Forget Appalachia: Michigan’s Wilderness Hides Its Own Terrifying Lore

The Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States are rife with fascinating legends, hauntings and folklore.

With vast tracks of woodlands and mountainous regions in northern Michigan, does the state have any similar level of lore surrounding it?

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Michigan Cryptid Legends

The state's Dogman legend from the Northern Lower Peninsula is likely the most well known tale. The cryptid is a half-man/half-dog and the legends date back to the 1970s in the Cadillac area.

The Michigan Dogman is analogous to the Bigfoot and Mothman legends of the Appalachians.

The Michigan Wendigo

Wendigos arise from native American folklore. While it originates from the Great Lakes, the story of a creature that's a manifestation of the cold and hunger and greed has spread beyond the northern lakes.

Here's a wendigo sighting from the Traverse City area:

It was probably 10 feet tall, was humanly shaped. It’s legs kind of dragged as it walked, and it was hunched over, and it’s arms looked semi detached and dangled. It’s face was kind of a gaping black hole, but I saw what I thought was a dangling eye

READ MORE: The Utterly Terrifying Cases of Missing Time from the Northern Michigan Woods

Whistling in the Michigan Woods

There's a longstanding legend in the Appalachian region about whistling in the woods. It's considered a bad luck, particularly at night. Further, responding in kind to hearing whistling in the woods can summon a malevolent creature to you.

A Michigan story of whistling in the woods:

I was still whistling the same 4-tone whistle when I heard something whistle it back perfectly. It made the same exact sound that I made. It sounded very oddly humanoid like there was a person watching me, a predator. I remember being frozen in fear just staring at the area of forest that it came out of before turning around and walking back up the hill.

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The Black Orb Lights

Both Michigan and the Appalachians share legends about unexplained orbs of lights. In the Appalachians, it's the Brown Mountain Lights of West Virginia. Michigan has the Paulding Lights in the Western Upper Peninsula.

Here's another story from Northern Michigan:

It looked like a 10 foot tall pole about as big around as a telephone pole but it was pitch black and it literally floated across the road and then disappeared as soon as it was off the road.

It's clear that the legends of the Appalachians and Michigan's wilderness are largely connected.