Thunder Bay is a bay in 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 sover ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

. The bay extends from North Point at to South Point at . The city of Alpena lies at the mouth of the

Thunder Bay River The Thunder Bay River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It drains much of Alpena County and Montmorency County, ...

at . The entire bay lies within Alpena County, with Alpena Township in the north and Sanborn Township in the south. Several islands in the bay are protected as part of the

Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge The Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for nine Michigan islands in the North American Great Lakes. Owned by the United States federal government, they were set aside for ecosystem protection purposes by President Franklin ...

Thunder Bay Island Thunder Bay Island is a island in Lake Huron. The island is one of eight constituent islands of the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The island is part of Alpena Township in Alpena County. It marks the entrance to Thunder Bay, the h ...

lies just east of North Point outside the bay. The wildlife in the Bay's waters are protected as part of the

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve is a United States National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Huron's Thunder Bay, within the northeastern region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It protects an estimated 116 historically sig ...

. The name is the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation of the French ''Anse du Tonnerre'', which appears as early as the map of Franquelin in 1688. It was probably derived from the Native American name, as they believed that the Bay was peculiarly subject to thunder storms. There are a substantial number of shipwrecks in and around Thunder Bay. Diving is an important activity.

References

{{Great Lakes Bodies of water of Alpena County, Michigan Bays of Michigan Bays of Lake Huron