Waves Crashing at Fisherman’s Island State Park in Charlevoix, Michigan

Podcast
Written By Darrin Wassom

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This week I felt a desire to head further north than my home base of Traverse City to explore some areas that I have heard about but have never visited yet. I looked at the map and Charlevoix immediately spoke to me. I know Charlevoix well and my wife and I are always happy to visit, but all of our trips are almost boating related and centered in the downtown area. Today, I visited Fisherman’s Island State Park, which is located right on Lake Michigan and not too far from downtown Charlevoix. 

The park is next to a cement plant, so I have to admit that my expectations were low. The plant looms over the horizon and is visible for miles from the water and I had an uneasy feeling that its presence would dominate the landscape around the park too. Spoiler alert: While you can see the cement plant driving into and for the first mile into the park, it disappears from view and becomes a distant thought after a couple of minutes.

The park itself comprises nearly 3000 acres of dunes, rolling hills, hardwood forests and pristine lakeshore. Speaking of lakeshore, Fisherman’s Island State Park has over 6 miles of unspoiled and beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. On the day I visited, I only saw 3 other people on the beach and at least a mile or more separated us. Traffic was very light as well, making the wind and crashing waves the only sounds.

For the soundscape recording, I selected an area of the shoreline with lots of breaks from submerged rocks to take advantage of the blustery weather. Waves crashing almost creates a white noise effect, which I love. As the water cascaded over the sandbar, I placed the microphone far enough back that I could record it. I recorded for 2 hours and had the entire area to myself. On the day I visited, it was very windy and cool. I can’t imagine a place this amazing is always devoid of crowds.

Darrin Wassom
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