The pandemic in 2020 has meant that road trips, camping, and outdoor travel destinations were booming. People didn’t want to venture too far from home. For those of us in Minnesota, that meant the North Shore on Lake Superior was overrun with tourists—often people discovering for the first time, what a treasure this place is. Who knows what 2021 will bring, but there is certainly a scenario where it might be similar. An alternative to the North Shore is Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (aka the U.P.) We spent time in the U.P. both in 2011 and 2017 and I’ve worked on architectural projects in Marquette, allowing me to get familiar with the region.
Bottom line- don’t measure your U.P. experience against the North Shore. You may be disappointed if you do. It’s really hard to compete against the natural beauty, waterfalls, rugged lakeshore of the North Shore. Michigan’s U.P. is similar in many ways but has its own unique beauty and character.
The Upper Peninsula has long suffered from a poor economy, exacerbated by the recession in 2007-2009 and currently, the pandemic. Copper and Iron Ore mining were a booming industry for more than a hundred years, from 1843 onward, but their bust has left a huge void in the form of ghost towns and struggling towns, and more current economic woes have left abandoned resorts and restaurants. This boom and bust history of the region is part of what makes this area so interesting.
Interesting facts:
· The U.P contains 29% of the land area of Michigan, but just 3% of the population.
· The U.P. receives about 200 inches of snow annually, with a record of 394 inches.
· Residents of the U.P are called “Yoopers”.
· Liquor stores are often called “party stores”. Makes sense, I guess.
· Must-eat food = meat pasty. Hand-held delicious meat pie with vegetables, potatoes.
· The U.P. has the highest concentration of Finns outside of Finland
Our summer road trip to the U.P. in 2011 was 13 days long. On day one we got an early start and blasted the 6 hours across Wisconsin to Escanaba, Michigan. Escanaba sits upon the northwest edge of Lake Michigan. The Sand Point Lighthouse, built in 1867, is worth a stop, along with the sandy beach beside it. We also stopped by the Delta County Historical Society Museum, which had some interesting stories and some rather scary exhibits.
The north shore of Lake Michigan has several interesting sites including:
· Fayette Historical Townsite
· Kitch-iti-kipi
· Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse (haunted)
Fayette Historical Townsite features a historic townsite with historic buildings on a scenic peninsula. Once a bustling iron smelting industrial community, the town went bust in the 1890’s. With about 20 buildings standing, Fayette is considered one of the best-preserved industrial-era town sites. Make sure you also check out the lovely rock beach, which has polished and rounded rocks to skip.
Outside of Manistique, is a wonderfully-interesting and beautiful site called Kitch-Iti-Kipi, the Big Spring. This 40-foot deep freshwater spring. The white limestone bottom and clear blueish water are best viewed from a large observation raft that takes visitors into the spring. With a glass bottom, enjoy the trout and clear view to the bottom of the pond.
Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse is located in the town of Gulliver. The interesting part of this lighthouse is that it said to be haunted. Visitors have reported smelling cigar smoke, table chairs and silverware re-arrange themselves and faces have been seen in the window - all signs of Joseph Willie Townsend, who was the lighthouse keeper from 1902-1910. Visit the lighthouse and climb to the top at your own risk!
We camped at Straits State Park, which had a view of the Mackinac Bridge- a suspension bridge spanning the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. At 5 miles long, this bridge is the longest suspension bridge is the longest in the western hemisphere
Mackinac Island a very well-known tourist and resort area. We did a day-trip to the car-free island, which is known for the historic Grand Hotel and other preserved structures. The entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark and they take this history seriously. There are people who roam around the streets dressed in period costumes (which can be a bit unsettling to some, but other people love that shit). This bustling and polished island with the re-enactors playing baseball or roaming the city streets, it not really our cup-of-tea. However, we always appreciate these kinds of places have fudge and saltwater taffy stores!
