5 Michigan Locations Associated with Creepy Urban Legends
The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse (Photo: Flickr)
*Post updated on Oct. 11, 2021
From the otherworldly spirits haunting Michigan’s lighthouses to the mythical Dogman lurking somewhere in the north woods’ darkness, the Great Lakes State is a treasure trove full of ghost stories and urban legends. The Great Lakes are intriguing in and of themselves, their rough waters having claimed numerous ships over the years, but the tales creep inland, as well, giving residents of the mitten plenty to talk about around the campfire late at night.
The stories aren’t always tied to a specific place, but the ones we’re about to cover are (for the most part), because this is a travel blog and we are all about location, location, location. Here are five spots in Michigan worth checking out, whether you believe in legends or not.
1. Old Presque Isle Lighthouse
Constructed in 1840, the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse sits on a small piece of land jutting out into Lake Huron along the northeastern coast of the Lower Peninsula. The 38-foot-tall light was in service for less than three decades, soon to be replaced by a newer, taller lighthouse only a couple miles away — but that didn’t stop it from gaining acclaim as one of Michigan’s most well-known haunts.
During its brief stint as an in-service lighthouse and its years spent as a museum, the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse has had a few different caretakers, but none are more recognizable than George Parris, who watched after the 19th century relic with his wife Lorraine in the 1970s and ‘80s. George died in the early ‘90s, but apparently decided his caretaker duties didn’t stop there.
In the years since, people have reported seeing the Old Presque Isle light — which is no longer wired to any sort of electrical power source — turn on from time to time, and children have allegedly seen and talked to George while visiting the lighthouse.
2. Torch Lake (& Its Monster)
The tale of the Torch Lake Monster dates back to the 1960s and ‘70s, and is credited to a man by the name of Dave Foley (no relation to a certain motivational speaker), who was a fisherman, teacher, coach, and former counselor at Camp Hayo-Went-Ha on the lake’s northern edge. Campers at Hayo-Went-Ha, which is owned and operated by the YMCA, have been sharing stories of the lake’s eponymous monster for generations.
As legend has it, the giant creature living beneath the waters of Torch Lake has “one eye brown, one eye blue” and a “body covered all in icky green goo.” At night, the mysterious monster is said to rise from the depths of the lake and “terrorize boaters, swimmers and unwary campers who venture where they’re not supposed to venture.”
Perhaps giving credence to the tale of the Torch Lake Monster is the fact that the lake is incredibly deep (285 feet at its deepest) and is home to some larger-than-average fish, including the 50-pound muskellunge that a Rapid City fisherman snagged in 2009.
The Torch Lake Monster’s unwitting victims (Photo: Flickr)
3. Le Griffon Shipwreck
The remains of the 300-year-old ship known as Le Griffon — the first European vessel known to have traversed the waters of the upper Great Lakes — have proved so tricky to find as to become the stuff of legends, even prompting Atlas Obscura to dub the wreck the “white whale for Great Lakes shipwreck hunters.” The location of the ship’s final resting place isn’t the only aspect of it shrouded in mystery, either.
Built in 1679, Le Griffon is said to have launched on her maiden voyage in August of that year somewhere near Cayuga Island on the Niagara River, just a few miles east of Niagara Falls. Historians believe the ship was a 45-ton barque (a sailing vessel with three or more masts, in other words), but her exact size and construction are unknown.
What is known is that Le Griffon disappeared at some point during the return trip of her maiden voyage to an unidentified island in the mouth of Green Bay, taking six unlucky crew members and a load of recently-traded French furs with her — and she’s been winning a centuries-long game of hide-and-seek against explorers and historians ever since.
4. Singing Sands of Bete Grise
While the state of Michigan is known for its two large peninsulas, the Upper and the Lower, it also contains a number of smaller peninsulas, one of which can be found at the tippy top of the U.P. The Keweenaw Peninsula juts out into the middle of the oft-frigid waters of Lake Superior, and is home to a nature preserve steeped in local legend. That preserve, Bete Grise, comprises a beach and a bay where the sand is said to sing.
How, you ask? Well, according to the folks over at Michigan Technological University, the singing sound is produced by pressing down on the sand with the palm of your hand. They say it can also be made to “bark” by striking it. As the legend goes, “the sound belongs to a Native American maid who calls from the shore to a lover lost to the Great Lakes.” Take the sand away from the beach, and it apparently loses its mystical singing voice.
The name of the area — Bete Grise, which translates to “grey beast” in French — is tied to another legend, which has to do with supposed sightings of a strange grey creature near the beach. Others, however, say the name originated from smoke rolling across the bay after Native Americans burned off the blueberry logs following harvest.
5. The North Woods’ Darkness
If you’ve spent any time in Northern Michigan, you’ve likely heard the tale of the Dogman, the mythical creature, half-dog, half-man, that’s said to stand over seven feet tall. This terrifying beast was allegedly spotted for the first time at an unnamed logging camp in Wexford County all the way back in 1887. As the story goes, he (they?) appears only during the seventh year of any given decade.
By now, it’s fairly well known that radio hosts Steve Cook and Jack O’Malley of WTCM in Traverse City concocted the story of the Dogman as an April Fools’ Day joke in 1987. But ever since releasing the song “The Legend” about the fearsome creature that year, plenty of people have reported sightings of the Dogman and the tale has truly taken on a life of its own.
One person even released supposed footage of the Dogman — the now-infamous Gable Film — which features a dog-like animal charging at the cameraman on all fours. And even though the creators have since admitted the film was a hoax, those that consider themselves true believers of the Dogman still point to the video as proof of the creature’s existence.
-LTH