Due to its unique geography, being made of two peninsulas surrounded by the Great Lakes, Michigan has depended on many ferries for connections to transport people, vehicles and trade. The most famous modern ferries are those which carry people and goods across the Straits of Mackinac to the car-free Mackinac Island but before the Mackinac Bridge was built, large numbers of ferries carried people and cars between the two peninsulas. Other ferries continue to provide transportation to small islands and across the Detroit River to Canada. Ferries once provided transport to island parks for city dwellers. The state's only national park, Isle Royale cannot be reached by road and is normally accessed by ferry. The largest ferries in Michigan are the car ferries which cross Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. One of these, the SS Badger is one of the last remaining coal steamers on the Great Lakes and serves as a section of US Highway 10 (US 10). The Badger is also the largest ferry in Michigan, capable of carrying 600 passengers and 180 autos.
As of 2018, there are 18 ferry routes in Michigan, 13 of which have ferries which can carry vehicles. Three ferry routes cross the international border between U.S. and Canada. Ferry trips can be as short as a few minutes crossing a river to as long as seven hours crossing Lake Superior. These routes are all closed in the winter when the rivers and lakes are iced over. Winter closures can be as long as four months a year. Four passenger-only ferry destinations are islands without private vehicles and, in some cases, without even roads. One unique human-powered ferry takes passengers across the Kalamazoo River to a park with a Lake Michigan beach.
In the early days of lake transport, it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between ferries, package freighters carrying passengers, and passenger liners on regular routes. The lakes and rivers often provided an easier route of travel than primitive or non-existent roads. Rail ferries would carry passenger trains and their occupants as well as freight cars, and later sometimes carried automobiles as well. Several of the busiest ferry routes were replaced by bridges or tunnels: Detroit to Windsor, Belle Isle, the Sault Ste. Maries, St. Ignace to Mackinaw City, Port Huron to Sarnia. Boblo ceased to be a destination with the closure of the amusement park. Changes in laws and industry lead to the end of the Lake Michigan railroad ferries.
The first autos crossed the Straits of Mackinac in 1917 on the SS Chief Wawatam. In 1923, the state of Michigan began an auto ferry service that was the first such system to be state-owned. It continued until the day the Mackinac Bridge opened. The law required the ferry service to cease so that the bridge would not have competition and could pay off its construction bonds faster. The passenger ferries and many of the rail ferries across the Detroit and St. Clair rivers had ended after the bridges and tunnels were built.
The ferries pioneered concepts in ship design and icebreaking techniques. Bow propellers and steel spoon-shaped bows made the rail ferries the best icebreakers on the lakes for many years until the dedicated U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers were assigned during World War II. In contrast, the ferries later had some of the most outdated equipment on the Lakes. The Badger, still in service in 2019, is the last coal-fired Great Lakes passenger steamer. The Chief Wawatam was the last hand-fed coal steamer and the Landsdowne was the last paddlewheeler when it was converted to a barge in 1970.
The Detroit-Windsor ferries were popular with small-scale bootleggers during Prohibition, especially as border guards were reluctant to search young Canadian women who worked in Detroit offices.
Automobile ferries
Lake Michigan
Cross-lake SS Badger, cross-lake, Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, connecting US Highway 10 (US 10) with its counterpart in Wisconsin, 4 hours HSC Lake Express, cross-lake, Muskegon, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2.5 hours
Beaver Island Current boats Beaver Islander, (built 1962), Charlevoix, Michigan to Beaver Island, 2 hours Emerald Isle, (built 1997), Charlevoix to Beaver Island, 2 hours Retired boats Emerald Isle (built 1955), in use 1955–62, then a Mackinac ferry until 1982, now Diamond Jack cruise on the Detroit River South Shore, (built 1945), for Miller Boat Line, Put-in-Bay, Ohio. Operated to Beaver Island from 1973 to 1997. Sold in 1999 to Shoreline Sightseeing Cruises, Chicago.
St. Marys River Ferry service to Sugar Island began in 1928 and to Neebish Island service in 1933, provided by private companies. The Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority assumed their operations in 1980.
