Stannard Rock is the one location in Michigan you are least likely to visit. Far out into the waters of Lake Superior, Stannard Rock is considered the loneliest place in North America.

Lake Superior Magazine recently profiled the rock, which is home to a lighthouse maintained by the United States Coast Guard.

Modern-day U.S. Coast Guardsmen at times labeled it “Stranded Rock” and rumored it was a punishment tour of duty, as in “If you screw up badly enough in the Ninth District, they will send your butt out to Stranded Rock.”

But professional lightkeeper or Coast Guard boot, all knew it as the North American light station the most distant from land, with Keweenaw Point 25 miles to the west and Marquette a long, rough 42 miles south.

The lighthouse provides an important service in Lake Superior as it warns of a reef that could wreck unsuspecting ships passing between Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Ontario.

Being desolate is something that sometimes goes hand-in-hand with Michigan's Upper Peninsula. After all, the spot in the nation that lies farthest from an interstate highway is in Copper Harbor.

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