Tag Archives: Michigan: Crisp Point Lighthouse

The Sunrise & Sunset Moods of Crisp Point Lighthouse

August 21, 2025Year 12Michigan: Crisp Point Lighthouserichardhoeg@gmail.com

Crisp Point Lighthouse is a magical spot … 19 miles via dirt road from Michigan #123. To reach the closest town of any size, Newberry, it is a 80 minute drive. As a lighthouse keeper, one does NOT go out for pizza (or anything else). Molly and I first became keepers at this remote light 11 years ago. Unlike fancier lighthouses, there is NO keeper’s residence. Our home during our time as keepers is our three person pup tent … pitched only yards away from Lake Superior. Only the current keepers may camp at the light. Thus, one gets a magical spot to oneself with tens of miles of undeveloped, wilderness shoreline.

Some folks have asked me how one may become a keeper. While there is no cost to be a keeper, you must work from 10 am to 6 pm hosting visitors, running the museum gift shop and keeping the facilities clean. On November 1st of any year, people who desire to be keepers for the following summer or fall make their request off the Crisp Point Light Historical Societies web site. Learn more about that process. Select the link to learn more about becoming a keeper.

Crisp Point is at the far eastern end of Lake Superior … about 13 miles before Whitefish Point and the entrance to Whitefish Bay. The Edmund Fitzgerald ore boat sank 50 years ago about 7 miles off this light.

Without further adieu … the moods of Crisp Point Lighthouse over five days. As keepers we may go up in the lighthouse whenever desired, including sunrise and sunset. I have more sunrise images because I tended to work long past 6 pm, keeping the light house open for visitors who also wanted to visit this magical spot towards sunset. All lighthouse keepers are volunteers and unpaid.

Crisp Point Lighthouse at Sunrise

Crisp Point Lighthouse at Sunset

Meet Crisp Point Lighthouse

August 14, 2025Year 12Michigan: Crisp Point Lighthouserichardhoeg@gmail.com

I am volunteering for my 12th year as a lighthouse keeper at Crisp Point Lighthouse on Lake Superior, 26 miles before Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula. A 19 mile dirt road is required to reach the light … very remote. Only keepers may camp at the light. My tent is pitched 25 yards from Lake Superior. 50 years ago the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk 7 miles off this point. Took some drone shots at sunrise this morning. Will process videos next week at home.

Crisp Point Lighthouse is NOT on a Bird Migration Highway

September 17, 2023Year 10Birding Know How, Michigan: Crisp Point Lighthouserichardhoeg@gmail.com

I have served as a Crisp Point Lighthouse keeper for many years during the Fall Bird Migration. Most folks knows of the major North American Bird Migration Highways: The Atlantic or Eastern Flyway, The Mississippi Flyway, The Central Flyway, and The Pacific or Western Flyway. However, each of these major flyways is made up of many smaller “bird highways”. Although Crisp Point is only 10 miles “as the crow flies” from Whitefish Point, very few birds are ever seen near Crisp Point. Take a look at this map, and you’ll understand why. Birds don’t want to fly west from Whitefish Point along the shores of Lake Superior when much better options exist to fly directly south along Lake Michigan or Lake Huron (another post of mine about migration highways). In five days of lighthouse keeping at Crisp Point I saw very few birds. However over the past week the official migration counters employed at Whitefish Point saw thousands and thousands of birds (only 10 miles distant). Moral of the story … look at a map of your local and regional area. Pay attention to “migration highways” … rivers or large lakes. Chances are these spots will optimize birding during the twice yearly migrations.