Neebish Island Neebish Islander II, (built 1946), Neebish Island ferry, Barbeau, former Sugar Islander I Neebish Islander III, (built 2022)
Sugar Island Sugar Islander II, (built 1995), Sugar Island to Sault Ste. Marie
Lake Huron
Bois Blanc Island Kristen D (1987), Cheboygan to Bois Blanc Island
Drummond Island Current boats De Tour Village to Drummond Island, connecting M-134 across the DeTour Passage, since 1975, part of the Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority Drummond Islander III (built 1989) Drummond Islander IV, (built 2000) Retired boats Clyde, in use 1905–08 Naida, in use 1915–24 Drummond, in use 1922–24 and 1931–32 Phillip, in use 1922–30, destroyed by fire Wallan (built 1933), in use 1933–47, run by Road Commission from 1943 as Sam C. Taylor Drummond Islander I (built 1947), sold to Arnold Line and renamed Mackinac Islander Drummond Islander II, in use 1961–89, sold to MCM Marine as tugboat
St. Clair River Champion's Auto Ferry, Harsens Island, connecting M-154 to the mainland Arthur R Champion (1941) North Channel (1967) South Channel (1973) Middle Channel (1996) Walpole–Algonac Ferry Former Sombra–Marine City (Bluewater) Ferry – closed in January 2018 Daldean of Chatham (sold 2020) Ontamich (built 1939, sold 2020) Former vessel Lowell D of Chatham
Detroit River Former Detroit–Windsor Truck Ferry (closed 2023)
Internal Lake Charlevoix Ironton Ferry, southern arm of Lake Charlevoix, the Charlevoix a cable ferry built 1926 has a capacity of four vehicles on Ferry Road off M-66.
Passenger-only ferries
Lake Superior
Isle Royale
Isle Royale Queen IV, Copper Harbor, Michigan to Rock Harbor, Isle Royale National Park, 3.5 hours Ranger III, Houghton, Michigan to Rock Harbor, Isle Royale, 6 hours Sea Hunter, Grand Portage, Minnesota to Windigo, Isle Royale, 1.5 hours Voyageur II, Grand Portage, Minnesota to Isle Royale, 2–7.5 hours, multiple stops
Grand Island Grand Island ferry, Grand Island National Recreation Area
Lake Michigan Manitou Islands Mishe-Mokwa, Manitou Island Transit, North Manitou Island, 1 hour, and South Manitou Island, 1.5 hours
Little Traverse Bay Jacob's Run, the Little Traverse Bay Ferry, begun 2020, connecting Petoskey, Harbor Springs and Bay Harbor on Little Traverse Bay, half hour trip, a previous ferry on this route closed in the 1940s New Petoskey to Harbor Springs, Bay Harbor ferry service to launch June 25, mlive, May 27, 2020
Straits of Mackinac
Arnold Transit Company (most assets purchased by Star Line—now Mackinac Island Ferry Company—in 2016) Current boats Algomah (1961) Beaver, (1952), freight Chippewa (1962) Corsair (1955), freight Huron (1955) Mackinac Express (1987), catamaran Mackinac Islander (1947), formerly Drummond Islander, freight Ottawa (1959)
Straits of Mackinac II (1969)
Former boats Emerald Isle Built 1955 for Beaver Island Boat Company. Owned by Arnold Line from 1962 to 1982. Now in Detroit as the Diamond Jack. Algomah (built 1881), in use until the 1930s Chippewa, 1883 to 1943 ran a Cheboygan–Mackinac Island–Sault Ste. Marie route Detroit, later called Iroquois (built 1922) Mackinac (1909) Mackinac Islander (1922), in use 1938–69, originally The Oliver H. Perry, later freighter and sank as Alaska crab fishing boat Belair in 1974 Mackinac Islander (1958), sold in the 1980s, now Diamond Belle of Diamond Jack's River Cruises on the Detroit River Mohawk (1956), since 1995 Diamond Queen of Diamond Jack's River Cruises Island Express (1988), catamaran, now Pictured Rocks Express of Pictured Rocks Cruises in Munising, Michigan. Straits Express (1995), catamaran, was in New York City being used as a commuter ferry for Hornblower Cruises after leaving Michigan. It is now in service under the same name as a ferry in Puerto Rico operated by Hornblower Marine Services. Shepler's Ferry Capt. Shepler (1986) Felicity (1972) The Hope (1976) Miss Margy (2015)New ferry, built in Onaway, has maiden voyage, Presque Isle County Advance, October 15, 2015 Sacre Bleu (1959), formerly Put-in-Bay, freight The Welcome (1969) Wyandot (1979) Mackinac Island Ferry Company (formerly Star Line), (originally Argosy Boat Line (1962–1977), named Star Line (1977–2022))
