:''This article is about the bay in Michigan; see
Thunder Bay for other things with a similar name.''
'Thunder Bay' is a
bay in the
U.S. state of
Michigan on
Lake Huron. The bay extends from North Point at to South Point at .
The city of
Alpena lies at the mouth of the
Thunder Bay River at . The entire bay lies within
Alpena County, with
Alpena Township in the north and
Sanborn Township in the south.
Several islands in the bay are protected as part of the
Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Thunder Bay Island lies just east of North Point outside the bay. The wildlife in the Bay's waters are protected as part of the
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The name is the
English translation of the
French ''Anse du Tonnerre'', which appears as early as the map of
Franquelin in 1688. It was probably derived from the
Native American name, as they believed that the Bay was peculiarly subject to thunder storms.