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Great
Lakes Circle Tour
Overview
The
Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated, scenic road system connecting
all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The Circle Tour, established
by the Great Lakes Commission in cooperation with its eight member states
and the province of Ontario, promotes travel and tourism along the shores
of "North America's Fresh Coast." Among thousands of places
of interest, the Great Lakes Circle Tour showcases the world's largest
body of fresh water, its most famous waterfall and other unique natural
features ranging from magnificent dune-lands to majestic cliffs. Whether
you are camping at one of the many national, state or provincial parks
or enjoying the symphony in an historic, urban district, the Circle Tour
can accommodate a spectrum of experiences.
The Circle Tour is over 6,500 miles or 10,500 kilometers long. It encompasses
individual lake Circle Tours including New York State's Seaway Trail system.
The road route, marked by distinctive green and white signs, is usually
the closest major road or highway to the water. Official spur routes such
as the Lake Michigan carferry are identified by brown and white signs.
Each page in this section provides an informational map with a key, and
links to web sites that will help in planning your trip as well as a road
route. Please be aware that the road routes are general, and should be
used in conjunction with a detailed road map.
Background
At
its Annual Meeting in November 1988, the Great Lakes Commission approved
a “Great Lakes Circle Tour” project. The circle tour idea
had originated with the Commission’s Tourism and Outdoor Recreation
Task Force. This group of state and provincial representatives acknowledged
the interstate and U.S. - Canada competitive environment on tourism and
sought a cooperative regional project where all jurisdictions could work
together. The Circle Tour offers an opportunity to showcase the Great
Lakes resource where promotion can be both collaborative and localized.
All eight Great Lakes States tourism/travel office directors endorsed
the idea.
The Commission formed a Great Lakes Circle Tour Task Force and charged
it with developing appropriate polices. With the Lake Superior and Lake
Michigan Circle Tours already in existence, the Task Force focused on
route designation for Lakes Huron and Erie and systemwide signage. The
New York Seaway Trail was also established by this time and the Task Force
recommended its inclusion in the Circle Tour system. The Seaway Trail
is recognized by many as the “gold standard” for its success
and promotional efforts. The Task Force recognized that replicating New
York’s experience across the Great Lakes Basin may be difficult,
especially in the short term. It was agreed that local jurisdictions should
have primary promotion responsibilities to be aided by the states and
provinces where practical, such as designating routes on official highway
maps and referencing it on web sites.
The Task Force produced a full-color "lure piece" brochure and
distributed 50,000 copies to the states and Ontario and Quebec. New logos
were established for the overall system and Lakes Erie and Huron. A conference
was organized in Toledo to present the initiative to the region and gather
promotion ideas. Other issues were addressed including signage size which
varies with type of roadway and route location - state/provincial trunkline
closest the Great Lakes shoreline or connecting waterway. On August 23,
1990 the Great Lake Circle Tour as well as the U.S. portion of the Lake
Erie Circle Tour were dedicated at Sandusky, Ohio with the Ohio Governor
and the Commission Chairman presiding.
During the decade following dedication, the Great Lakes Commission has
organized separate Circle Tours workshops for Lakes Superior, Michigan
and Erie where local promotion was the focus. Ohio's portion of Lake Erie
has embraced this idea with county convention and visitors bureaus collaborating
on promotion programs and materials including their "Lake Erie Escapades"
initiative. The Commission staff has used various forums to describe the
Circle Tour and worked with authors as they prepared books on the topic.
In one instance, staff worked with the Lake Michigan Carferry Service,
Inc. to designate the the cross-Lake Michigan auto ferry as an official
spur route for the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. The Commission has also
prepared online information for the Circle Tour which is available by
accessing the Great
Lakes Information Network
Seaway Trail
Traveling the 518-mile Great Lakes Seaway Trail through New York and Pennsylvania takes you along the scenic shoreline of Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Ancient glaciers carved a landscape of waters, drumlins, and plains that includes the 1000 Islands, Niagara Falls, the northern hardwood forest, Presque Isle, and the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. The Seaway Trail encompasses the military conflict, agricultural ingenuity, and recreational resourcefulness that shapes this distinct setting.
Today, you can travel the Seaway Trail on bicycles and motorcycles, in motor coaches and RVs, and by car and camper. Discover a world filled with maritime and military historic sites, museums, farm tours, marinas, campgrounds, and trails for hiking, biking, and skiing.
Twenty-eight historic lighthouses, built in various architectural styles, dot the Seaway Trail shoreline. Some have public museums, some offer overnight accommodations.
Many of the major battles of the War of 1812 took place along the shoreline of the Seaway Trail. Forts, battlefields, military cemeteries and former shipbuilding communities retain their historic links. Sackets Harbor, home to the Seaway Trail Discovery Center, was the site of two British attacks designed to disrupt military shipbuilding. Exhibits at Presque Isle State Park near Erie, Pennsylvania, tell the story of U.S. naval officer Oliver Hazard Perry who declared, “We have met the enemy and they are ours” after capturing a British squadron on Lake Erie in September 1813.
