Driving Michigan's lonely northern shoreline is almost like being on the water itself. "The lake is the boss," says a retired commercial fisherman who has lived eight decades along the shores of Lake Superior. "Make no mistake—the lake is the boss."

Overview
This route follows a string of quiet roads along Michigan's Upper Peninsula between Marquette and Whitefish Point. The roads are set so close to the shore they seem at times strung across the waves. The power of the lake is evident at every turn. You see it in the shape of the land, particularly in the sandstone cliffs sculpted into weird artistic shapes along the 40-mile stretch of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It's also apparent in the shifting sands at Grand Sable Dunes. It's in the weathered clapboard cottages and lakeside galleries gone silver-gray under years of spray and in the 40-foot drift logs tossed far up the shore like ghostly matchsticks you pass by on a lonely beach walk.

Here Lake Superior sings the stories of the more than 300 shipwrecks that the waters just offshore have claimed over the years, famous ships like the Edmund Fitzgerald as well as anonymous wrecks washed ashore without a clue, earning this stretch of the Upper Peninsula a reputation as the "Shipwreck Coast."

Start at Marquette
Take in the view of Lake Superior from the lantern room of the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse at the Marquette Maritime Museum (300 Lakeshore Blvd., Marquette; +1 906 226 2006; www.mqtmaritimemuseum.com). The lighthouse itself dates to 1866. Next door is the main building of the museum, with its glittering collection of lighthouse lenses, a working periscope, and an assortment of Lake Superior memorabilia, including a replica fishing shack.

Thill's Fish House
You can order a plate of trout or whitefish at any of a dozen fancy restaurants in Marquette. But a better choice is Thill's Fish House (250 E. Main, Marquette docks; +1 906 226 9851), owned by a commercial fisherman. It not only has the town's best smoked trout and whitefish fillets but is also an authentic fishing operation. You might see the Linda Lee pulled up at the dock, tangles of ropes and anchors next to the fish house, and the green slickers worn by the fishermen. There is also that unmistakable fish house aroma.