A FAHERTY GUIDE TO LAKE MICHIGAN

LONG BEFORE CABINS AND TOWNS dotted the shoreline, the Laurentide ice sheet formed the basin that we know as Lake Michigan. When the glaciers retreated, the marvel of the inland sea was left behind. Just over 8,000 years ago, the levels would rise enough to drown oak trees miles away from the coast we now know.

Communities took root and evolved to fit the lake’s shores, waves and weather. The Ho-Chunk, Huron, Menominee and Chippewa [to name a few] would entwine their lives in the water’s bounty of resources. French explorer Jean Nicolet, landing in Green Bay, would confuse the lake with the Pacific Ocean. Jesuit priests navigated it in birch-bark canoes; Father Jacques Marquette nearly circumnavigated the lake in its entirety. Later, steamship and ferry routes were stitched across it, linking Franklin to Milwaukee, Manitowac to Ludington. The sense of awe that rises in sight of the lake’s strangeness and wonder is a historical through-line.

Roadtrippers rambling the M-22 still locate that awe as they snake along the coastline, ferry-riders can feel it as they board the S.S. Badger, the last remaining coal-powered passenger steamship of its kind. From the water, they see tumbling hills of orchard lands and great, golden dunes. These moments have made Lake Michigan’s looping coast a refuge for generations of travelers and holiday-makers, dotted with cottages and retreats which, in so many cases, anchor whole family mythologies.

As we contemplated the lake to create this book, learning lore of land and water and Lambeau Field, our minds kept wandering back to a fellow named John Samuel Hawkinson. He was an artist, conservationist and iconoclast, and he loved the lake. Hawkinson was the last land-owning holdout in the Central Dunes of the Indiana Lakeshore, a place now recorded among our lost landscapes. As a young man, sitting out on a grand dune with his pad and watercolors, he tried to capture the landscape that was so captivatingly different from his native Chicago, just down the road. Hawkinson understood that the more the modern world tries to hem us in, the more essential are the things that people have always found along the Lake Michigan shoreline: a sense of wide wildness, the inspiration to create, the rustic comforts of a simple, sturdy cabin.

OVAL BEACH
Bordered by the Kalamazoo as it meets the lake, a treasured shoreline among towering dunes.

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL PARK
Wind and waves shaped the land along 15 miles of Indiana coast. Birders look up for prairie warblers, laughing gulls, Louisiana waterthrush.

LUDINGTON FERRY
The S.S. Badger is an icon, providing a shortcut across the lake for more than 70 years.

TRAVERSE CITY
On the shores of Grand Traverse Bay, sweeping vistas and the famed National Cherry Festival.

SAUGATUCK DUNES STATE PARK
300 acres of coastal dunes and wetlands, four sandy footpaths to the lake.

GRAND HAVEN
The crimson south pier lighthouses have been a beacon for more than 100 years.

THE M-22
116 miles of shoreline byway reveals wonders aplenty: orchards, vineyards, valleys, forests and waterways.

TORCH LAKE
Crystalline waters—and a sandbar beach for swimming and wading—beckon at Michigan’s longest inland lake.

GLEN ARBOR
Roberts Farm Preserve grooms and tracks seven miles of idyllic Nordic trail for cross-country, snowshoes and dog rambles.

KOHLER-ANDRAE STATE PARK A pristine natural preserve is also a prime Wisconsin surf spot surrounded by rolling, golden dunes.

SLEEPING BEAR DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE Grand dune hikes via the Pierce Stocking Trailhead, plus a 7.4-mile scenic drive through hardwood forest.

SHEBOYGAN
It’s a sportsman’s paradise here in the ‘Malibu of the Midwest’, where freshwater surfers and fishermen coalesce.

SCHOOLHOUSE BEACH
Thank glaciers and waves for this Washington Island gem: a geological wonder of smooth limestone pebble beach and an ethereal stretch of swim terrain.

STURGEON BAY
This close-knit lakeside community is one of Door County’s most charming (and the shipbuilding capital of all the Great Lakes).

