One of the great things Google does is let you know about things you never imagined you’d ever care about, like Petoskey Stones. Like what, you say? Petoskey stones. It’s a Michigan thing. More specifically, it’s a Lake Michigan thing. Keep reading, I’ll explain it as we go along…
I decided to spend one night at Petoskey State Park because the weather crossing the Mackinac Bridge was predicted to be a bit stormy and I’m not a fan of that when towing across a bridge that is almost five miles long. That there was the possibility of finding a Petoskey stone or two made it even easier to change plans and book the overnight stay at one of the few remaining sites in the park.
What is a Petoskey Stone?
I’m just going to use wikipedia here: A Petoskey stone is a rock and a fossil, often pebble-shaped, that is composed of a fossilized rugose coral. Such stones were formed as a result of glaciation, in which sheets of ice plucked stones from the bedrock, ground off their rough edges and deposited them in the northwestern portion of Michigan’s lower penisula.
So, basically, a rock that has a weird design like this:
Searching for Stones
The campground is a very short walk to this beach, so I didn’t have far to go in starting my search. The hardest part was finding the first one, so I’d know what I was looking for. As with finding sea glass, it’s basically a matter of pattern recognition (“one of these things is not like the others”). It took me about five minutes to find my first fragment of a Petoskey stone. They’re easier to find when wet so I skirted the edge of the water rather than paw through the piles of dried stones farther away. This proved to be a pretty successful strategy.
This proved to be a pretty successful strategy. I found a half dozen Petoskey stones that afternoon and a handful more the next morning before I headed out to cross the Mackinac Bridge. I carefully inspected my finds and kept these four, returning the rest to the beach for someone else to find.
Charlevoix Stones
Along with Petoskey stones are Charlevoix stones, which are a different, smaller coral creature as the fossil. It’s a different pattern than a Petoskey stone, but just as recognizable once you see your first one. They look a bit like snakeskin pattern but they are completely smooth, not ridged at all like you might think in looking at them.
I find it so relaxing to wander along the beach looking for treasures. When I lived in Santa Cruz and then in Seattle, I could spend an hour or more combing through rock piles for beach glass. I was happy to find a few glass fragments at Petoskey’s beach while I was looking for stones. Now I have some cool souvenirs of Lake Michigan tucked away in a little blue box, safely stored inside my Alto.
Want to Know More?
Yes, if the stones that we walked on could talk, they would surely tell our story.
How interesting. Will you bring a couple finds for me when you come visit? I hear there are a lot of interesting stones and rocks north along the lake near Duluth too. Also I’d kill for a good Finnish pastie. My Grandma made the best. Looking forward to seeing you in the near future.
I have a little packet of stones for you when I get to Osceola, Barb 🙂
Have you ever seen the classic movie “The Long Long Trailer”? When you said you collected a couple stones it immediately reminded me of Lucy. If you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, you have to watch that movie. It’s hilarious. And I know you won’t collect too many rocks. 🙂
I have seen it! And didn’t remember that stones bit until now. Just looked at my little collection and made it littler by a half dozen. I do tend to gravitate to smaller stones, but there were SO MANY cool ones on the beaches. It was hard to choose. I might need a bigger trailer if I hang out in the Great Lakes region for an extended period of time!
I’m putting this on my bucket list. Thanks for the heads up on the experience. 🙂
You found some real keepers Annie! I agree…walking a beach…priceless.
My husband is originally from Petoskey and we have taken many trips there visiting family and friends. Hunting for Petoskey stones was always a favorite activity for our family when our children were young. We had a northern Michigan trip planned in 2020 but cancelled because of covid. We love the area and hope to revisit with our Alto in the future. Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories .
As kids, my siblings & cousins & I spent hours gathering (and then rather tediously, polishing!) petosky stones. Our aunt had a little shop on Glen Lake where she sold handmade kits with a “Petosky Story” brochure and various grades of sandpaper, along with her hand-thrown pottery. Thank you for rekindling fond memories with the nice story and, as always, beautiful photos!
How cool, that aunt and that experience! I’m sure I won’t be polishing mine, but I do like to wet them to see the patterns easier 🙂
Very interesting! I’m adding a lot of “want to go” tags to my Google maps! Thank you!
I really enjoy your posts. This one was especially interesting. I’m a 1713 person. Happy travel.
What is a 1713 person?