Straits of Mackinac - Straits of Mackinac Today

Straits of Mackinac Today

The Straits are patrolled by a detachment of the United States Coast Guard based at Graham Point, St. Ignace. A shipping channel through the winter ice is maintained by the Coast Guard's Great Lakes icebreaker, USCGC Mackinaw, based in Cheboygan, Michigan near the eastern edge of the Straits. This new vessel went into service during the 2005-06 ice season.

Most of the Straits have been set aside by the U.S. state of Michigan as the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve, a riparian public space dedicated to those personnel who were lost aboard the boats and ships that sank in these dangerous shipping lanes.

Lighthouses in the Straits of Mackinac include:

• The McGulpin Point Light, on McGulpin Point, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Fort Michilimackinac.
• The Old Mackinac Point Light, in Mackinaw City, Michigan, which is open to the public.
• The Round Island Light on Round Island, which is not open to the public but which can be viewed from the Mackinac Island ferry channel.
• The St. Helena Island Lighthouse, which is not open to the public but is visible from a rest area on U.S. Highway 2 at Gros Cap, Michigan west of St. Ignace, Michigan.
• The Bois Blanc Light, which is not open to the public, on the northern shore of Bois Blanc.