National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods giant cross

Indian River, Michigan, United States

Public art

✓

Current

Listed, not yet checked

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods, a Catholic shrine at 7078 M-68 in Indian River, Michigan, has a redwood cross about 55 feet tall, raised on 5 August 1954. The bronze figure of Christ on it, a seven-ton work by Michigan sculptor Marshall Fredericks, was cast in Oslo, Norway, and attached to the cross on 9 August 1959. The shrine's website says its grounds are open throughout the year, with limited hours in winter.

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

No recommended arrival yet

We have not checked a recommended place to arrive or stop here yet.

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods giant cross

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Site-level location · 45.3979° N, 84.6311° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

The cross at the National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods, a Catholic shrine at 7078 M-68 in Indian River, Michigan, was lifted into place in about half an hour; its bronze figure took five more years.

The shrine's history page says the redwood came from Oregon and was cut in the summer of 1953 by a Seattle lumber company, seasoned over the winter, then sanded and polished. Cranes raised it onto a knoll called Calvary Hill on 5 August 1954. Wikipedia and a university archive record give its height as 55 feet.

The Christ figure was designed by Michigan sculptor Marshall Fredericks. The shrine says it took about four years to go from sketches to a plaster model to finished bronze, and that it was cast at a foundry in Oslo, Norway, shipped up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Detroit and carried to Indian River on a flatbed trailer. It was raised and attached to the cross by 6:00 p.m. on 9 August 1959. The archive record describes the figure as 28 feet high and 20 feet across the arms; the shrine says seven tons, though a tour text in the archive gives four.

The shrine describes itself as the home of the largest crucifix in the world. Wikipedia says the largest crucifix is in Bardstown, Kentucky, at 60 feet, and the archive record places a 65-foot one near there, so the claim is contested. Wikipedia says the shrine was declared a national shrine by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2006. The shrine's website says its grounds are open throughout the year, with limited hours in winter.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

Outdoor shrine grounds at 7078 M-68, Indian River, open year-round with free-will donations. The shrine also has chapels, a doll museum and a gift shop.

ACCESS

Grounds open to the public year-round (the shrine's own site gives 7am to 7pm daily, with limited winter hours for some facilities; the Petoskey Area tourism page says dawn to dusk). Religious site; mass is held daily.

COMMUNITY