13 Michigan Lighthouses You Can Stay Overnight In

Last Updated: July 2026

Michigan lighthouses you can spend the night in number exactly 13 — and most of them are not what people expect. You cannot simply book a room at nine of them. Instead you apply, you are selected, and then you work: greeting visitors, running tours, sweeping the tower. The most sought-after one costs $250 a person and its 2026 application deadline was in February.

I split my time between Michigan and Chicago, and our lighthouses are the thing I drag every visitor to see. Covering Great Lakes travel for WDIV Detroit, the question I get asked most is whether you can really sleep in one. You can — but the how, the cost, and the deadlines vary enormously, and that is exactly what most guides get wrong. Here is what is actually true for 2026.

The Three Ways to Sleep in a Michigan Lighthouse

Before you fall in love with a particular lighthouse, work out which category it falls into — because the difference decides whether you can book it next week or need to apply next winter.

Book it like a hotel (four lighthouses). Big Bay Point is a genuine bed and breakfast. Eagle River and Point Betsie are rentals. McGulpin Point has a cottage apartment on the grounds. You pay, you show up, you relax. No duties.

Apply and volunteer (eight lighthouses). This is the majority, and it is where most people are surprised. You submit an application — sometimes with a letter, a resume, and a phone interview — and if you are selected, you pay a fee and you work. At Tawas Point that is roughly 30 hours a week. At Mission Point you run the gift shop. It is genuinely rewarding, and it is genuinely a job.

Bring a group (one lighthouse). Fort Gratiot’s bunk-room overnight requires 20 or more people. Perfect for a scout troop. Impossible for a couple.

Map of Michigan Lighthouses You Can Spend the Night In

Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state — over 120 along our coastline — and these 13 are the ones where you can actually stay. Click the map to plan the route.

Michigan Lighthouses You Can Simply Book

Start here if you want a holiday rather than a volunteer post. These four require nothing from you but a reservation.

Big Bay Point Lighthouse: The Only Real B&B

Best for: couples who want a lighthouse stay with zero obligations. This is the most turnkey option in the state, and the only one that operates as a full bed and breakfast.

Built in 1896 and automated in 1944, Big Bay Point sits on a bluff with the light 105 feet above Lake Superior. It has run as a B&B since 1986. Owner Nick Korstad — his fifth lighthouse, and also keeper of Browns Head Lighthouse in Maine — has restored it steadily since buying it in 2018.

What you get: seven guest rooms, most with lake views, some with fireplaces. A sauna. A half mile of Lake Superior shore and over 40 acres of wooded trails. You can climb the tower. On clear nights the Northern Lights are visible from the property, and Korstad rates the fall color here among the best anywhere.

💡 PRO TIP: If you are not ready to commit to a night, public tours run on Sundays in summer. Note that this is genuinely remote — cell service is limited, and the property has a reputation for being haunted, which the owner takes in good humour. Nearby, Presque Isle Park in Marquette has the Black Rocks.

Point Betsie Lighthouse: Lake Michigan Sunsets Near Frankfort

Best for: families who want a week on a world-class beach. Point Betsie is a rental, not a keeper program — you book the Keeper’s Quarters and the week is yours.

The 1858 lighthouse is the oldest structure in Benzie County. The apartment sleeps a family — queen bed, full-size pull-out sofa, two twins, full kitchen and bath, an outdoor grill — and you get unlimited tours of the lighthouse during your stay. The tower is only 34 steps.

The name comes from the French “Pointe Aux Bec Scies,” itself derived from the Indigenous “Ug-Zig-A-Zee-Bee,” which the People of the Three Fires Council gave to a river just south where sawbill ducks thrived. It translates as Saw Beak Point.

💡 PRO TIP: The 2026 construction is a real trade-off. You get reduced rates and a front-row seat to the shoreline work, but if you are coming for silence, this is not your summer. The beach here is excellent for rock hunting, and it sits just south of Sleeping Bear Dunes and north of Frankfort.

Eagle River Lighthouse: The Whole Lighthouse to Yourself

Best for: a group or family who wants privacy. Unlike most stays where you get a room, here you rent the entire lighthouse.

Sitting at the mouth of the Eagle River on the Keweenaw Peninsula, it was originally built in the 1850s and decommissioned in 1908 after guiding mariners along one of Lake Superior’s most rugged coastlines. It was bought and restored by preservationist Edward “Bud” Cole in the 1990s, and his family runs it as a private vacation rental.