Current boats La Salle (1983) Radisson (1988) Cadillac (1990) Joliet (1993) Marquette II (2005) Anna May (2012)
Retired boats La Salle Nicolet Treasure Islander Flamingo Marquette (1979)
St. Clair River Russell Island Ferry (private)
Internal Diane, the Saugatuck Chain Ferry, a chain ferry across the Kalamazoo River at Saugatuck, site of a ferry since 1838
Defunct ferries
Lake Michigan
Rail ferries to Wisconsin
The Ann Arbor Railroad, Grand Trunk, and Chesapeake and Ohio ran train ferries across Lake Michigan. Several of these also carried passengers in the upper decks. Ann Arbor Railroad ran ferries from Betsie Lake, Elberta, Michigan to Manistique, Michigan and Kewaunee, Wisconsin from 1892, Menominee, Michigan from 1894, Gladstone, Michigan from 1895, Manitowoc, Wisconsin from 1896. Service ended in 1982. (built 1892), burned to the waterline, 1910 (1892), in use until 1912, converted to barge Whale, a sandsucker (1898) (1906), sold to the state to ferry autos at Mackinac, renamed City of Cheboygan, 1937 (1910), sold to Bultema Dredge & Dock Co in 1967, used for the construction of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant near South Haven. 150 ft of stern sank on way to Padnos salvage in 1970. Stern rediscovered in May 2005 by Michigan Shipwreck Research Association(MSRA) (1917), renamed Arthur K. Atkinson in 1959, served a route from Frankfort, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin from 1980 to 1982 (1925), rebuilt as Viking and in service until 1982 Maitland No. 1, chartered for part of 1915 (1927) , a Grand Trunk Western vessel was leased in 1978. Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company ran rail ferries from Grand Haven, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1903 to 1933. From 1933 to 1978 the route was Muskegon to Milwaukee. SS Milwaukee (built 1902) formerly Manistique, Marquette & Northern 1, sank near Milwaukee in 1929, with 52 dead (built 1903) (1926) (1927) , (built 1930), sailed for Grand Trunk until 1978.
Pere Marquette Railway, later part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, ran rail ferries from Ludington to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kewaunee, Wisconsin and Manitowoc, Wisconsin in Wisconsin. Their superintendent for over 30 years was William L. Mercereau. The last route (Kewaunee) ended on July 1, 1983. Michigan-Wisconsin Transportation Company acquired the ferries and ran until 1990. Pere Marquette 15 (built 1896), in service 1900–35 Pere Marquette 16 (1895), in service 1900–14, worked for Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western 1898–99 Pere Marquette 17 (1901), in service until 1940, converted to auto ferry in 1940 at Straits of Mackinac, scrapped in 1961 Pere Marquette 18 (1st) (1902), in service until 1910, sank in Lake Michigan with 29 lives lost Pere Marquette 19 (1903), in service until 1940 Pere Marquette 20 (1903), in service until 1938, converted to auto ferry at Straits of Mackinac in 1938, converted to warehouse in 1959 Pere Marquette 18 (2nd) (1911), in service until 1952 Pere Marquette 21 (1924), in service until 1973 Pere Marquette 22 (1924), in service until 1973