LANSING — Want an epic summer adventure? How about splashing in all five Great Lakes in 24 hours?
It’s totally doable, and it’s been done in the past.
However, this year, there’s more concern about crossing the border, and you may want to seriously consider driving longer for an America-only route to avoid passport hassles. An American-only route will push this from a really long day (sunrise to sunset) into a real stretch to complete it in 24 hours.
Earlier this year, long-delayed identification rules kicked in, meaning that even a casual trip to a Canadian beach will require a passport. And this year has seen increasing immigration and border control enforcement, including on the Canadian side.
If you’re confident in your citizenship status and have your passport in hand, visiting the Canadian side of lakes Erie and Ontario will make it potentially the quickest route, which will include going through border checks and paying tolls.
Three Atchison men – brothers Derek and Darren and Derek’s son Josh – pulled off this trick in 2015, starting at Lake Ontario around 6 a.m. for a 620-mile road trip that ended at Lake Superior around 7:30 p.m. They were inspired by a father-and-son motorcycle trip a decade prior and spent a few years planning their route, adapting on the fly to visit a smaller beach near Bay City after hitting big crowds. Josh Atchison said Superior, their nightcap swim, oddly felt warmer than the other lakes.
The Atchisons took almost 15 hours and 620 miles. They didn’t start at the beach, however, and ran into logistics problems during at least one of their stops so you could beat their time.
Google maps predicts their route would take 542 miles with a travel time of nine hours and nine minutes. An American-only route adds more than two hours behind the wheel: 11 and a half hours and 740 miles.
By adding hours, the America-only route may need to be split into two days. Michigan state parks close for new visitors at 10 p.m., which would be around the time that an efficient driver would be wrapping up a trip that began at 6 a.m. So keep in mind that the America-only route could require an early morning wake-up to make the final lake dip.
Here are three potential routes for visiting all five Great Lakes in one day — all of which include segments through Northern Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula. The times and distances are calculated with Google Maps, and they assume the trip begins at the first beach. Realistically, all of these road trips will be significantly longer for logistics including gas stops, detours, traffic, potty breaks, meals and parking and walking to and from the beaches.
Can you shave off some time from these routes? Let me know if you can plan, or pull off, a trip that hits all five Great Lakes! I’m Mike Ellis and you can reach me at 517-267-0415 or mellis@lsj.com
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: See five Great Lakes in one day: Road trip options pass through Northern Michigan, U.P.
Reporting by Mike Ellis and Ryan Bentley, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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