H-58 (Michigan County Highway)

H-58 (Michigan County Highway)

H-58 is a county-designated highway in the US state of Michigan that runs east–west for approximately 69 miles (111 km) between the communities of Munising and Deer Park in the Upper Peninsula. The western section is routed through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, a national park on the southern shore of Lake Superior, and the adjacent Lake Superior State Forest in Alger County while connecting Munising to the communities of Van Meer and Melstrand. At Grand Marais, H-58 exits the national park and runs through town. The segment running east of Grand Marais to Deer Park in Luce County is a gravel road that connects to H-37 in Muskallonge Lake State Park.

A roadway was present along parts of today's H-58 by the late 1920s; initially, this county road was gravel or earth between Munising and Kingston Corners and connected with other roads to Grand Marais. In the 1930s, another segment was built to connect to Deer Park and to fill in the gap between Kingston Corners and Grand Marais. The southwestern segment between Munising and Van Meer formed part of M-94 from 1929 until it was transferred back to county control in the early 1960s.

The H-58 designation was created after the county-designated highway system itself was formed in 1970. Initially, only the section from Grand Marais to Deer Park was given the number; the remainder was added in 1972. The last sections to be paved in the 20th century were completed in 1974. The National Park Service was required to build their own access road for the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the initial legislation that created the park. This requirement was rescinded by the United States Congress in 1998, and the park service was authorized to fund improvements to H-58 instead. Paving projects were completed between 2006 and 2010 so that the entire length of H-58 in Alger County is now paved; the section in Luce County is still a gravel road.