What Is the Great Lakes Point of Inaccessibility – the Farthest Spot from Land?
There are several poles of inaccessibility across the globe. For land masses, it's the farthest point from an ocean (in North America, that's a spot on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota), and on water, it's the exact opposite - the farthest point from land.
For our vast ocean network, the farthest point from land is Point Nemo, which we've described in a previously published article as
👇🏼BELOW: All Aboard - This is Every Amtrak Station in Michigan 👇🏼
a spot in the southern Pacific Ocean somewhere between Chile and New Zealand that is the spot on the globe furthest from any other land - the Pitcairn Islands some 2690 kilometers north, the Easter Islands a similar distance northeast and the coast of Antarctica to the south.
For the Great Lakes, where would that pole of inaccessibility be? Most people would guess the largest of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, but it's actually a toss up between that northern lake and Lake Huron. There are, as geography enthusiasts share on Reddit, points in both lakes that are 44-45 miles away from the nearest coastline.
One guess puts that spot at 48.00 degrees north/87.19 degrees west in the Canadian waters of Lake Superior - here's how it looks on a map.
READ MORE: A Trip to Point MOO - the Michigan, Ohio, Ontario Tripoint
Michigan's land Point of Inaccessibility - the further point from a Great Lake is in Eaton Rapids. The southcentral Michigan city lies 78 miles from the closest Great Lake which is Lake Erie at Monroe.
So should you set sail on the Great Lakes, there are many, many spots where you will lose sight of land, but only one location that puts you furthest from any mainland - the lakes' limit of inaccessibility, their Point Nemo.
This is Every Amtrak Station in Michigan
Gallery Credit: Eric Meier
There are Just 9 Rural Michigan Counties Without a McDonald's Restaurant
Gallery Credit: Eric Meier