Freighters,
Up Close & Personal
Boatnerds of the world, rejoice! When you explore Port Huron, you’ll find your people. Freighter watching is a thing in Port Huron, where those who love watching the ships pass by are called “boatnerds.”
Here, you will see ships from around the world pass by on the St. Clair River, headed upbound into the upper Great Lakes while carrying a variety of commodities such as grain or coal, or headed downbound, loaded with iron ore pellets headed for steel mills on the lower lakes.
Stand around on the Thomas Edison Parkway long enough and you just might hear the blast of a freighter whistle as a ship rolls on by seemingly close enough to touch.
Places to Freighter Watch
Blue Water Bridge & Thomas Edison Parkway - Along the Thomas Edison Parkway, as Great Lakes freighters and international vessels pass underneath the Blue Water Bridge, ships pass so close to shore you feel as if you could reach out and touch them. Many people from all over the world visit Port Huron every year just to watch freighters pass and shoot photographs of them from the riverside park.
Tourism Tip: Visit Boatnerd.com to learn more about the Great Lakes maritime industry. The website includes a “vessel locations” page that displays a map of ship locations in real time. That allows visitors to Port Huron to learn more about what vessels are passing through the area at any given moment, and it also provides the opportunity to learn more about what vessels are approaching Port Huron while upbound on the St. Clair River, or downbound on Lake Huron.