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As a Wisconsinite, I've grown up around two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, but Superior has always been my favorite.
It's not only beautiful, but still a little wild in places, like much of northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. It has sandy beaches, dunes, rocky shores, huge freighters navigating its waters, historic lighthouses, Coasties, parks, museums, oodles of fishing and sporting boats, and spectacular ice formations in the winter. Since the water is so cold, even centuries-old shipwrecks are well-preserved, as a trip on one of the glass-bottomed boats at Alger Underwater Preserve will show.
I've spent time watching freighters load taconite (iron ore) at Marquette, Michigan, and watched ships from other countries pass through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie. Heading east from Lake Superior, I've crossed the Mackinac Bridge over the Straights of Mackinac, and spent hours wandering around Lake Michigan's Mackinac Island, where fudge is plentiful and those noisy new-fangled motor cars aren't allowed. I've also crossed Lake Michigan numerous times on the SS Badger, a car ferry that's the last remaining steam-powered passenger ship on the Great Lakes.
My idea of heaven is to one day own a log cabin on the shores of Lake Superior, but until then I'll settle for hosting a Lake Superior fanlisting. ;)
Early History
French explorer Étienne Brulé is believed to have visited the lake in 1616. It was further explored by Pierre Radisson and the Sieur des Groseilliers in 1659–1660. In 1665, Father Allouez established a mission near Ashland, and the Sieur Duluth visited the lake in 1678–1679.
Geography
The lake is bordered on the north by Ontario, Canada; by Michigan and Wisconsin to the south; and Minnesota to the west. Not only is Lake Superior the largest freshwater lake in the world (31,820 sq mi/82,414 sq km; 350 mi/563 km long and 160 mi/257 km at its greatest width), it's also the largest, highest in elevation (602 ft/183 m) and deepest (1,302 ft/397 m) of the Great Lakes.
Lake Superior drains into Lake Huron via the St. Marys River. As part of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system, the lake is acessible by oceangoing and lake vessels through the Sault Sainte Marie Canals, which bypass the rapids in the St. Marys River. The shoreline is irregular and can be high and rocky. The main port cities are Michipicoten and Thunder Bay (Canada) and Marquette, Superior, Ashland, and Duluth in the U.S.
Working and Vacationing on Lake Superior
The lake supports a shipping industry (grain, flour, and iron ore), commercial and sport fishing, and tourism. Among the most popular tourist attractions are Isle Royale, the Apostle Islands, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores, and the Alger Underwater Preserve (shipwreck diving.)
Although the lake doesn't completely freeze over during winter, the difficulty of navigating ice generally shuts down the lake from December through March. As the history of Lake Superior has shown, fog, rough water, and sudden storms can make working or vacationing on its waters hazardous.
Ever since LaSalle’s Griffon sank in 1679, Lake Superior has wrecked some 10,000 ships and claimed more than 30,000 lives. Among the more famous wrecks of the last century include the "Big Blow" of November 1913, which sank 20 ships and killed 250 people, the November 1966 sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell, which killed every crewmen but one, and the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald during a violent storm in November 1975. The wreck of the Fitz, the loss of her crew, and the "gales of November" were made famous by Gordon Lightfoot's ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."