About M-179 Pure Michigan Byway
The M-179 Pure Michigan Byway Plan is a joint effort involving several communities located in Allegan and Barry counties, the Gun Lake Tribe, the West Michigan Regional Planning Commission (WMRPC), and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).
The primary goal of a Pure Michigan Byway Plan is to promote assets related to tourism by showcasing Michigan’s natural, cultural, and recreational attractions. Michigan’s residents benefit and visitors from outside of Michigan benefit.
More specific to the Byway, the five broad goals established by this planning effort provide some guidance for promoting the area and maintaining the qualities that make the area worth visiting. The goals are listed below.
Goal # 1 – Preserve the Byway’s rural character and intrinsic qualities.
Goal # 2 – Promote the Byway’s attractions through marketing and education.
Goal # 3 – Establish a permanent administrative body to maintain and carry out the goals of the Byway.
Goal # 4 – Continue to focus on the enjoyment and safety of motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and others along M-179, connecting roadways, and at trail crossings.
Goal # 5 – Promote and encourage the maintenance and improvement of public and private facilities within the Byway.
Sites to Visit
M-179 can provide a vacation or destination with over 20 sites to visit and uncover as you enjoy Pure Michigan indoor and outdoor areas.
Area Attractions
There is something for everyone at the areas attractions around M-179. Fishing, camping, golfing or gaming, you can find it here.
Maps
Find your way around the area and explore sites, area history and attractions. Use the maps to locate your destination.
Since 1993
Pure Michigan Byway Program
Drive Home Our Heritage (Source Michigan.gov/mdot)
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 Pure Michigan Byways 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