The next stop was the Soo Locks in Sault Ste Marie. If you have a ton of patience and enjoy watching paint dry, this might be a good stop for you. We timed our visit to see a large ship go through the locks and at some point, we realized it was such a slow and relatively boring process, that we bailed..
The next camping spot for us was Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The Upper Falls is 200 feet wide and 50’ tall and is the largest waterfall in Michigan. The lower falls are just that, lower. Remember, no judging these against Gooseberry Falls.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a destination for many travelers. It’s known for its multicolored cliffs along an azure-colored Lake Superior and the Grand Sable Sand Dunes. We started our visit in the other Grand Marais on Lake Superior (the Michigan town) and checked out the incredible sand dunes along the shore. If you are young and energetic, make your way down the sand dunes - but be aware that the climb back up is like taking one step up, sliding ½ step back down, and takes a-whole-lotta energy. Only Declan made the 300’ trip down (took about 30 seconds) and climb back up (took much longer!).
Pictured Rocks Visitor Center is to the west, in Munising. The best way to see the wonderful rocks is by a boat tour and unfortunately, our boat tour was canceled because of high winds and strong waves. We were able to do some hiking and see some waterfalls and a glimpse of the Miner’s Castle overlook - but it was disappointing to miss the boat tour due to poor weather.
Marquette was our next stop. I’ve been to Marquette a number of times and it reminds me of Duluth- a city on the lake with reminders of its heyday long ago. Marquette does have a wonderful rocky lakeshore park, Presque Isle Park that is highly recommended for a stop.
The Keweenaw Peninsula is anchored by Houghton on the south (known for Michigan Technological University) and Copper Harbor on the northern tip. When I used to fly from Marquette to Minneapolis, right about the time I’d fall asleep on the flight, the small plane would land in Houghton and we’d have to deplane and go thru security again. I guess it was a way of keeping those Houghton TSA agents busy?
North of Houghton is the town of Calumet and the Keweenaw National Historical Park. Once at the center of the mining industry in the UP, Calumet was also known as Red Jacket. The historic downtown is part of a historic district. With a current population of around 700 people, this town is charming, but with the economically depressed region, there isn’t the money to maintain the historic buildings. On Wednesday nights, when we happened to be there, the Calumet Theatre offers free movies. We saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in this historic gem of a theatre, which was built as an opera house in 1900. The theatre was packed with families and a lucky boy won a new bike in a raffle. Experiences like this are the reason we travel!
When in copper country, it makes sense to go on a copper mine tour. We went to Quincy Copper Mine Tour and at the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula is Fort Wilkins Historic Park, another slice of historical life.
Our final camping spot was the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
When entering the park, we encountered a number of campers and vehicles leaving the park. We soon discovered the park was infested with biting black flies. The only relief from these nasties was to get far enough into the water. Remember this is Lake Superior, which isn’t exactly known for its swimming given it’s freezing cold! We made due and didn’t let the flies scare us away. That night, however, was another camping challenge. As we were brushing our teeth, getting ready for bed, the power went out in the campground, the wind came crashing through and we had to sit in the mini-van, while a major storm hit. A ranger came by to tell us there were tornado warnings. We then decided to take shelter in the laundry room building, which was great. There were a number of downed trees we encountered on the way out of the park.
Despite the challenges in “The Porkies”, 5-year old Cormac loved this place and name. Porky was one of his favorite descriptors meaning anything that sticks or pokes out---- “my legs are porky (hairy)”, “this is porky grass” or “my hair is feeling porky today”.
This trip rounded out with a 4th of July in Ashland Wisconsin. With a shallow and swimmable beach in town, Ashland has a number of restaurants, brewpubs, and other amenities that travelers love. Our AmericaInn even had complimentary paddle boats and bikes to use, along with a small indoor water park. The town of Ashland featured a 4th of July fire engine parade (with all the sounds and whistles) before the fireworks. All in all, a perfect end to this road trip!
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