Vermilion Point

Vermilion Point
LocationWhitefish Township, Chippewa County, Michigan, USA
Coords46°45′47″N 85°08′56″W / 46.76306°N 85.14889°W / 46.76306; -85.14889
OrganizationLittle Traverse Nature Conservancy
Historic useVermilion Lifesaving Station 1877 - 1944
Modern useVermilion Point Nature Conservancy
Websitewww.landtrust.org

Vermilion Point is a remote, undeveloped shore in Chippewa County, Michigan, United States. Located 9.75 miles (15.69 km) west of Whitefish Point, Michigan, this historic spot lies on a stretch of Lake Superior’s southeast coast known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" or the "Shipwreck Coast". The servicemen of Vermilion Lifesaving Station performed daring rescues of shipwrecks from 1877 until 1944 when it was closed after modern navigational technology made this service obsolete.

Vermilion Point was a popular stopover for Native Americans, early travelers, and explorers. Early settlers used its bogs and marshes to grow cranberries that were shipped to Chicago, Illinois, and Duluth, Minnesota. Today it is protected as a nature preserve for study of avian ecology and research of the piping plover and beach plant community succession.