One of the first things to do in Cheboygan, Michigan, is settle a friendly debate over what the name means. Some say “Chippewa water.” Others say “the river that comes out of the ground,” and a few even say “sewing needle.” Whichever story you like best, the water part fits. Cheboygan is where the Cheboygan River meets Lake Huron, and Pure Michigan calls it the Gateway to the Inland Waterways. Spend your days with lighthouses, island ferries and trails, then wrap up the evening in downtown Cheboygan with live music, a pub dinner or a show at the historic Cheboygan Opera House.
On the water, Cheboygan is home port to the Coast Guard icebreaker ship, Mackinaw. The original icebreaker was built during World War II to keep Great Lakes shipping moving through the winter, and it called Cheboygan home for more than 60 years. When it was decommissioned in June 2006, a new icebreaker, Mackinaw, was commissioned here the very same day. The original now serves as a museum in nearby Mackinaw City.
On land, Cheboygan County has more miles of trails than any other county in Michigan. The North Eastern State Trail and the North Central State Trail meet right in town, giving hikers, bikers and snowmobilers a ready-made place to start. It’s easy to see why Cheboygan is a designated Pure Michigan Trail Town.
Cheboygan’s outdoor adventures follow the water, from the Inland Waterway to Lake Huron’s islands and parks. The Inland Waterway runs more than 35 miles of rivers and lakes through Crooked, Pickerel, Mullett and Burt lakes. In town, the Cheboygan Lock has been raising and lowering the Cheboygan River by 16 feet since 1869. At the heart of the route is Mullett Lake, Michigan’s fourth-largest inland lake and the waterway’s central point, where Aloha State Park sits on the shore.
Just outside town, Cheboygan State Park is open year-round. Explore the park and you’ll find the ruins of the 1859 Cheboygan Point Light.
For a day on the lake, hop aboard the Bois Blanc Island ferry, which the Plaunt family has run since 1932. It sails May through November, and unlike Mackinac Island, Bois Blanc Island allows motor vehicles.
Come February, nearby Black Lake hosts a tradition you won’t find anywhere else. It’s the only place where sport anglers can spear a sturgeon, and the odds are steep. Hundreds of anglers head out on the ice, but the whole lake shares a harvest limit of just a handful of fish. The moment the last one is taken, the Black Lake sturgeon season is over, sometimes in a matter of hours and sometimes in minutes.
The night before the season opens, the party moves onto the ice. Sturgeon for Tomorrow throws the Shivaree, a festival whose name fittingly means a noisy celebration, with live music, food and plenty of fish stories under the tent. When a sturgeon does come in, onlookers crowd around the sturgeon pole to see it, and the money raised all weekend goes back into sturgeon recovery and habitat conservation.
Two lighthouses, an opera house and an old jail come into town. Sounds like a joke, but in Cheboygan, it’s just downtown.
Locals call the Cheboygan Crib Light “The Dummy,” and the name comes from its working days. The light first stood on a timber crib offshore in Lake Huron, and after it was automated in 1929, it no longer needed a keeper. With no one aboard to tend it, the light became “The Dummy.” Decades later, the Coast Guard planned to dynamite the crib and scrap the tower, until the city stepped in and brought it ashore in 1984. Today the Dummy is the town’s symbol, showing up on everything from the city’s logo to the local newspaper’s masthead. Find it at Gordon Turner Park, where the city beach, fishing pier and boardwalk make it easy to stay awhile.
Along the river, the Cheboygan River Front Range Light has helped guide boats into the channel since 1880. Its grounds are open year-round, and tours run May through October.
Downtown, the Cheboygan Opera House has a comeback story of its own. Built in 1877, the theater was rebuilt after fires in 1888 and 1903, sat dark for about 20 years and reopened in 1984. The restored Victorian theater still shares its building with City Hall, and every summer Chamberfest Cheboygan fills it with a classical concert series.
And then there’s the jailhouse. Now home to the History Center of Cheboygan County, the building served as the sheriff’s residence and county jail from 1880 to 1969. During the lumber boom, rowdy lumbermen sobered up in its cells, and inmates often did chores in exchange for a bed and meals cooked by the sheriff’s wife. Today’s travelers get the bed, the meal and the right kind of bars, minus the chores. The jail became a museum in 1972, and three buildings are open to the public.
Cheboygan’s calendar stays full all year, and each season brings its own reasons to visit.
Summer starts downtown. The farmers market sets up in Festival Square from May through October, and a few times each summer, Mornings on Main brings out sidewalk performers and the Made in Cheboygan Craft Show. August belongs to the Cheboygan County Fair, with grandstand nights that run from an off-road dirt track “Bump and Run” race to a rodeo. When Labor Day arrives, the town sends summer off with the State Street Bridge Walk.
A shipwreck from more than a century ago inspires a heartwarming Cheboygan send-off. Each November, volunteers load more than 1,000 Christmas trees aboard the icebreaker ship Mackinaw, bound for families in need in Chicago. The Christmas Tree Ship honors Herman Schuenemann, known as “Captain Santa,” who delivered Christmas trees to Chicago aboard his schooner, the Rouse Simmons, before it sank in Lake Michigan in 1912.
Winter doesn’t slow Cheboygan down. Snowmobilers take to the trails, cross-country skiers and cabin guests head to Cheboygan State Park, and skaters find their way to the city ice rink pavilion.
After a day outdoors, downtown Cheboygan keeps the fun going. Start with dinner at The Queens Head for comfort pub food, local and imported beer and a large wine list, or grab a table at Stormy Kromer A Cap & Ale House or The Pig ’N’ Whistle. Then catch a show at the Lark Theater, where acts from across Michigan and beyond play an intimate room with strong acoustics. After the show, stay for a nightcap at The Lark Lounge.
Cheboygan Brewing Co. pour pints near where brewing first began on the river in the late 1800s. Or head just outside downtown to Pier M33 on the Cheboygan, where indoor and patio seating put dinner right on the river.
Cheboygan is a place to spend your days on the water and your evenings downtown with music and good food. Take the bus to Cheboygan and start exploring.
Indian Trails can help get you there in two ways. First, we run regular bus routes to and from Cheboygan throughout the state. Buy a ticket and enjoy stress-free travel to this wonderful destination. If you’re traveling with a large group of companions, you can charter a bus and create a customized sightseeing tour! Either way, start your adventure with Indian Trails.
If you like Cheboygan, you may also enjoy St. Ignace, Mackinaw City, where the original icebreaker Mackinaw is now a museum, and Harrisville.