lake Huron
ENTRY POINT: Bay City State Recreation Area, Bay City, Michigan
TIME: 1:21pm
LAKE #4: Lake Michigan
ENTRY POINT: Petoskey State Park, Petoskey, MI
TIME: 4:36pm
LAKE #5: Lake Superior
ENTRY POINT: Brimley State Park, Brimley, MI
TIME: 7:01pm
Lake Ontario
We knew our adventure would begin close to one of the lakes. After doing some research on travel times, we decided to spend the night in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, which would allow us to jump in Lake Ontario first thing in the morning. Major cities like Hamilton and Toronto are located on the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario.
Lucky for us, the weather was great the day of our challenge. We were up bright and early, and excited because our adventure was about to begin! Our hope was to leave the hotel and be to the first lake around 6:30am. We came in pretty close to that estimate, with our first swim at 6:34am. The air temperature this morning was 65 degrees as we got out of the car at Confederation Beach Park in Hamilton, Ontario. The water temperature was 70 degrees. This beach also had the most beautiful, crystal clear water of all the Great Lakes. You could see straight down to the rocks at the bottom. Not a surprise, the beach was pretty empty at this hour of the day. We only saw a few early risers running near the park. The beach was so peaceful and it was awesome to have it to ourselves.
Fun fact about Lake Ontario: Lake Ontario is similar to Lake Erie when measured by length and breadth, but because it’s deeper, Lake Ontario holds almost four times the volume of Lake Erie!
Lake Erie
One lake down, four to go. Our spirits were pretty high at this point and we were definitely letting the adrenaline carry us down to our next stop, Port Dover, Ontario, off the coast of Lake Erie. It didn’t even feel like 7:00am. The drive was a little over an hour and it completely flew by especially with light traffic. At this location, there was no official park, so we searched for an area that allowed swimming access, which was pretty easy, and we jumped right in around the Port Dover West Pier at 8:10am. The air temperature was 72 degrees and the water temperature was also 72 degrees. We saw a cute dog playing fetch in the water and there were actually two people swimming off the shore. Of all five places we picked to swim, this stop was the easiest to access. We didn’t have to pay for parking or entrance fees and we were able to drive right up to the beach which was convenient.
Fun fact about Lake Erie: Lake Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes when measured by volume and it’s also exposed to the greatest effects from urbanization and agriculture.
Lake Huron
The stretch from Lake Erie to Lake Huron was going to be the longest part of our trip without stopping. Our GPS estimated it would take a little over four hours door to door and this estimate didn’t factor in any potential delays at the Blue Water Bridge, which is the border crossing between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. From experience, the wait time here can vary quite widely. Luckily we only spent about 20 minutes at customs which wasn’t too bad. Our plan was to cross into the States and drive up to the Bay City, MI area. For those of you following along looking at your hand like Michiganders do, we’d be stopping in the little crook where your thumb meets the rest of your hand. The sun was shining bright in the sky up until this point but once we crossed into Michigan, the skies turned gray and squeezed out a few raindrops. Nothing could dampen our excitement as we got to the Bay City State Recreation Area though… well, maybe the smell of the outhouses? These go down as two of stinkiest we’ve ever experienced, wow! The air temperature was 72 degrees at Bay City State Recreation Area and the water temperature was 71 degrees. Once we got out of the car and stretched, we race walked (think mall walking, power walking, etc.) down to the beach in order to jump in our third lake of the day. This beach was a little farther off the beaten path. We walked by a family reunion in the pavilion and continued down the path to the water. The actual beach was pretty deserted, probably due to the rain nearby. We took some photos and got on the road to our next stop.
Fun fact about Lake Huron: Lake Huron is hydrologically inseparable from Lake Michigan, and the two lakes are joined by the wide Straits of Mackinac.
Lake Michigan
The next leg of our journey had us crossing the lower peninsula of Michigan from east to northwest. When we think of Pure Michigan commercials and advertising (the real ones, not the spoofs!), we usually think of Lake Michigan with its miles and miles of stunning coastline, sparkling water, breathtaking natural beauty, and plenty of “up north” charm. Needless to say, our Lake Michigan stop did not disappoint.
Not too long ago, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was named the Most Beautiful Place in America. So many midwestern family summer vacations center around Lake Michigan since its borders touch some very cool cities like Petoskey, Traverse City, Grand Haven, South Haven, and St. Joseph. Chicago and Milwaukee round out the list on Lake Michigan’s western shores.
For all of these reasons, we were especially looking forward to seeing Lake Michigan. We left Lake Huron and headed northwest to Petoskey, MI to Petoskey State Park. The air temperature was 73 degrees and the water temperature was 70 degrees. Of our five stops, this was by far the busiest, probably because it was warm and sunny with beautiful blue skies. The perfect beach day. A concessions stand was available with hot food and ice cream, plus kayaks and paddleboards were available for rent. The beach was very clean and there were even a few sand dunes lining the water. We wished we had more time to spend here and would definitely like to come back for a longer stay. Alas, we had one more lake to visit before the our quest was over. We had now been in four of the five Great Lakes! Onto the last one!
Fun Fact about Lake Michigan: Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake contained entirely within the United States.
Lake Superior
The trip from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior was filled with very scenic, beautiful landscape. Heading to the upper peninsula of Michigan also afforded us our second bridge crossing of the day, over the Mackinac Bridge which is about 5 miles long and is currently the third longest suspension span bridge in the United States. Bonus!
Once in the UP, we drove straight north to Brimley State Park to visit our last lake of the day. We chatted briefly with the park ranger. He pointed us toward the water and also suggested we check drive through the campground to check it out. As we walked toward the beach, the wind was really churning and the water was a deep copper color which was completely unexpected. Maybe it was the way the sun was setting over the water? Whatever the reason, it really stood out. We were concerned that the water would be coldest here. There were a few little kids swimming nearby and they gave us the courage to jump in without testing the water with a quick dip of the toes beforehand. It was a “This is it. Don’t get scared now” moment so we set up the camera and ran in without thinking about how cold it was going to be. Just kidding. That’s all we could think about but we couldn’t back out now! The water was 64 degrees which didn’t feel drastically colder than the air temperature outside which was 65 degrees and windy. It was chilly! We entered Lake Superior at 7:01pm and completed the 5 Great Lakes in 24 Hours Challenge!
Fun fact about Lake Superior: Lake Superior is the largest lake in the Great Lakes and it has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in the world.
WE DID IT!! Overall the Great Lakes Challenge was an excellent summer road trip adventure for anyone looking to see the beauty of the midwest. The lakes were all unique and we wish we had more time to spend each of them. Would we do this again? Absolutely. Maybe over the course of a long weekend next time!
Essential items to pack: passports, GPS, snacks, lots of dry towels and an awesome road trip partner!
(Facts and figures from https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/great-lakes-facts-and-figures and http://www.glc.org/)
