OT: Upper Peninsula recommendations
Wife and I are looking for a five- to seven-day vacation and are considering the UP. It's been on our list for a while and neither of us has ever been so we're looking for recommendations on where to stay, how long, what todo, etc. Major caveat: we will have an 11-month old with us so nighttime activities will unfortunately be restricted to drinking as much beer as possible by 6:30 PM and then calling it a night.
We know Pictured Rocks is the major attraction, but should we stay out that way for a couple nights? Should we stay on Mackinac Island for a night? Is there a preference between St. Ignace or Mackinaw City? How the hell do I pronounce Ignace anyway?
Thanks in advance.
I should clarify that we are looking in the early to mid-June timeframe.
April 12th, 2018 at 12:08 AM ^
How am I the first one to upvote this? Thanks for the recommendations. Just starred a bunch of places on google maps to try and get to this summer. I am a born and raised yooper but grew up on the lake michigan side near wisconsin so I missed a lot of cool stuff up on the northern side.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^
and love reading it. I am also heading to the UP this summer, early - mid July time frame. I will be staying in Munising the majority of the time, but also going to Sualt Ste Marie for a couple of days and then Houghton for a day.
I assume black flys will be a problem this time of year so I will be sure to bring a bunch of bug spray also. Thanks for the information.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
Have you ever been to Mackinac Island? If not, that's an absolute must.
I would also go to Garlyn Zoo. Why? It's the tits. Can you feed bears? Yes. Is it located in an "unincorporated community"? Yes. Does it have animals that are severely out of their climatological element in the UP? Yes. Is the name of the zoo a portmanteau of the husband and wife who own it? Yes.
Skip the soo locks.
Head to Copper Harbor after pictured rocks.
Every part of the Keeweenaw is gorgeous.
Stop at the Ambassador in Houghton. Get a Scorpion or Qualude with a side of garlic toast. Then get the tostada pizza.
I disagree about the Soo Locks. I was *extremely* reluctant to visit Sault Ste. Marie, but my partner forced me to go. The Soo Locks boat tour ended up being one of the highlights of my UP trip. However, unless you're a nerd it might be an underwhelming experience.
I heartily agree that the Soo Locks is an engineering marvel and not to be missed! A few other tips based on my own UP tour from a few years ago:
-Stay in the small mom and pop motor lodges. They are virtually all super cute, clean, and inexpensive.
-There is a great country inn, Chamberlain's Old Forest, on Lake Manistique about 60 miles northwest of the bridge. Great place to stay or just for a nice dinner of Lake Superior whitefish.
-The main beach at Pictured Rocks is awesome. I climbed out on some rocks and took my first plunge into Lake Superior (it was August) and I'll never forget it.
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If you’ve kids Mac City. Quieter and far less expensive in St Ignace.
Stay a couple nights on Mackinaw Island. Completely different place after the day trippers depart. Tahquamenon Falls. Munising is lovely. If you’ve time, go look for agates on the Keweenaw beaches. Sue locks can be interesting. Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.
Bug spray. Definitely bug spray.
To all of this, especially Tahquamenon and the Shipwreck Museum.
Also give a shoutout to Cross Village and Leggs Inn. Tiny little up north town about 25 min from Mac City with a great Polish restaurant and amazing views.
IMO, there's no point in staying in Mac City or St. Ignace if you're planning on staying on the Island...
Mackinaw City is more touristy than St Ignace, although it’s starting to change a little more. But St Ignace has Castle Rock and the Mystery Spot, whose postcard was seen in the intro to National Lampoon’s Vacation.
I like the Soo Locks. The boat trip through there is pretty cool. Plus, the Soo actually has three breweries now, and the Antlers has good food. And in Sault Canada I had the best poutine I’ve ever had.
The pictured rocks tour is really cool also.
Is a toss up. There are a few more touristy things to do in Mackinac city but after the first time going we always stayed in St. Ignace. Just a bit less crammed. Tahquamenon Falls is also a good spot to head to.
Rapid River Knife company.
Herford and Hops in Escanaba.
April 11th, 2018 at 10:22 PM ^
Dag-gum. Yeah I know where you are at. Wasn't there a puma sighting like 1 mile north of the point at that log cabin on the bay? I always carry a .45 on me now when I am outside because of that rumor.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:55 AM ^
Damn. All those summers as a kid with my cousins at Deerfield, and to think we could have been sitting ducks. If a .45 won't work, grenades it is.
You mean the world's best hot dogs at Boondockers? That place really was a national treasure.
Haha funny to mention that lighthouse. When I was in high school my friends and I were convinced it was haunted and would go there late at night in the summer time to try and spot ghosts.
May not be easy to find but it's between Munising and Whitefish Pointe on the Lake Superior shoreline. Definitely a little-known gem of the UP.
May not be easy to find but it's between Munising and Whitefish Pointe on the Lake Superior shoreline. Definitely a little-known gem of the UP.
If you have a chance, the Keweenaw Peninsula. Got to make it all the way to Copper Harbor.
US-2 is one of the most beautiful stretches of road i've ever driven. cross the bridge and bang a left to head west on US-2. after that you're on your own but Escanaba is that direction.
The Cut River Bridge is about an hour west of St Ignace on 2, and it's really nice. You can park and hike down a little trail to the mouth of the creek, which is a super nice spot to wade in a bit, weather permitting.
(All of this info is accurate as of about a decade ago, when I used to drive this stretch of 2 all the time)
Munising and Marquette are the two places I go to the most when we're in the UP.
We have a cottage just south of Munising that I would love to offer up for any M Go Blog user to use! Fishing, hiking, exploring, biking, eating, we have modest but friendly UPportunities here—(see what I did!).
Eric
April 11th, 2018 at 11:16 PM ^
Kitchitikippi from when I was a kid. Also Tahquamenon Falls and Sensey Wildlife Refuge.
If your serious about the cabin, the wife and I might be interested. We've already paid for a kyaking trip at Pictured Rocks. The date has not be set yet. She and a friend are going to watch the weather and try to schedual based on that.
If you think it might work out, send me an email. paulkamprath at gmail dot com and we can talk about it.
Thanks, Paul
-Don’t stay on the Island with an 11 month old. I have 3 kids with the youngest at 9 months and I wouldn’t do it.
-Do visit the island though because it’s pretty cool. I enjoyed the fort about as much as anything. Remember Mackinac and Mackinaw are pronounced the same.
-Pictured Rocks is very popular but the Holiday Inn in town goes for about $200+ per night (I’m probably I underestimating that).
-Tahquamenon Falls in Newberry is a popular spot as well.
-Keweenaw peninsula is pretty popular area to bum around in. Never been on the Quincy Mine Tour but that may not be too bad. Keweenaw Brewing Company has good beer in Houghton. Ambassador has good pizza and fish bowls.
-Marquette has a little bit of everything.
I’m rambling on now so I’ll stop. I’ve lived here all my life so depending on what you want to do I’m sure I got an answer. I’m in Manistique so Big Springs (Kitch-iti-kipi)is a popular spot to visit. Fayette State Park as well.
April 11th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
Once the world's deepest mine, the Quincy Mine tour is super cool, from seeing the massive pulley system and man-car in the shaft house (along with a huge piece of native copper displayed there), to the underground mine, accessed by a ride via a cog railroad car ride down the hill to the mine's adit (horizontal tunnel); and then the tour accesses the mine adit via a mine rail car, which takes you to a stunningly cavernous excavated room. For about $25/person, this tour is a must-do in the Copper Country.
St. Ignace is pronounced saint ig-niss. Mackinaw City is probably better for tourism, but I'd probably skip out on that whole place if I were you. The Island is okay for a day, but don't stay longer. People will recommend it, as I see someone did above, but it's overrated. After you bike around the perimeter and visit the fort, there isn't much left to do. Note, there is also a fort right under the bridge in Mackinaw City as well.
Some good destinations in order east to west:
Drummond Island/Detour, Tahquamenon Falls, Grand Marais is a cute little town at the east end of Pictured Rocks, Pictured Rocks (12 mile beach and the coves are my favorite part, but you have to hike a couple miles to see them. Miners beach is also really cool), Houghton and Copper Harbor, Lake of the Clouds (highly recommend the lookout).
Other ideas:
I've stayed on numerous lakes up there with my boat. It's fun to rent a cabin that has a dock and go fishing. That might be better for a dudes trip sometime.
There are some nice dunes and beaches along highway 2 maybe about 30 minutes west of St. Ignace. Good place to take a nice swim in Lake Michigan. It'd be a bit chilly in early to mid June though, but it'd be refreshing! I'd recommend driving along the north edge toward the west, and coming back along hwy 2 and hitting up these dunes.
One thing: in early to mid june, you'll want to bring some bug spray and bug nets. I'd recommend later in the summer.
Island Fort >>>> City Fort
City Fort is garbage
Big Bay to pay a visit to the Lumberjack Tavern, where Anatomy of a Murder was based and filmed.
+1 to the North Shore - my father in law had a lovely place in Big Bay. I've spent many happy hours up there.