Michigan’s most unusual highway has no center line and drives through a living tree tunnel

It’s an ancient Odawa trail too

M-119 runs 20 miles from Harbor Springs to Cross Village along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Emmet County, and the whole way, hardwoods and evergreens crowd so close to the pavement they lock branches overhead.

You drive through a green tunnel with no center line, the only state highway in Michigan that skips one. Without stops, the drive takes about 40 minutes.

Most people stretch it to two or three hours, and you’ll see why once the canopy breaks and Lake Michigan flashes through the gaps.

The Odawa walked this path centuries before cars existed

Long before anyone paved it, the Odawa people used this route for trade and travel along the lakeshore.

They called the area L’Arbre Croche, meaning “crooked tree,” after a bent-top tree that guided canoe travelers along the coast. By 1847, this stretch held the largest concentration of Native Americans in Michigan.

The state named it a Scenic Heritage Route in 2003, and local resident Chauncey Bliss helped get the first historical markers installed back in 1955.

Harbor Springs starts you off on Little Traverse Bay

Harbor Springs sits on Little Traverse Bay, and the town has drawn vacationers for decades.

The Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians lived here first, and the town incorporated under its current name in 1880. Before you head north on M-119, walk the boardwalk on Spring Street.

It leads to a viewing platform on the bluff where you can look down over the harbor and the downtown below. Then point your car north and let the canopy swallow the road.

Thirty acres of dunes and cedar swamp at Thorne Swift

About four miles northwest of Harbor Springs along Lower Shore Drive, Thorne Swift Nature Preserve covers 30 acres with cedar swamps, hardwood forest, shifting dunes, and 950 feet of Lake Michigan frontage.

Three short trails loop through the preserve, roughly a mile total, and most of the paths are wheelchair accessible. You also get 300 feet of public beach.

The Elizabeth Kennedy Nature Center inside the preserve has displays on local plants and wildlife, plus hands-on activities if you’re traveling with kids.

Devil’s Elbow has a hairpin turn and a dark legend

South of Good Hart, the road whips into a hairpin curve called Devil’s Elbow. A historical marker at the bend tells the Odawa legend behind the name.

The story goes that spirits lived in the ravine here and made themselves known after dark. Another version says the devil himself scooped out the hollow after a plague hit the local tribe.

You barely straighten the wheel before the road throws you into another tight curve called Horseshoe Bend. Keep both hands on the wheel through this stretch.

Good Hart’s red general store has been open since 1934

Cliff Powers built the red general store in tiny Good Hart in 1934, and it ran as a grocer, butcher, and gas station until 1971. That year, Carolyn Sutherland bought the place, and she still runs it.

The store now serves as a grocery, bakery, deli, and U.S. Post Office under one roof.

Original fixtures line the inside, including tinted front windows, glass-front counter bins, and a 1901 National Cash Register. Stop for the homemade pot pies.

They’re the reason people pull over here.

A white steeple and 1700s burial ground at St. Ignatius

Just south of Good Hart, the white steeple of St. Ignatius Church rises above the treeline along M-119.

Jesuits first set up a mission at this spot in 1741, and the current building went up in 1889 after fire destroyed the one before it. Local Odawa community members did much of the rebuilding.

The church sits on the Michigan Historical Register and holds Sunday mass in July and August. Next to it, small white crosses mark a Native American burial ground dating to the 1700s.

A path out back leads down to Middle Village Beach.

Tribes gathered at this white pine to plan a revolt

About four miles north of Good Hart, a highway marker points to the Old Council Tree.

Native American tribes held councils at this site, and the most notable gathering happened in 1763 when Chippewa, Menominee and Ottawa leaders met here after events at nearby Fort Michilimackinac. They came to plan their next moves against the British.

The Council Tree itself, a mature white pine, still stands at the site. You can pull over and read the full account on the marker.

Cross Village has a giant white cross and 300 residents

The drive ends in Cross Village, one of the oldest continuously occupied settlements in Michigan. Odawa and Ojibwa people lived here first, and Jesuit priests established a mission in the late 1600s.

A large white cross overlooking Lake Michigan marks the village today, a replica of one planted by French missionary Father Jacques Marquette before his death in 1675.

Fishing and lumber built the town up, a devastating 1918 fire knocked it down, and about 300 people call it home now.

Legs Inn has stove-leg rooflines and Polish pierogi

Polish immigrant Stanley Smolak settled in Cross Village in 1921 and built Legs Inn with help from local Odawa residents during the 1930s. They used locally gathered timber and stones for the walls.

The stove legs trimming the roofline came from a nearby stove manufacturer, and that’s where the name stuck. Smolak, a self-taught artist, carved furniture and decorations from tree roots, limbs and driftwood.

The Smolak family has run the inn for over 100 years, serving Polish food on a bluff-top patio facing Lake Michigan.

Fall color peaks here in mid-September through October

Fall draws the biggest crowds, with peak color rolling in between mid-September and mid-October. Spring covers the forest floor in thousands of white trilliums.

Summer gives you deep blue Lake Michigan views and sunsets that burn through the canopy.

Winter strips the leaves and reveals frozen lake vistas you can’t see the rest of the year, and M-119 is one of the first state highways plowed each day. If you come during fall, aim for a weekday.

Weekends pack the road with traffic.

No gas, no shoulders and no room for your RV

The road is narrow and winding with no shoulders, no center line and sharp turns, so leave the RV at home.

No gas stations or electric vehicle charging stations sit between Harbor Springs and Cross Village, so fill up before you go.

Cyclists share M-119 too, and you’ll meet them on blind curves, so stay alert for bikes and oncoming cars. Nearly all the land along the route is private property.

Stick to the designated pulloffs. You can loop back to Harbor Springs on State Road C-77, a faster inland route from Cross Village.

Drive the Tunnel of Trees in Harbor Springs, Mich.

You can pick up M-119 right in Harbor Springs and head north toward Cross Village. The tunnel of trees starts just outside town and runs 20 miles to the end of the road.

Give yourself two to three hours with stops to get the full experience.

The route stays open year-round, but fall color season between mid-September and mid-October is when most people come. No admission or permit needed.

Just gas up, slow down and let the trees close in overhead.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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