Petoskey Stone Hunters of Little Traverse Bay
By Carlin Briggs
Gretchen Trudeau
Little Traverse Bay is a picturesque inlet of Lake Michigan in Northern Michigan. The charming towns of Petoskey and Harbor Springs face each other across the water. The bay has been a destination for vacationers from Midwest cities since the mid-1800s via train and steam liners. Summer outdoor activities abound: Sailing, boating, kayaking, swimming in the crystal waters, hiking the North Country Trail, biking the Little Traverse Wheelway, admiring gorgeous gardens in front of Victorian homes, and most importantly, scanning the shoreline for Petoskey stones.
About 350 million years ago, the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan was covered by a shallow warm ocean and was close to the equator. These “Devonian Seas” were rich with animal and plant life. The tropical ocean vanished. The coral reefs were fossilized by replacing the coral’s skeleton with calcite in a cell-by-cell process called petrification. Through plate tectonics and the ice age, glaciers advanced and retreated over the years, kicking up the limestone reefs and gouging out the depression which is now Lake Michigan. There are many types of coral that can be found in and around the Great Lakes, such as chain coral, pipe organ coral, horn coral, and tabulata coral (Charlevoix stone), all with their own scientific names. The iconic hexagonal “honeycomb” pattern of the Petoskey stone is fossilized Hexagonaria percarinata.
Mio Buono/Shutterstock.com
The name Petoskey—the city and the stone—came from the Ottawa Indian leader, Chief Pet-O-Sega. Even though Petoskey stones can be found elsewhere, they are more commonly found in the northwestern portion of Michigan’s lower peninsula.
Seeing God’s Creation in the Petoskey Stone
Growing up on a farm in Warren, Michigan, Raymond Evans spent his early years working alongside his three brothers and four sisters at the family’s vegetable stand. His sense of responsibility and work ethic, forged during those formative days, carried into his service as a proud Marine in the Vietnam War, where he applied his skills in data processing to support ground operations in the field. After returning home, Ray transitioned his experience into a successful career in computer programming.
After his service, Ray married and raised five children. He often vacationed up north with his family, exploring the inland waterways of Indian River and Brutus. “I told my family that if I ever got a job up north, I would leave immediately because down there, it’s an asphalt jungle. Everyone is in a hurry, going nowhere.”
Ray was able to fulfill his dream and move his family to northern Michigan in the late ’70s. He worked for the local hospital writing programs for admissions, pharmacy, and scheduling. He and his wife enjoyed the community, made lifelong friends, and created a beautiful life a block away from Little Traverse Bay.
One summer, he had a three-week vacation and contracted what he calls “Petoskey Stone Fever.” He says, “I went down to the lake and found six or eight stones and brought them home. I sat in the backyard with sandpaper, rubbing the stones. My wife said, ‘Is that all you are going to do on your vacation?’ I said, ‘Well, it’s really relaxing.’ Years later after collecting buckets of stones, my wife said,
‘I don’t want Lake Michigan in my backyard. Until you finish the stones you got here, you cannot bring any more back home!’ And I am still working on the ones I found years and years ago.”
The best time to find the fossils is in the early spring, just after the ice floes drag in a new batch of coral fossils from the middle of the bay. “In February and March, the algae are all cleaned off,” explains Ray. “I would see the stones under the ice, punch a hole in the ice, grab the stone and put it in my bucket and wipe myself good with the towel, so I wouldn’t get frost bit!” Most people can only find Petoskey stones when the stones are wet, but Ray can find them even when they are dry, because he recognizes their shape and the crystalline nature of the stone. “Years of experience with my eyes looking down.”
Ray supplied polished stones for the Michigan-based American Spoon Foods company for their “Michigan-Made baskets.” Ray says, “They wanted a ‘perfect’ stone for each basket. They wanted to make sure they didn’t have to look for the eyes! They wanted the eyes to pop right out at ’em.”
“I have regular customers that pay for their vacation at the Petoskey State Park. They come to me every year,” says Ray. “They find the stones, bring them over here to get polished, sell the stones back home and come back again next year.” He is happy to share his knowledge with others, teaching them the polishing process.
Ray has shared his passion in several classrooms, inspiring the next generation of rockhounds. He sees God’s creation in all the stones he works on and loves to share this prehistoric coral reef wonder with the world. “No two Petoskey stones are alike; each is unique and special.”
Collector and Seeker of all things Beautiful
Gretchen Trudeau
“I bring home something from every walk I take. And I walk every day,” says beachcomber Gretchen Trudeau. “I have started to become more discerning about what I bring home now.” Gretchen is always sorting through her finds and remembering all the places she has seen. She finds beauty everywhere in nature, and her home is filled with her natural treasures beautifully displayed. Her photographs, which she started collecting during the Covid pandemic, are a significant part of her collections. She would take pictures daily of all the wildflowers in her local nature preserves.
Gretchen Trudeau
“I just love to walk outside on the beach. There is something about being in the wide-open spaces and having that whole open sky, the water, the birds. I just love it. It recharges me,” says Gretchen. “I like to go out in the day, and I love to go out at sunset. Usually when I photograph sunsets, in the summer... I will go for a walk before the sunset and collect some stones, mostly Petoskeys, heart-shaped rocks, and other interesting things like skulls and bones…and then come back and take my pictures and swim at sunset. During the rest of the year, I take photos of the clouds, the ice, and the surrounding area at sunset. I like to go to more secluded, less frequented, remote beaches north of Harbor Springs, such as Woollam Preserve, Wilderness State Park, and Good Hart. I try to limit the amount I collect, since I don’t want to lug heavy stuff when it’s so hot. On top of that, I want to take pictures and swim, so it’s hard to decide which stuff to keep.”
Gretchen Trudeau
Gretchen has been coming to Little Traverse Bay since she was a little girl. Growing up in Pontiac, in the summer to get relief from the heat, her father would take them north to go camping. She continued the tradition after she was married with children of her own, vacationing in Cross Village and other homes north of Harbor Springs and Mackinac Island. Later, after her children were grown, she and her husband would ride on his motorcycle through the Tunnel of Trees, a famous portion along the coast of North of Harbor Springs. When her husband passed away, she wanted to come up North to live. “It took me a while to find the right house, but eventually, I moved, and it has been a perfect fit for me.”
Gretchen Trudeau
“Last summer I discovered something very spiritual...I started going into the Bay at sunset. Being in the water, surrounded by the colors and beautiful reflections, there’s something about it that makes me feel like I’m in heaven. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I go before sunset, take a walk, collect some treasures, and sit in my chair. When sunset comes, I take a bunch of pictures and then go into the water. And it’s like, Wow!”
See more of Gretchen’s beautiful photography on Instagram @gretchensdailycaptures.
Leaving the beach cleaner
I grew up backpacking in the Sierras with my family. My brother and I were taught the “Leave No Trace” philosophy. So, when we would pack up the campsite, before we would put on our backpacks and hit the trails, we would scour the whole area that we touched and collect anything that was not made by nature. My mother would always say, “Leave it cleaner than you found it.”
Now wherever I walk the beach I am stuffing my pockets with plastic. I cannot help myself. It’s a compulsion. Living in Los Angeles after retirement, I took beach cleanup seriously and was always picking up beach trash.
Now that I live on Little Traverse Bay, my bucket only gets filled occasionally with plastic. I keep my head down searching for Petoskey Stones, chain coral, colorful rocks, and driftwood…and any plastic I see.
All photos courtesy of Carlin Briggs except as marked.
Learn more about beach fossils:
Learn more about fossils found on modern and ancient shores around the world. Fossil Articles ›
This article appeared in Beachcombing Magazine Volume 51 November/December 2025.
