Arch Rock is a geologic formation on Mackinac Island in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It is a natural limestone arch formed during the Nipissing post-glacial period, a period of high Lake Huron levels following the end of the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...

. To this day Arch Rock stands on the Lake Huron shoreline above the water. Limestone

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of ...

is not an ideal material for natural bridges, and this type of formation is quite rare in the North American

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

region. The Native Americans saw Arch Rock as a place of

numinous Numinous () is a term derived from the Latin ''numen'', meaning "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring."Collins English Dictionary -7th ed. - 2005 The term was given its present sense by the German theologian and ph ...

power, and told many stories and legends about it. Euro-Americans did not share many of the taboos of their Native predecessors, and treated Arch Rock as a curiosity to be admired. One early chronicler was

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his wor ...

who wrote of the "Giant's Arch" "of extraordinary shape" during his visit in August, 1831. Its presence was a major element in the decisions to create

Mackinac National Park Mackinac National Park was a United States national park that existed from 1875 to 1895 on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan, making it the second U.S. national park after Yellowstone National Park. The park was created in response to the gr ...

in 1875 and its successor,

Mackinac Island State Park Mackinac Island State Park is a state park located on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. A Lake Huron island, it is near the Straits of Mackinac. The island park encompasses , which is approximately 80% of the island's total are ...

, in 1895. Arch Rock has been a part of the State Park ever since. Today Arch Rock is a focus of Mackinac Island tourism, and is seen by many visitors to the Island. Several trails and paved roads, including the aptly named Arch Rock Road and Arch Rock Bicycle Trail, lead to the formation.

References

{{coord, 45.857791, N, 84.607267, W, display=title Geology of Michigan Mackinac Island State Park Natural arches of Michigan Protected areas of Mackinac County, Michigan Historic district contributing properties in Michigan Landforms of Mackinac County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Mackinac County, Michigan Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan