Devil's Kitchen is a small cave on the southwestern shore of

Mackinac Island Mackinac Island ( ; french: Île Mackinac; oj, Mishimikinaak ᒥᔑᒥᑭᓈᒃ; otw, Michilimackinac) is an island and resort area, covering in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac an ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, USA. The cave was carved during the Nipissing post-glacial period by the waves of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Straits of Ma ...

. It consists of two hollows in a rocky cliff, one directly on top of the other."Mackinac Island State Park Interpretation", accessed April 14, 200
Mackinac State Historic Parks website
Mackinac Island's brecciated

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

has eroded into a variety of unusual formations. The cave's appearance is comparable to that of a human face with an open mouth.

Dirk Gringhuis Richard H. Gringhuis (September 22, 1918 – March 1974) was an American artist and illustrator. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he studied from 1939 to 1941 at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, lived in New York for a year, then moved back ...

, "Lore of the Great Turtle" (1970; Mackinac State Historic Parks, Mackinac Island MI) Although shallow, Devil's Kitchen is much visited because of its location within

Mackinac Island State Park Mackinac Island State Park is a state park located on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. A Lake Huron island, it is near the Straits of Mackinac. The island park encompasses , which is approximately 80% of the island's total area. ...

on M-185, the state highway that circles Mackinac Island. Local stories allege that the Native Americans of the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connect ...

considered the cave to be a

numinous Numinous () is a term derived from the Latin ''numen'', meaning "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring."Collins English Dictionary -7th ed. - 2005 The term was given its present sense by the German theologian and ph ...

location inhabited by bad spirits. Allegedly, the spirits were

cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

s who would capture and eat victims who ventured too close to the ill-omened location. The cave is blackened with

soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolyse ...

to this day, allegedly from the evil spirits' cooking fires; hence the name, 'Devil's Kitchen'. It is not known whether these stories derive from actual Native American legend or were generated after the beginning of the

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

industry on

in the mid-19th century.

References

Caves of Michigan Protected areas of Mackinac County, Michigan Landforms of Mackinac County, Michigan Mackinac Island State Park Historic district contributing properties in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Mackinac County, Michigan Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan {{Michigan-NRHP-stub