Lake Michigan’s ‘Curvy Highway’ May Be the Great Lakes Region Greatest Road Mystery

The shorelines of the Great Lakes have some fabled roads to ride. Drives like the Tunnel of Trees or Brockway Mountain Drive in Michigan are unparalleled. There is an odd highway on a peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan that is truly like no other.

It's known as the Curvy HIghway or officially Wisconsin State Trunk Highway 42. It pushes into the Door Peninsula and connects to a ferry dock to Washington Island. It's the final few miles to the terry terminus that the road takes on a bizarre curvy characteristic.

There is a series of 15 curves built in the road for seemingly no reason at all. The curves keep the road's speed limit down to 25-30 miles per hour. However, traffic calming is seemingly not the reason for the curves. Wikipedia says the curves

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caus[e] the road to meander unnecessarily. The reasons for this winding section remain uncertain, with one theory assuming the bends were designed simply to weave around utility poles or to reduce the need for tree felling. However another suggests the serpentiform course of the road was an intentional design by Danish architect Jens Jensen.

What a bizarre mystery. No one knows the reason for the curvy road. Yet, since it exists, it's become a favorite for tourists.

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The curves show up on the Google Maps rendering of the region