The restoration is substantial: around 3,000 square feet of living space, a gourmet kitchen, a library, three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and roughly 1,200 square feet of deck plus a four-season sunroom. It makes an excellent base for exploring the Keweenaw or for a fall color trip. Availability and rates are handled through the family’s listing — check current pricing before you plan.

McGulpin Point Lighthouse: The Only One Open in Winter

Best for: a winter getaway, and for stargazers. This is the only lighthouse stay on this list available year-round.

Owned and preserved by Emmet County, McGulpin Point began operation in 1869 to guide ships through the Straits of Mackinac, and it was decommissioned in 1906 before being sold to the county in 2009 and reopened to the public. The 10-acre site includes 336 feet of shoreline and views of the Mackinac Bridge.

💡 PRO TIP: McGulpin sits about 1.7 miles from Headlands International Dark Sky Park, one of Michigan’s designated dark sky parks. That combination — a lighthouse you can book in February and a dark sky park down the road — is the best aurora setup in the Lower Peninsula. Mackinaw City is minutes away.

Michigan Lighthouse Keeper Programs: Apply, Then Work

These eight are the ones people misunderstand. You are not booking a hotel — you are applying for a volunteer post, and if you are selected, you pay a fee and put in real hours. I say that not to put you off but because nobody else says it, and readers turn up expecting a holiday.

Tawas Point Lighthouse: The Most Competitive Program in the State

Best for: a team of four friends who plan ahead. This is the one everyone wants, and the one most often misdescribed.

The Michigan DNR selects teams of four. Across your two-week stay you will greet visitors, lead tours up and down those 85 steps, provide information, and clean the quarters thoroughly before you leave. That is the deal, and past keepers seem to love it — one 2025 keeper described biking and swimming each morning before five hours of tours.

The quarters are genuinely comfortable: two bedrooms sleeping four adults, a full kitchen, a full bathroom, and free on-site parking. The lighthouse operated from 1876 to 2016 and its original fourth-order Fresnel lens is still in the tower. The setting is the payoff — Lake Huron on three sides, one of the best birding points in the state, and the sunrises that give the Sunrise Coast its name.

💡 PRO TIP: Applications for the following season open in winter and close at the end of February. If you want a 2027 slot, start assembling your team of four this autumn — and be honest with them about the 30 hours a week. East Tawas is a good little town to have as your off-duty base.

Mission Point Lighthouse: Keeper Program in Wine Country

Best for: couples who want the keeper experience with a winery down the road. The most oversubscribed program in Michigan, for an obvious reason.

Built in 1870 and decommissioned in 1933, Mission Point sits at the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula on the 45th parallel — halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. Keepers commit by the week and run the gift shop, give tower tours, clean the tower daily (windows, railings, steps), and handle grounds work that can include painting, mowing, and minor carpentry.

The quarters have a full kitchen, Wi-Fi, cable, central air, and laundry. You bring your own linens, pillows, towels, and food. The lighthouse is entirely volunteer-run — the keepers are the reason it opens at all.

The draw is the location: you are fifteen minutes from the Old Mission wineries and downtown Traverse City, and there is a beach and hiking trails at the park itself.

Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse: The Cheapest Keeper Stay

Best for: a group of two to four who want the best value on this list. At $150 per person for a week, nothing else comes close.

You stay in the restored 1908 assistant keeper’s house — two bedrooms with queen beds, full kitchen, living and dining area, one bathroom — and serve as a docent, welcoming visitors and telling the lighthouse’s story.

And what a story. The first keeper, Peter Shook, drowned during a supply trip in 1849, the first Michigan lighthouse keeper to die in service. His wife Catherine took over with eight children and became the first official head female lighthouse keeper in Michigan. She was paid the same as her husband — but was not permitted to sign for delivered materials, because she was a woman. Her eldest son had to sign instead.

The current brick tower dates to 1857, replacing the original 1848 lake-stone structure. It stands 89 feet with 103 steps to the top, and the lighthouse remains an active aid to navigation. The surrounding county park has campsites if you want to bring family along.

💡 PRO TIP: “Barques” rhymes with “bark.” Say it right and you will sound like you have been coming here for years. This is one of the quieter corners of Michigan’s Thumb, and Port Austin and Turnip Rock are a short drive up the coast.

40 Mile Point Lighthouse: Bring Your RV, and Your Dog

Best for: RV travellers, and the only stay on this list where a dog is genuinely welcome. It is also the cheapest — your entire cost is a $25 application fee.

This is the most generous arrangement in the state and almost nobody knows about it. You park your own RV on the lighthouse grounds — a short walk over a sand dune to Lake Huron — and act as a docent in the lighthouse, tower, gift shop, or the Calcite Pilot House. A county groundskeeper handles maintenance and cleaning; that is explicitly not your job.

