Lighthouses of the St. Marys River

We spent the most wonderful weekend on Drummond Island, which starts with a little adventure in itself — driving onto the car ferry in De Tour Village and crossing over to the island! We stayed at Drummond Island Resort, explored around the island, ate some good food and generally soaked up one last summer weekend, but you KNOW the real mission for me involved lighthouses. 😂 I had been trying to figure out how we could rent a boat ourselves to reach two hard-to-access lighthouses in the St. Marys River, and thank goodness we ended up finding Captain Ivan Gable through Fort Drummond Marine instead. Ivan was born and raised on Drummond Island, knew these waters like the back of his hand, and made the entire morning so easy. We headed out early on a beautiful morning, bounced through a slightly choppy stretch of Lake Huron, and then cruised into the much calmer waters of the St. Marys River. And before we even got to the two lighthouses I came for, Ivan casually swung us out to DeTour Reef Lighthouse too. UM. YES?!

DeTour Reef was absolutely the crown jewel of the morning. The current lighthouse was built nearly a mile offshore in 1931 at the mouth of the St. Marys River, basically standing guard at the gateway between Lake Huron and the route toward Lake Superior. It is STUNNING in person — this huge white lighthouse seemingly rising straight out of the water — and seeing it from our boat was such a treat. Even better, the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society runs a keeper program where you can actually stay out there for a weekend, help with some light housekeeping and tours, watch freighters go by and basically live my ultimate lighthouse fantasy. 😂 There were people staying there while we cruised past and we waved back and forth, which only made me want to do it more! So although we technically saw DeTour Reef, I’m not checking this one off my official list just yet. Someday I want to actually climb those ladders, sleep inside and experience the whole thing. Consider this one a preview.

The first official new lighthouse of the trip was Pipe Island Light, tucked away on a privately owned island in the St. Marys River. The station was established in 1888 to help guide ships entering the river from Lake Huron, and its original brick tower eventually lost its lantern and gained the skeletal structure you see today. Since the island is privately owned, there’s no public access, so seeing it from the water is really the way to go — and exactly why this lighthouse has been sitting unchecked on my list for so long!

From there, we continued up the river to Round Island (St. Mary’s River) Lighthouse (not to be confused with Round Island Lighthouse outside of Mackinac Island!), which was established just a few years later in 1892 as shipping traffic through the St. Marys continued to grow. It only served as an active lighthouse for a few decades before its light was moved to a steel tower nearby, but the lighthouse eventually landed in private hands and has been beautifully restored. Honestly, it looked SO picturesque sitting there on its little island. Ivan also showed us a few oddities along the way, including the decommissioned John Sherwin and another vessel that has been converted into a home. Just a very cool morning of poking around a part of the U.P. that you really can’t experience the same way from land.

And just like that, Michigan lighthouses #113 and #114 are officially in the books! I’ve said it a million times, but I’m so glad I’ve never rushed this journey. Some of these lighthouses have taken years to finally reach, and somehow they keep showing up during these very specific chapters of my life. Four years ago, I came to Drummond Island by myself during a very different (and difficult) season, and this time I was cruising down the St. Marys River with Elliot beside me, watching his face absolutely LIGHT UP when the DeTour Reef Lighthouse came into view. I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything. This silly little lighthouse mission has brought me to some incredible corners of Michigan, but in a lot of ways, it has brought me home too. Two more down, plenty more adventures to go. ⚓️❤️