The highest point in Michigan is Mount Arvon, which is located in Baraga County and reaches a height of 1,979 feet. It is one of the most popular mountains in the state, and more people are attempting to climb it each year.
The Upper Peninsula, which is surrounded by lakes on all sides and separated from the Lower Peninsula by the five-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, is a part of a large region known as the Superior Upland, which is underlain by Precambrian rocks. It has low rolling hills and a few swamps in the east, and high mountains with rugged terrain in the west.
The humid continental climate of Michigan is typical for a large region with the Great Lakes, whose presence moderates temperatures throughout most of the state. Average temperatures range from 83 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (28 to -10 degrees Celsius).
The Lower Peninsula, which is 277 miles (446 km) long from north to south and 195 miles (314 km) from east to west, is shaped like a mitten and occupies about two-thirds of the state’s land area. The surface is mostly level with occasional conical hills and glacial moraines not more than a few hundred feet tall.
Michigan’s rivers are very short and generally flow through shallow valleys. It has fewer rapids than some other states but does have some large waterfalls.
