Muskallonge Lake State Park
{{short description|Park in Michigan, USA}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox park
| name = Muskallonge Lake State Park
| photo = Muskallonge Lake State Park beach, Muskallonge Lake (June 2021).jpg
| photo_caption = Beachfront along Muskallonge Lake
| photo_alt = Beachfront
| photo_width = 280
| map = USA Michigan#USA
| map_caption = Location within the state of Michigan
| map_width = 280
| relief = 1
| location = Deer Park, McMillan Township, Luce County, Michigan, United States
| coordinates = {{coord|46|40|35|N|85|38|09|W|region:US-MI|display=inline, title}}
| coords_ref =
| elevation = {{convert|643|ft}}
| area = {{convert|217|acre}}
| designation = Michigan state park
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| administrator = Michigan Department of Natural Resources
| website = {{Official website}}
}}
Muskallonge Lake State Park is a state park located in Luce County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Deer Park about {{convert|16|mi|km|1}} east of Grand Marais along H-58.
The park encompasses {{convert|217|acres|ha|1}} between the shores of Lake Superior and Muskallonge Lake where Native Americans once had an encampment and where a station of the United States Life-Saving Service once stood.
History
The park occupies land just west of Deer Park, a 19th-century mill town that all but disappeared once the forests on which its mill depended were gone. The state park is also the site of former Station Muskallong Lake (Coast Guard Station #295; later called Station Deer Park), one of five such stations along the coast of Lake Superior between Munising and Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula. It was part of U.S. Life-Saving Service District 10 (later part of District 11). The other four stations along Lake Superior's "Shipwreck Coast" were Grand Marais, Two Heart, Crisp Point Light, and Vermilion Point.
Deer Park Life-Saving Station was in service from 1876 to 1909. The park was transferred from the Forestry Division to Parks and Recreation Division in 1957.
Activities and amenities
The park offers swimming and fishing and includes a 159-site campground, boat launch, picnic area, playground, and trails for hiking and snow-mobiling. The park has the darkest skies for a state park in the entire state of Michigan, which makes the state park a great place for astronomy.{{Cite web|last=R|first=Mike|date=2021-08-22|title=State Park Bortle 1 Scale Information In The US|url=https://cosmospnw.com/state-park-bortle-1-scale-information-in-the-us/|access-date=2022-01-16|website=CosmosPNW|language=en-US}}
Images
File:Muskallonge Lake State Park entrance sign (June 2021).jpg|{{center|Entrance along Deer Park Road (H-58)}}
File:Muskallonge Lake State Park campground (June 2021).jpg|{{center|State park campground}}
File:Muskallonge Lake State Park, Lake Superior (June 2021).jpg|{{center|Lake Superior beachfront}}
File:Muskallonge Lake (June 2021).jpg|{{center|Muskallonge Lake shoreline}}
See also
References
{{reflist|refs=
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External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/ParksandTrails/Details.aspx?id=424&type=SPRK Muskallonge Lake State Park] Michigan Department of Natural Resources
- [http://www.michigandnr.com/Publications/PDFS/RecreationCamping/muskallonge_lake_map.pdf Muskallonge Lake State Park Map] Michigan Department of Natural Resources
{{Michigan state parks}}
{{authority control}}
Category:State parks of Michigan
Category:Protected areas of Luce County, Michigan