Pull yourself across this emerald Michigan spring on a hand-powered raft and look straight down 40 feet

It’s called the Mirror of Heaven

Somewhere in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, about 12 miles north of the small town of Manistique, a pool of emerald-green water sits so still and so clear that you can see every detail on the bottom, 40 feet down.

The Ojibwe people named it Kitch-iti-kipi, meaning “big cold spring” in their language. They also called it the Mirror of Heaven.

You get to it by riding a raft you pull yourself, and what you see below the surface looks like it belongs in another world.

A shopkeeper paid $10 to save it for everyone

For generations, Ojibwe families hunted and lived in the forests around the spring. Then the lumber companies showed up, stripped the trees, and turned the area into a dump for unwanted logs and debris.

In the 1920s, a Manistique shopkeeper named John Bellaire stumbled onto the spring buried under fallen trees and trash. He could have bought the land himself, but he believed it belonged to everyone.

So in 1926, he arranged for the Palms Book Land Company to sell 90 acres, including the spring, to Michigan for $10. The deed required the land stay a public park forever.

You pull yourself across on a wooden raft

The main draw at Palms Book State Park is a self-operated observation raft that glides across the spring’s surface. You grab a large wheel and turn it to pull the raft along a cable from one side to the other.

No park ranger runs it. Passengers take turns at the wheel.

The center of the raft has open viewing windows where you look straight down into the water, and you can lean over the sides for wider views of the pool.

Ancient logs and fat trout swim beneath you

Old tree trunks rest on the spring floor, preserved for decades by the cold, mineral-rich water. Their branches wear thick coats of lime deposits that turn them ghostly white.

Large trout glide through the clear water, sometimes passing right beneath the raft’s viewing windows. Clouds of sand swirl and shift in patterns that never repeat, pushed upward by the force of the spring below.

Everything looks suspended in midair, with nothing cloudy between you and the bottom.

Over 10,000 gallons rise every single minute

The spring pumps more than 10,000 gallons of water per minute through cracks in the limestone bedrock below. That water holds at a constant 45 degrees Fahrenheit, no matter the season.

The steady flow from deep underground keeps the pool free of sediment, which is why you can see the bottom so clearly. Surrounding vegetation reflects off the surface and gives the water its green color.

Even in the harsh Upper Peninsula winters, the spring rarely freezes over.

The CCC built the raft you still ride today

During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps turned Palms Book into a real park. Workers built the observation raft, the dock, a concession stand, the park ranger’s quarters, and the entrance road.

They added picnic tables and signs. John Bellaire, by then in his 70s, still visited the spring almost daily and often closed his store to walk visitors down personally.

Today’s raft is larger and updated, but it still runs on the same cable-and-wheel design the CCC crew put in place.

Wheelchair-friendly all the way to the raft

A paved trail runs about 0.2 miles from the parking lot to the raft dock, and the whole path is ADA accessible. The observation raft itself accommodates wheelchairs too.

You can bring your leashed pet on both the trail and the raft.

Swimming, fishing, and boating are all off-limits in the spring to protect the environment around it. Near the water, you’ll find benches, a shaded picnic area, and modern restrooms.

The raft runs every day, even in the snow

Palms Book stays open every day of the year, and the raft operates from 8 a.m. to dusk.

Because the water holds at 45 degrees, the spring rarely freezes, though ice can occasionally cover the surface and shut down the raft for a stretch.

If you come in winter, you get fewer crowds and mist rising off the water in the cold air. The park concession store opens seasonally, generally mid-May through mid-October.

Camp and kayak at Indian Lake State Park

Indian Lake State Park sits just a short drive south of Palms Book.

Indian Lake is the Upper Peninsula’s fourth-largest inland lake, covering about 8,400 acres, with camping, swimming, boating, kayaking, fishing, and hiking all available inside the park.

If you have a Michigan Recreation Passport on your vehicle, it covers entry to both Palms Book and Indian Lake on the same day, so you can knock out both stops without paying twice.

Walk through a 19th-century iron village at Fayette

Fayette Historic State Park sits on the shore of Big Bay de Noc on Lake Michigan and preserves a 19th-century iron smelting village.

You can walk through well-preserved buildings that still stand from the town’s working days. During the summer months, the park runs both guided and self-guided tours of the historic townsite.

Snail Shell Harbor and the limestone cliffs around it give you some of the best views on this stretch of the Lake Michigan shore.

Spot bald eagles and loons at Seney Refuge

The Seney National Wildlife Refuge covers more than 95,000 acres and has been open since 1935. More than 200 bird species live here, including common loons, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, and osprey.

You can drive the seven-mile Marshland Wildlife Drive, hike the trails, bike, or paddle the Manistique River through the refuge.

The visitor center opens seasonally, generally mid-May through mid-October, so plan your stop around that window.

Manistique’s red lighthouse still lights up the lake

The town of Manistique sits right where the Manistique River meets Lake Michigan along US-2. A free boardwalk runs along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and you can walk it at any pace you want.

At the end of the breakwater stands the Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse, a red steel tower first lit in 1916.

It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and still works today, more than a century after someone first switched it on.

Visit Kitch-iti-kipi at Palms Book State Park

You can find Palms Book State Park at the north end of Indian Lake, about 12 miles north of Manistique on M-149.

A Michigan Recreation Passport covers motorized vehicle entry for Michigan-registered vehicles through an annual pass option. If you’re coming from out of state, you can buy annual or daily passes at the gate.

The observation raft ride costs nothing extra.

Palms Book has no camping, but Indian Lake State Park nearby has campsites if you want to stay the night.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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