Completed in 1896 and automated in 1944, the lighthouse still has its original fourth-order Fresnel lens. There is a washer and dryer in the lighthouse for keepers, and a golf cart you can use. A seven-mile bike and hike trail runs to Rogers City.

💡 PRO TIP: Tune to 107.3 FM as you approach and you will hear a recorded history of the lighthouse. And walk up the beach — the remains of the wooden steamer Joseph S. Fay, wrecked in 1905, are still visible on the shore.

Grand Traverse Lighthouse: A Week on the Leelanau

Best for: anyone who wants to be based in the Leelanau Peninsula for a week. Volunteer keepers stay for week-long shifts.

Built in 1852 at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula in Northport, it operated for 120 years and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Keepers run tours, operate the gift shop, and help with general upkeep. You can climb the tower for views across Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay.

Check the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum for current keeper availability and terms — the schedule and fee structure change, so confirm before you plan. Glen Arbor, Empire, and Sleeping Bear Dunes are all within easy reach.

Crisp Point Lighthouse: The Shipwreck Coast

Best for: people who want genuine solitude and do not mind that this is not a luxury stay.

Named for keeper Christopher Crisp, this station sits near Whitefish Point on one of the most remote stretches of Lake Superior’s coast. Built in 1875, it served the infamous Shipwreck Coast for over a century before being decommissioned and falling into disrepair in the 1990s. Volunteer keepers now stay on-site and help maintain and restore it.

Contact crisppointlighthouse.org for current volunteer terms. Nearby: the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, which holds the bell recovered from the Edmund Fitzgerald — she went down about 17 miles northeast of here.

Cheboygan River Front Range Light: A Keeper Stay Downtown

Best for: keepers who want restaurants and a walkable town after their shift. Unusually, this one is not remote at all.

Volunteer keepers here are in the heart of downtown Cheboygan on the riverfront, managing tours, the gift shop, and general upkeep. The programme is run by the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, and membership in GLLKA is required to take part.

Confirm current terms and fees through GLLKA before applying. Downtown Cheboygan is at your door.

St. Helena Island Lighthouse: An Uninhabited Island

Best for: the most adventurous stay on this list. Two miles offshore from the Upper Peninsula, on an island nobody lives on.

St. Helena was once home to a small community. Today it is uninhabited and receives only a couple of hundred visitors a year — a striking contrast with Mackinac Island, ten miles east, which takes hundreds of thousands.

Volunteer keepers work on painting, sanding, and cleaning, and stays can run from a few days to a couple of months — the most flexible arrangement of any programme here. The complex has been extensively restored: a new wood shingle roof, a rebuilt boathouse and assistant keeper’s dwelling, a new lantern and chimney, and thousands of replacement bricks in the tower. Contact GLLKA for current terms.

Michigan Lighthouse Overnights for Groups

Fort Gratiot Lighthouse: Michigan’s Oldest, for 20 People or More

Best for: scout troops, school groups, and large family reunions. At $25 a head it is the cheapest overnight in the state — but you cannot do it as a couple.

This is Michigan’s oldest lighthouse — first built in 1825, with the current tower dating to 1829 — and the first light station on the Great Lakes. Your group gets a private tour of the grounds and buildings, a chance to climb the 94 steps to the top of the 82-foot tower, a programme about the site, a snack, and lights out. You sleep in the renovated duplex and sort your own breakfast.

The five-acre campus sits where the St. Clair River meets Lake Huron, with views of the Blue Water Bridge. It is a genuinely good option for a group that would otherwise be looking at a hotel block. Port Huron and Michigan’s Blue Thumb Coast are worth building a day around.

Compare All 13 Michigan Lighthouse Stays

Lighthouse	How You Stay	Cost
Big Bay Point	Book it — full B&B	Nightly rate
Point Betsie	Book it — weekly rental	Reduced in 2026 (construction)
Eagle River	Book it — whole lighthouse	Varies by season
McGulpin Point	Book it — cottage, year-round	Two-night minimum
Tawas Point	Apply — team of 4, two weeks	$250/person
Mission Point	Apply — weekly	$200/week per couple
Pointe aux Barques	Apply — groups of 2–4, weekly	$150/person
40 Mile Point	Apply — bring your RV, 2–4 weeks	$25 application fee
Grand Traverse	Apply — weekly shifts	Contact museum
Crisp Point	Apply — volunteer keeper	Contact
Cheboygan	Apply — GLLKA membership required	Contact GLLKA
St. Helena Island	Apply — days to months	Contact GLLKA
Fort Gratiot	Group booking — 20+ people	$25/person

