Southern Gateway · Small town
Whitehall and Montague
Twin towns on White Lake for a mix of lighthouse, beach and bike trail, with Duck Lake State Park nearby and the start of the Hart-Montague Trail.
Scenic drive
Muskegon County fall color drive on the West Michigan Pike
Visit Muskegon's self-guided fall color route along the historic West Michigan Pike, linking lakeshore parks, dunes and lighthouses north to White Lake.
Each fall, Visit Muskegon publishes a self-guided color tour map with three suggested routes. The lakeshore option follows portions of the historic West Michigan Pike, now a Pure Michigan Byway, for shoreline views, overlooks, parks and lighthouses. The bureau presents the map as a source of ideas rather than a fixed schedule, and suggests anything from an afternoon to a weekend.
A natural line for the drive runs from Pere Marquette Park and the Muskegon pier lights north past the channel and dunes of Muskegon State Park, then up the shore to the White River Light Station and on to Whitehall on White Lake. Lake Harbor Park, Meinert County Park and P.J. Hoffmaster State Park are among the other stops the bureau names along the lake.
For a change from the shore, the same map offers a Country Harvest route on quieter roads through farmland and woods, and an Inland Connector that links parks, lakes and towns across the county.
The route
- Pere Marquette Park
- Muskegon State Park
- White River Light Station
- Whitehall
Map of Muskegon County fall color drive on the West Michigan Pike
4 places on an OpenStreetMap map
Before you go
- Visit Muskegon says peak color often falls in early to mid-October, though timing varies from year to year and place to place.
- Paper copies of the bureau's fall color tour map are available at the Muskegon County Visitor Center in Muskegon and the White Lake Area Chamber and Visitors Bureau in Whitehall, or you can download it before you go.
- Lakeshore weather can change quickly, so the bureau suggests bringing comfortable shoes and a light jacket.
Towns along the way