Wait, Can You Actually Encounter Quicksand in Michigan?

New fear unlocked!

Thankfully there wasn't anything like a catastrophe in recent headlines or a movie that sparked my intrigue, this one is chalked up to genuine human curiosity: Can you find quicksand in Michigan?

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With plenty of beach time at Lake Michigan in my near future I suddenly found myself wondering this very question. I know about the dangers of rip tides, digging deep holes on the beach, and the color-coded flag system, but is there a reason no ones talking about quicksand?

How Quicksand Forms

Did you realize there are actually two types of quicksand? According to Mental Floss wet quicksand is sand suspended in water, while dry quicksand is made of very fine particles of sand suspended in air.

In order for quicksand to form conditions need to be just right and a nearby constant water source is a must:

Common locations for quicksand include beaches, lakeshores, riverbanks, marshes, and the ground surrounding subterranean springs. The low-lying river estuaries of Florida and the Carolinas are prone to quicksand, while the canyons of southern Utah, New Mexico, and northern Arizona can harbor quicksand when it forms around springs

So, Does That Include Michigan Then?

I mean technically, yes!

Where there's water and sand there's a possibility of quicksand forming. How likely is it on the other hand? Not very.

When searching quicksand in Michigan results include one family's experiment (below) in Frankfort, MI and a report of "quicksand-like lakebeds" forming near Midland, MI.