From shore to shore, from border to border, across Michigan, communities large and small are joining together to drive home their heritage. They're preserving Michigan's unique recreational, scenic and historic cultural treasures, knitted together through a common thread: roads. They're encouraging travelers to slow down, take the roads less traveled, and discover the true beauty, wonder and traditions that are uniquely Michigan.
Established by the Michigan Legislature in 1993, the Michigan Heritage Route Program is a grass-roots effort uniting local residents, their government officials, landowners and interested groups in a common cause to preserve the state's unique scenic, historic or recreational highways. This Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) program helps ensure that the rich heritage of local highways and roadsides continues to play an important role in improving Michigan's economy and quality of life.
Michigan residents have an exciting opportunity as individuals, groups or entire communities to come together and bridge their common interests in moving Michigan forward. There are three categories of Heritage Routes:
- Scenic - a state highway having outstanding natural beauty
- Historic - a state highway having outstanding historic buildings and resources along its length
- Recreational - a state highway maintained to serve the recreational driver as well as to capture that recreational setting of the facility or area itself, and set the mood for the recreational experience
Process Overview