Round Island is an uninhabited island in

Mackinac County Mackinac County ( ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 10,834. The county seat is St. Ignace. Formerly known as Michilimackinac County, in 1818 it was one of the first ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 located in the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The Native Americans called the island "Nissawinagong." The island has an area of . Almost the entire island comprises the Round Island

Wilderness Area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

within the

Hiawatha National Forest Hiawatha National Forest is a National Forest in the Upper Peninsula of the state of Michigan in the United States. Commercial logging is conducted in some areas. The United States Forest Service administers this National Forest; it is physical ...

. The island is nominally part of the City of

Mackinac Island, Michigan Mackinac Island ( ) is a city in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a permanent population of 583. The population numbers in the tens of thousands from May 1st to October 31st due to an influx o ...

, but is in fact overseen by the U.S. Forest Service. Round Island is adjacent to, and to some extent protects the harbor of, nearby Mackinac Island, and the estimated 900,000 tourists who visit Mackinac Island annually by

ferryboat A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

pass close by Round Island on their journeys. To Round Island's southeast lies the inhabited island of Bois Blanc.

Description

Ecologically, Round Island contains beach/marshy shore, conifer forest, hardwood forest. Bordering a shoreline of cobblestones, cobblestones/sand, and sandy beach is a conifer forest that includes

northern whitecedar ''Thuja occidentalis'', also known as northern white-cedar, eastern white-cedar, or arborvitae, is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is native to eastern Canada and much of the north-central and northeastern ...

white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce ('' Picea'') and may refer to: * ''Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States * '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the ...

, and

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

. On the Island's height is a mature beech-maple forest featuring

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prim ...

paper birch ''Betula papyrifera'' (paper birch, also known as (American) white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named for the tree's thin white bark, which often peels in paper like ...

, and some American beech, although the beech population was hard-hit by disease in the 21st century. The sole building on the island (and sole land parcel that is not designated wilderness) is the Round Island Light, a lighthouse constructed in 1895. The ship

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

between Mackinac Island and Round Island, lighted by Round Island Light, is called

Round Island Channel The Round Island Channel is a navigable Lake Huron waterway located between Mackinac Island and Round Island in the Straits of Mackinac. It forms a key link in the lake freighter route between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, on which millions of t ...

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film '' Superman'' (1978) and three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey ...

and

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...

can be seen sitting near the lighthouse in the 1980 movie '' Somewhere in Time'' which was filmed primarily on Mackinac Island. The lighthouse is off limits to anyone who may visit the island. While it is rare for Round Island to see any visitors, there is a small cove on the Island's northeast shore that attracts occasional inhabitants of Mackinac Island who sail to the harbor's sandy beach for a secluded, quiet visit. (The beaches of Mackinac Island are generally rocky.)

References

External links

Beacons in the Night, Michigan Lighthouse Chronology, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.
{{authority control IUCN Category Ib Islands of Lake Huron in Michigan Protected areas of Mackinac County, Michigan Uninhabited islands of Michigan Wilderness areas of Michigan Hiawatha National Forest Islands of Mackinac County, Michigan