Paradise, Michigan

Paradise is an unincorporated community in Whitefish Township, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan.

Paradise is on the northeastern portion of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the western side of Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, about convert|60|mi|km by road from Sault Ste. Marie and about convert|55|mi|km north of the Mackinac Bridge. Its zip code is 49768, and the area code and telephone prefix are (906) and 492 respectively.Founded in 1925, Paradise is surrounded by state and national forests and its main business is tourism. It is considered one of two gateways to the Tahquamenon Falls area and Tahquamenon Falls State Park. (The other gateway is Newberry, about convert|40|mi|km to the southwest.) The area draws hunters, fishers, campers, backpackers, snowmobilers and birdwatchers. The region harvests blueberries and cranberries in season. Lake Superior shipping lanes are several miles off shore.

Whitefish Point with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, beach, Whitefish Point Lighthouse and prime birding area, is convert|11|mi|km north. Whitefish Point is the spot where ships enter the open lake from Whitefish Bay. This is the nearest navigation mark to the wreckage of the ore freighter SS "Edmund Fitzgerald", which sank in 1975.

John Dreves, known as the “Can Man” from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is from Paradise. Dreves collects, sorts and redeems cans to help fund local athletics. In the past four years, he has contributed more than $10,000 to Whitefish Township Community School and its 55 K-12 students. Providing new uniforms, equipment and transportation, Dreves has also been named the “Paradise Angel.” John was featured on ESPN`s Outside the Lines.

The Sufjan Stevens album "Greetings from Michigan" contains a song entitled "For The Widows In Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti."

ee also

* Hell, Michigan. Popular legend erroneously states that it is 666 miles away from Paradise, but the two towns are only convert|294|mi|km away from each other.

External links

* [http://www.paradisemichigan.org/ Paradise Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.exploringthenorth.com/paradise/homepara.html Exploring Paradise]
* [http://www.superiorsights.com/cities/paradise.html A Paradise Website]
* [http://www.cabincam.net/netcam.html Live webcams in Paradise]