Follow the green-and-white Trailblazer signs. 
Copyright 2007 National Scenic Byways Online. All rights reserved. For more information http://www.byways.org/
Museum
ships
Cleveland
The
WIILIAM G. MATHER a laker built in 1925 and a former flagship for the
Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, has been turned into a maritime museum
and is open to the public in Cleveland, Ohio in the North Coast Harbor.
| The
Steamship William G. Mather is a retired Great Lakes bulk freighter
now restored as a maritime museum in Cleveland, Ohio, one of four
in the Great Lakes region. She transported cargo such as ore, coal,
stone, and grain to ports throughout the Great Lakes, and was nicknamed
"The Ship That Built Cleveland" because Cleveland's steel
mills were a frequent destination.
She was built in as the
flagship for the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company and was named in
honor of the then-company president, William Gwinn Mather. The Mather
remained the Cliffs' flagship until the Edward B. Green (now the
Kaye E. Barker of the Interlake Steamship Company fleet) was built
in 1952. She remained an active part of the Cliffs' fleet until
the end of the 1980 navigation season.
In order to supply the
Allied Forces need for steel during World War II, the Mather led
a convoy of 13 freighters in early 1941 through the ice-choked Upper
Great Lakes to Duluth, Minnesota, setting a record for the first
arrival in a northern port. This heroic effort was featured in the
April 28, 1941 issue of Life Magazine. She was one of the first
commercial Great Lakes vessels to be equipped with radar in 1946.
In 1964, she became the very first American vessel to have an automated
boiler system, manufactured by Bailey Controls of Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1985, Cleveland-Cliffs
sold its two remaining operating steamers to Rouge Steel Company,
and gradually sold off its idle vessels until only the Mather remained,
laid up in Toledo, Ohio where she had been since 1980. On December
10, 1987, Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. donated the steamer William G.
Mather to the Great Lakes Historical Society to be restored and
preserved as a museum ship and floating maritime museum. After she
was brought to Cleveland in October 1988 and funding was acquired
from local foundations, corporations, and individuals, restoration
began. Fire damage to the Mather's galley and after cabin spaces
required a major restoration effort. All over the vessel, most of
the work was supplied by volunteers who repaired, cleaned, chipped,
painted, and polished brass in order to restore the Mather's former
elegance. In October 1990, she was moved to her permanent berth
at the East Ninth Street Pier on Cleveland's North Coast Harbor.
In September 1994 the
Great Lakes Historical Society divested itself of the museum. Due,
in large part, to a groundswell of local support to keep the Mather
in Cleveland, the Harbor Heritage Society was created to negotiate
a new lease agreement with the city. Incorporated in June 1995,
Harbor Heritage formally acquired the Mather on 22 July 1995, and
in 1996 continued to oversee the Mather's ongoing restoration, promotion,
and development as a historic vessel. After 10 years of negotiations,
the City Of Cleveland, represented by Mayor Jane L. Campbell signed
a 40 year lease on 15 June 2003, allowing the Mather to stay at
its East 9th Street berth.
On July 30, 1995 the
Steamship William G. Mather was dedicated as an American Society
of Mechanical Engineers National Historic Mechanical Engineering
Landmark for her 1954 installation of a single marine boiler and
steam turbine engine, her 1964 installation of the Bailey 760 Boiler
Control System and American Shipbuilding AmThrust dual propeller
bow thruster — all firsts for U.S.-Flag Great Lakes vessels.
Current location
In Fall of 2005, the
museum was moved from the East Ninth Street Pier to Dock 32, just
west of the East Ninth Street Pier.
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Duluth-Superior
The
WILLIAM A.IRVIN which served as the flagship of US Steel's Great Lakes
fleet from its launch in 1938 to 1975 and was the first laker to incorperate
welding in her design is open for tours at the Great Lakes Floating Maritime
Museum in Duluth, Minnesota. Another museum ship, the METEOR, is the last
ship of the whaleback design, and is a museum in Superior, Wisconsin which
was the home of the American Steel Barge Company where the whalebacks
were built.
Sault Ste. Marie
The
VALLEY CAMP was built in 1917 and served the National Steel Corporation,
the Republic Steel Corporation, and Wilson Transit Co during its 1917-1966
working life. It became a museum ship on the waterfront of the 'American
Soo', east of the Soo Locks, in 1968.
Toledo
The
WILLIS B. BOYER is another Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company vessel that sailed
from 1911 to 1980 and was originally owned by the Shenango Furnace Company
and named the Col. James Schoonmaker; she is open to the public as a museum
in Toledo, Ohio.
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