What to Know Before You Book

• Keeper programmes are work, not holidays. Tawas Point asks for about 30 hours a week. Mission Point keepers clean the tower daily and mow the lawn. If that sounds wonderful, apply. If it sounds like a con, book Big Bay Point instead.
• Apply a year ahead. Tawas Point’s 2026 deadline was 28 February 2026. These are not last-minute decisions.
• Bring your own linens and food for most stays. Big Bay Point is the exception, being a proper B&B. Everywhere else, pack sheets, towels, and groceries.
• Dogs: assume no. 40 Mile Point allows leashed dogs on the grounds. Tawas Point explicitly bans pets. Always check before you assume.
• Cell service is patchy at the remote ones. Big Bay Point and Crisp Point especially. That is part of the appeal, but plan for it.
• Most programmes require you to be 18 or over. Fort Gratiot’s group overnight is the exception and welcomes youth groups.

Michigan Lighthouse Stays FAQ

Can you really stay overnight in a Michigan lighthouse?

Yes — 13 Michigan lighthouses offer overnight stays, but only four can be booked like a hotel. Big Bay Point on Lake Superior is a full bed and breakfast. Point Betsie and Eagle River are rentals, and McGulpin Point has a cottage apartment. The other nine are volunteer keeper programmes where you apply, are selected, pay a fee, and work roughly 20 to 30 hours a week during your stay.

How much does it cost to stay in a Michigan lighthouse?

Costs vary enormously by type. The cheapest is 40 Mile Point, where your only cost is a $25 non-refundable application fee and you bring your own RV. Fort Gratiot’s group overnight is $25 per person for groups of 20 or more. Pointe aux Barques charges $150 per person per week, Mission Point charges $200 per week per couple, and Tawas Point charges $250 per person for a two-week stay. Big Bay Point, being a genuine B&B, charges a nightly rate.

What is a Michigan lighthouse keeper program?

A keeper programme is a volunteer post, not a rental. You apply — sometimes with a letter, a resume, and a phone interview — and if selected you pay a fee and perform real duties: greeting visitors, leading tower tours, running the gift shop, cleaning, and light maintenance. Tawas Point asks for about 30 hours a week. Mission Point keepers clean the tower daily and handle grounds work. Programmes run at Tawas Point, Mission Point, Pointe aux Barques, 40 Mile Point, Grand Traverse, Crisp Point, Cheboygan, and St. Helena Island.

Which Michigan lighthouse is best for a romantic getaway?

Big Bay Point Lighthouse on Lake Superior, without much competition. It is the only one that operates as a full bed and breakfast — seven guest rooms, fireplaces, a sauna, and breakfast delivered to your room — with no volunteer duties attached. Eagle River Lighthouse on the Keweenaw Peninsula is the alternative if you want the entire lighthouse to yourselves rather than a room in one.

Can you bring a dog to a Michigan lighthouse stay?

Usually not. 40 Mile Point Lighthouse near Rogers City is the clear exception — dogs are welcome on the park grounds, leashed, though not inside the buildings, and you are staying in your own RV anyway. Tawas Point explicitly prohibits pets. For every other lighthouse, check directly before you assume, as policies differ and several stays are inside historic buildings with fragile furnishings.

When should I apply for a Michigan lighthouse keeper program?

Roughly a year ahead. Tawas Point’s applications for the 2026 season closed on 28 February 2026, with selections announced by 31 March. Most programmes run from late May through September or October, and the popular ones fill quickly. If you want a 2027 keeper slot, start assembling your team and preparing your application in the autumn of 2026.

Can you stay in a Michigan lighthouse in winter?

McGulpin Point Lighthouse near Mackinaw City is the only one on this list available year-round — its cottage apartment can be booked in any season with a two-night minimum. Big Bay Point runs May through early November. Every other stay is seasonal, generally late May through October. If a winter lighthouse stay is the goal, McGulpin is your answer, and its proximity to Headlands International Dark Sky Park makes it a strong aurora bet.

Which One Should You Pick?

If you want a holiday, book Big Bay Point and do nothing for two days. If you have an RV and a dog, 40 Mile Point costs you $25 and is the best-kept secret in this whole guide. If you have three friends and a year’s patience, put in for Tawas Point. And if it is February and you are restless, McGulpin Point is the only lighthouse in Michigan that will have you.

• The Complete Michigan Lighthouse Guide
• Lake Huron Lighthouses
• Lake Superior Lighthouses
• Romantic Michigan Getaways
• 51 Michigan Lighthouses Worth Visiting