Waugoshance Point (GNIS ID#) is a cape or peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan from the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan in Emmet County. It separates the Straits of Mackinac to its north from Sturgeon Bay to the south and is part of Wilderness State Park. The nearest town is Mackinaw City. Waugoshance is a hybrid word, that combines the Anishinaabemowin word wah'goosh (English: fox) and the French word anse (English: cove).
The subaerial ridges along the cape rise approximately above lake level (an elevation of about above sea level.) Beyond the tip of Waugoshance Point are Temperance Island and Waugoshance (previously, Crane) Island. The point and the islands consist of both sandy and rock and gravel beaches. These are an ideal habitat for gulls and wading shore birds, including the endangered piping plover. Dominant trees include balsam fir, white spruce, white cedar, white pine, paper birch and trembling aspen. Mosses and lichens are abundant in its wetland ecosystem. Perch and small mouth bass are abundant off-shore.
The point and its neighboring islands are bedrock outcrops of an extensive reef that reaches more than WNW from the inner end of the point, with water depths of only at the outer end. This reef, along with others in the vicinity are exceptionally dangerous hazards for sailing vessels and small craft along the northeastern rim of Lake Michigan. Three nearby lighthouses warn mariners away from the danger that lurks just below the surface and mark the western approach to the Straits of Mackinac:
White Shoal Light ()
Grays Reef Light ()
Waugoshance Light ()
Jean Nicolet was probably the first European explorer to pass through the Mackinac Straits area as he journeyed westward in the late summer of 1634. At that time, the region's primary inhabitants were the Odawa and Ojibwe people, who called the region Michilimackinac. They, along with the Potawatomi were part of a long-term tribal alliance called the Council of Three Fires (Anishinaabe: Niswi-mishkodewin), which was formed at the end of the eighth Century at Michilimackinac.
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