LEELANAU PENINSULA
The little finger of Michigan’s mitten is a region of astonishing natural wonder–and the scenic backdrop of the M-22, road trip gold.

WHITEFISH DUNES STATE PARK
Paddle via canoe or kayak through dunelands and forest. In the park’s nature center, learn about its ecosystem, indigenous history and shipwreck lore.

BRADFORD BEACH
Right on the route of the Lake Michigan Flyway, birders come for migration sightings and cones at the beloved MooSa’s custard stand.

TANDEM CIDERS
On Leelanau Peninsula, ferments made from Crimson Gold, Evercrisp, McIntosh, Northern Spy and many, many more.

OLD MISSION PENINSULA The heart of Northern Michigan wine country, where vineyards and tasting rooms abound. Don’t sleep on a ramble in the state park with its 40 miles of former orchard.

MACKINAC ISLAND
This singular vacation island has been car-free for 100 years–take the ferry and explore by foot, horse and bike.

WHIHALA BEACH
20 acres of sandy beach sunbathing with views of the Chicago skyline.

GLEN ARBOR
Come summer, among many local charms, you’ll find competitive cherry pit-spitters in Cherry Republic’s championship arena.

Faherty’s regenerative cotton meets strict standards for a responsible supply chain–and makes a product that lasts.

WHAT MAKES IT REGENERATIVE?

Regenerative cotton goes beyond sustainability–it actively improves the health of the soil, the ecosystem, and the communities that grow it. At Faherty, it’s a cornerstone of our mission to make high-quality clothing while leaving the planet better than we found it.

This means cotton grown using farming methods that rebuild soil health and restore its natural carbon-capturing ability; increase biodiversity and water retention; avoid synthetic pesticides and fertilizers; and support farmers’ livelihoods and long-term land productivity.

WHY IT MATTERS

Conventional cotton farming is resource-intensive, depleting soils and ecosystems. Regenerative practices help draw carbon back into the soil, combating climate change, improving the resilience of crops and farmers’ incomes, and fostering healthier ecosystems and cleaner water.

OUR COMMITMENT

Partnering directly with farmers and suppliers to source regenerative cotton means we can support education and investment in regenerative agriculture globally–and expand regenerative cotton use across our core product lines.

THE OUTCOME

At Faherty, we make clothes that matter. And by growing regenerative materials, we’re healing soil, building relationships with landscapes, and supporting environment-restorative methods of farming. In doing this, we can restore our own relationships to the earth.

“The apparel world can feel industrial, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s possible to have intimacy with beautiful materials, a deep knowledge of and belief in where it comes from, its origin story.” - Mike Faherty

Flannel is a symbol of warmth, grit, and timeless American style. With the LegendTM Shirt, Faherty has taken this staple and made it ridiculously soft–reimagining an outdoors essential through
a lens of elevated comfort.

1  Brushed fabric crafted by hand in a 60+ step manufacturing process in Turkey– often imitated, never duplicated.

2  Four-way stretch for unrestricted movement, two chest pockets, shirttail hem.

3 Heritage flannel feel, in a range of plaids, solids and seasonals.

4 A timeless Faherty original that’s built to last and worthy of handing down.

A heritage of brewing, lake sport and culture

BEER
Milwaukee’s first commercial brewery opened in 1840 and suds have defined the city since. Where to experience it: Milwaukee Brewfest, July

ICE FISHING
Lakes and bays freeze, shanties crop up. Inside: fish tales, bad jokes, warming beverages. Where to experience it: Green Bay

SAILING
Schooners plied the lake in the 19th century. Yachties still run a Chicago-to-Mackinac sloop race launched in 1898. Where to experience it: Traverse Tall Ship Company, Traverse City

POTLUCKS
Whole taxonomies of casseroles in church basements and park pavilions. Where to experience it: Milwaukee Record Casserole Call, December

FUDGE
Such a vacation-town staple in Northern Michigan that tourists are branded “fudgies.” Where to experience it: Murdick’s, Mackinaw City