Answering Your 'How' Questions About the Upper Peninsula

Each day we check the web stats of U.P. Supply Co and what people have been Googling to bring traffic to the site. We thought we could make good use of this information by answering all of the “how” questions that have landed people on U.P. Supply Co. All of the questions below are verbatim searches people used on Google to land on U.P. Supply Co.

You ask the questions, we’ll do the research.

General Upper Peninsula Questions

Q: How to draw the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

A: I am probably a terrible resource when it comes to drawing lessons. My co-workers were laughing at the giraffe I had to draw at work because they could tell which end was the head and which end was the tail. The best advice I can give is find a quality outline of the Upper Peninsula (if you’d like, you can purchase a U.P. Supply Co shirt and trace that to practice, they’re quite accurate). Trace it a few times, look at it, study it, and I have faith that you’ll master drawing the Upper Peninsula. Even I can draw it fairly accurately these days.

Q: How many square miles is the Lower Peninsula of Michigan

A: 40,352 square miles of land area

16,452 in the Upper Peninsula (29% of Michigan’s land)

Q: How many square miles of water is in Michigan

A: Michigan has the highest % of water of any state at 41.27%

Michigan has the 2nd most water of any state, only second to Alaska

Q: How many people go to Northern Michigan Univeristy

A: As of 2008-2009 there were 8,438 undergraduates and 685 postgraduate students. (9,123 total)

Q: How far is detroit from the Upper Peninsula

A: Driving from Detroit it is approximately 295 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 258 miles.

Q: How many people live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

A: 317,258 people, according to the 2000 Census

Q: How many inland lakes are there in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

A: Approximately 4,300. The largest is Lake Gogebic.

Q: How far is north pole from Marquette, MI

A: Approximately 3,002 miles. What’s cool is that the 45 degree parallel runs right through Michigan, which is half-way between the equator and the North Pole.

Q: How did Michigan acquire the Upper Peninsula

A: The western ³⁄₄ of the Upper Peninsula came as a result of the Toledo War in 1836. As a result of the war, Ohio was given the Toledo Strip and in turn Michigan received the Upper Peninsula. At the time it was perceived that Ohio was the clear winner of the war. It wasn’t realized until many years later that the Upper Peninsula was one of the richest sources of minerals in the United States.

Lake Superior

Q: How big is Lake Superior in miles

A: Shore length of 2,725 miles

Q: How many rivers feed Lake Superior

A: over 200 rivers

Q: How many feet high is Lake Superior than the other great lakes

A: Lake Superior surface elevation: 600 ft – Lake Michigan surface elevation: 577 ft – Lake Huron surface elevation: 577 ft – Lake Erie surface elevation: 571 ft – Lake Ontario surface elevation: 246 ft

Q: How big is the surface of Lake Superior

A: read below

Q: How does Lake Superior compare to the great salt lake in size

A: Lake Superior surface area is 31,820 square miles and 2,900 cu mi in volume

Great Salt Lake surface area is ~1,700 square miles and ~2.7 cu mi in volume

Q: How many miles of Lake Superior shoreline does Michigan have compared to Canada

A: 917 miles of Lake Superior shoreline in the Upper Peninsula (read more)

Mackinac Bridge

Q: What two towns connect the mackinac bridge?

A: St. Ignace is on the north side in the Upper Peninsula and Mackinaw City is on the south side in the Lower Peninsula.

Q: How we can get best picture of mackinac bridge

A: To truly get the best photos of the Mackinac Bridge you should go to the very top (in my opinion), but this takes some connections. Some other suggestions are the Labor Day bridge walk, taking a boat beneath the bridge, from a park in St. Ignace, or an aerial view from a helicopter.

Q: How to get to the top mackinac bridge

A: It’s not an easy task. 1) You could be on Mike Rowe’s camera crew. 2) You could do it illegally, this is not recommended. 3) Be a worker on the Mackinac Bridge to help keep it in tiptop shape. 4) Each year the Bridge Authority gives away a designated number of certificates for tours of the Mackinac Bridge to go to the very top. Here’s the story of how I made it to the top of the Mackinac Bridge.

Q: How long is mackinac bridge

Total Length of Bridge (5 Miles)	26,372 Ft.	8,038 Meters
Total Length of Steel Superstructure	19,243 Ft.	5,865 Meters
Length of Suspension Bridge (including Anchorages)	8,614 Ft.	2,626 Meters
Total Length of North Approach	7,129 Ft.	2,173 Meters
Length of Main Span (between Main Towers)	3,800 Ft.	1,158 Meters

Facts & Figures

Q: How tall is mackinac bridge

A:

Height of Main Towers above Water	552 Ft	168.25 Meters
Maximum Depth to Rock at Midspan	Unknown	Unknown
Maximum Depth of Water at Midspan	295 Ft.	90 Meters
Maximum Depth of Tower Piers below Water	210 Ft.	64 Meters
Height of Roadway above Water at Midspan	199 Ft.	61 Meters
Underclearance at Midspan for Ships	155 Ft.	47 Meters
Maximum Depth of Water at Piers	142 Ft.	43 Meters
Maximum Depth of Piers Sunk through Overburden	105 Ft.	32 Meters

Facts & Figures

Q: How to climb to the top of mackinac bridge

A: There are two ways to get to the top of the Mackinac Bridge. 1) Climb the large green cables that stretch from the base to the top. You’ll need a harness. 2) At the road-level of each tower you can enter a little cubbyhole where an elevator will bring you to the second cross beam. From there you climb a steel latter straight up to the top. Once again, there are several photos here.

Q: How far does the mackinac bridge move out when windy

A: The Mackinac Bridge bows as far as 20 feet on windy days. One misconception is that it actually sways, which is not the case, rather it will bow in one direction. In addition, the towers move as much as 18 feet in either direction, which isn’t from wind, but from the weight of traffic on the bridge.

Q: How many people cross mackinaw bridge a year

A: In 2005 there were 4,236,491 crossings (average 11,608 per day)

Q: How many people have been to the top of the mackinac bridge?

A: My guess is that the answer of this is probably unknown. Every year several workers of the bridge go to the top to make repairs, change light bulbs etc. Several others are given the chance, such as people from the governor’s office. The last I heard is that the Bridge Authority gives out 100 certificates each year for people to go to the top, though I am not sure of the accuracy on this.

Q: How long did it take to build the mackinac bridge

A: Construction on the bridge began on May 7, 1954 and was opened (on schedule) on November 1, 1957. The 50th anniversary was celebrated in 2007.

Q: How far can you see from the top of the mackinaw bridge

A: The distance to the horizon for a 5’7″ person is 2.89 miles. If this person was standing on the road level of the Mackinac Bridge (200 feet above the water) the horizon increases to 17.6 miles away. If a person is standing on the very top of the Mackinac Bridge (522 feet) the horizon is now about 28 miles away.

Q: How far is it from the mackinaw bridge to Marquette

A: Driving from Marquette (via US-41 and US-2) it is approximately 175 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 137 miles.

Q: How far is it to mt. pleasant from the mackinac bridge

A: Driving from Mt. Pleasant it is approximately 161 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 149 miles.

Q: How far away from the mackinaw bridge is Lake Superior state

A: Driving from Lake Superior State University it is approximately 50 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 46 miles.

Let us know if you have questions of your own. Post a comment. You ask the question, I’ll do the research.