by Two rival towers rise over U.S. 12 in Michigan’s Irish Hills, in 1925. A roadside showdown that became a landmark. The Irish Hills tourist towers was both a roadside atraction and landmark for over a generation.
In the early 1900s, Michigan’s scenic highways were lined with wooden towers—built to draw in curious motorists looking for a better view. From the dueling Irish Hills Towers to the electric-elevator-equipped White Swan Tower, these once-popular attractions gave travelers a reason to stop, climb, and gaze across the Great Lakes State. This 3-minute Michigan Moments episode takes you to the top of the state’s most memorable tourist towers—and back to a time when the view was worth the stop.
Irish Hills Tourist Towers
Pick Your Next Oddball Michigan Roadside Stop
Michigan’s old two-lane highways were built for pull-over moments. Use this guide to find bear stories, tourist towers, mystery roads, tiny chapels, roadside food stops and lost landmarks that still make Michigan road trips worth slowing down for.
Spikehorn Meyers’ Bear Den
Harrison once had one of Michigan’s wildest roadside stops, where John “Spikehorn” Meyer turned live bears, hand-painted signs and backwoods showmanship into a US-27 legend.
Read the Spikehorn Meyers story15 Michigan Roadside Attractions In The Thumb
This Thumb-focused guide rounds up quick stops, odd signs, local landmarks and low-cost roadside breaks that fit well into an M-25 day trip.
See the Thumb roadside listThe Underground Forest
Michigan’s Underground Forest was the kind of roadside claim built for curious drivers: strange, memorable and made to pull families off the highway.
Read about the Underground ForestHedges Wigwam In Pleasant Ridge
Along Woodward Avenue, Hedges Wigwam showed how a building could become its own billboard in the motor age, long before online ratings and digital ads.
Read the Hedges Wigwam storyMichigan Tourist Towers
From Irish Hills to Devils Lake, Michigan’s early tourist towers gave motorists a reason to stop, climb and buy a postcard from the top.
See Michigan’s tourist towers20 Michigan Tourist Traps Worth Knowing
Big claims, strange stops and roadside oddities all helped build Michigan’s motor-tourism culture. This guide pulls together some of the state’s most unusual places.
See the Michigan attractions listGravity Hill In West Michigan
A road that seems to pull cars uphill is exactly the kind of simple, odd roadside claim that keeps families debating what they just saw.
Read about Gravity HillJenny, The Beer-Drinking Bear
Quanicassee’s bear story is part local lore, part roadside memory and part reminder that Michigan tourism once had a much looser idea of animal entertainment.
Read about Jenny the BearBay Shore Bar & Grill Car Fountain
A roadside bar, a memorable fountain and a hearty menu make this Fairgrove stop a modern example of the old rule: give drivers a reason to notice you.
Read about the car fountainMichigan’s Tiny Chapels
Small chapels such as Wayside Chapel and Rimwood Chapel offer a quieter kind of roadside stop, built around reflection rather than spectacle.
See Michigan’s tiny chapelsWalker Tavern At Cambridge Junction
Long before motor courts and tourist traps, Walker Tavern served travelers at a key southern Michigan crossroads. It is a useful bridge from stage roads to auto roads.
Read the Walker Tavern historyMichigan Road Trips And Pit Stops
Build a longer Michigan route around ghosts, rails, ruins, small towns and roadside surprises with this broader trip-planning guide.
Plan a Michigan road tripTravel note: Some sites are active stops, while others survive through photos, ruins, markers or local memory. Check hours, access rules and seasonal conditions before making a long drive.
