Enjoy the ride across beautiful Lake Michigan on the S.S. Badger.
The S.S. Badger offers the largest cross-lake passenger service on the Great Lakes and an authentic steamship experience. The relaxing four-hour, 60-mile cruise takes passengers, autos, RVs, tour buses, motorcycles, bicycles, and commercial trucks across Lake Michigan between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin from mid-May through mid-October.
The carferry S.S. Badger was launched in 1952 and has a record of over 50 years of sailing.
The S.S. Badger is a 410-foot vessel, approximately one-and-one-half times the size of a football field, that is seven stories tall and can accommodate over 620 passengers and 180 automobiles, tour buses, RVs, motorcycles, and commercial trucks. Each season, the S.S. Badger makes almost 500 crossings at 60 miles from port to port.
Amenities include outside deck areas, deli-style snack bar, buffet-style dining area, upper deck lounge, aft end lounge, video arcade, children’s playroom, gift shop/ship’s store, private staterooms, free quiet room/museum, two free TV lounges, free movie lounge, and free parking at both terminals for passengers not taking vehicles on the ship.
The S.S. Badger was designed specifically to handle rough conditions that it would likely encounter during year round sailing on Lake Michigan. The ship was built primarily to transport railroad freight cars, with Manitowoc, Kewaunee, and Milwaukee as her Wisconsin ports of call and Ludington as her Michigan port of call.
The S.S. Badger now operates with a new mission offering passengers and their vehicles the best cruise experience and the best value - blending tradition with innovation.
Reservations: 888-CAR-SHIP, 888-227-7447
Read the chapter about Ludington in Steve Atlas's book, Car Free at the Beach
