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Lake Huron Circle Tour

Lake Huron Circle Tour route markerThe Lake Huron Circle Tour (LHCT) traverses a 1,059-mile (1,704 km) route around the second-largest Great Lake through Michigan and Ontario. Those two jurisdictions roughly split the mainline route mileage of the LHCT—55% in Ontario and 45% in Michigan. A split-route configuration for the Lake Huron Circle Tour Loop in Ontario also traverses Manitoulin Island, utilizes the MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry between South Baymouth and Tobermory, and runs the length of the Bruce Peninsula. Michigan LHCT route markers use the standard white-on-green style, while Ontario opted for a white-on-blue style instead. Maintenance of LHCT route markers in Ontario has ceased and most have disappeared, while the route is still reasonably well signed in Michigan.

Lake Huron Circle Tour Route

Michigan

The Lake Huron Circle Tour (LHCT) enters the state from Ontario at Port Huron, traverses around the entirety of Michigan’s Thumb, around Saginaw Bay, then up the state’s east coast to the tip of the Lower Peninsula. There, it crosses the Mackinac Bridge and continues through the eastern Upper Peninsula to Sault Ste. Marie where it crosses the International Bridge and continues back into Ontario. In Michigan, the 481-mile (775 km) route follows the mainline state trunkline highway running closest to Lake Huron. The officially designated route for the LHCT is as follows:

Lake Huron Circle Tour route marker - OntarioOntario

The LHCT enters the province from Ontario in the middle of the International Bridge spanning the St. Marys River dividing Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The 931 km (578-mile) route then travels along the highway closest to Lake Huron easterly to Sudbury, then southerly and westerly around the remainder of Georgian Bay to Owen Sound where it continues southerly along the Lake Huron shore to Sarnia and Port Edwards where the route continues into Michigan via the Blue Water Bridge. The 255 km (158-mile) LHCT “Georgian Bay Route” Lake Huron Circle Tour route marker - Ontario French language versionshaves 306 km (190 miles) from the route running via Manitoulin Island, then across the mouth of Georgian Bay via the MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry, then southerly down the Bruce Peninsula, although this route can only be fully traversed from May to October each year while the ferry is in service. To accommodate francophone tourists, Ontario also posted a companion LHCT route marker (see image at right) reading Lac Huron Circuit Périphérique. The designated route for the LHCT in Ontario is as follows:

Lake Huron Circle Tour Loop Routes

Lake Huron Circle Tour Loop route markerLake Huron Circle Tour - Loop Route (De Tour Village)

A locally-designated loop route which helps circle tour motorists navigate into and through the off-route community of De Tour Village, the jumping-off point for the ferry to Drummond Island. As with all Loop Routes, this route is designated with white-on-brown circle tour signs, using the same LHCT "logo." The route:

Lake Huron Circle Tour Loop route markerLake Huron Circle Tour - Georgian Bay Route

When it was signed, the Georgian Bay Route was signed and shown on maps as a split-route, using the same signs as the mainline route, unlike the various Circle Tour Loops and Spurs elsewhere using white-on-brown route markers. This route measuring 255 km (158 miles) in length—including the 40 km (25 mile) ferry segment—is only fully traversable from May to October when the MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry is in operation.

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