Michigan/Wisconsin

[nilesrob]

We will be dropping our son off at Michigan Tech this summer, up in Houghton, MI on the upper peninsula. We don't know anything about Michigan and/or Wisconsin, and will plan on tying a vacation in to our trip. Any suggestions welcomed! We typically like state/national parks.

[Becky B.]

We made a trip around Lake Michigan in 10 days a number of years ago. It was too much, too fast for me to remember all the places that we stayed. One that really sticks out in my mind was Traverse City, MI. The state park was really nice. Lake Gogebic (sp) in the UP was nice, but full of biting black flies! And nearby my house is Indiana Dunes SP in Chesterton, IN (which is the southwestern edge of Lake Michigan. That is a very nice SP that we frequent every year for 2 weeks! Have a great time!

[dwightdi]

There are great state parks in IL, IN, WI, and MI. Many of them are right on the lake. Some are off the lake and offer a different experience. I agree that Dunes are nice. Traverse is nice. Door County peninsula is great around Green Bay. Beach Park at Zion, IL is also nice.

[CanoeStream]

You'll probably end up traveling to Houghton more than once. Just last week I heard how the student commuter vehicle of choice is a snowmobile at Michigan Tech. There is major lake effect snow in that area!

The whole UP is a very laid back cruise for the waterfall-watching nature lover. Close to Houghton, the Keweenaw peninsula is a can't miss -- especially the closer to October you can visit (great maples!). We've camped at Ft. Wilkins State Park out at the tip -- you can rent canoes and paddle an inland lake right there. Don't forget to stock up on Cornish pasties in Houghton for hearty camp dinners. There are some decent dining options right in Copper Harbor. Plenty of hikes around the area -- Estivant Pines and Horseshoe Harbor stand out for me.

Further afield.. Tahquamenon Falls S.P. in Chippewa county; the Edmund Fitzgerald Museum out that same direction. Day visits to Fayette Historical Park in Delta County and Palms Book Big Spring S.P. in Schoolcraft County are close to each other (we camped at nearby Indian Lake S.P. while doing these very worthwhile side trips). Camping at the lakeside Porkies campground near Ontanagan is a highly attractive feature -- get reservations! (see crazylev's thread on the Porkies here)

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore at Munising -- and if really adventurous, do some research on the sand County 58 back road NE out of Munising up toward Grand Marais. It's a fair passage in dry weather. Silvertwinkie actually has towed across that area and had a good time. We've driven it when car camping and it was a fine adventure. This could backfire but it is unique, so do your research. It is very easy to do with a car/tow vehicle only -- interesting history in the area, big sand dunes up toward Grand Marais.

[kds]

I am going to Munising and Marquette, MI in for the months of August and September to do two Habitat RV Care-A-Vanner builds. I was so excited to see this thread!!!!! Thanks for the great info. I've never been to MI before and can't wait to get out of the Texas heat this summer. This information helps so much!

Kelly

[nilesrob]

Yes, this is all AWESOME information - thank you all!

[SSquared]

I grew up in Houghton but moved away years ago. One thing they've done since I left is put in a waterfront park on the west side of town. That has RV camping, so check it out.

The next closest public campground I know if is McLain State park, on the Lake Superior shore west of Hancock. Keep in mind, the lakeside campsites can be windy--bad if the weather is chilly (which is common), but good if the mosquitoes or black flies are biting (which is common).

[Becky B.]

Actually, Indiana Dunes are on the Southeast side of Lake Michigan--sorry!

[Ed Emerick]

We have a daughter at MTU who will have one more year there. We take the Airstream and have found that the campground at Houghton City Park is very nice. There are no restrooms but there are full hook ups. From the park you can walk to downtown Houghton along the portage, great views. Also in Houghton go to the Ambassador for pizza and stop at KBC for a great beer.

If you are looking for a Lake Superior view drive up the peninsula to McLain State Park, they nice sites on the shore. Be careful of driving between Houghton and the State Park at night there are a lot of deer in that area. This is one reason we like the City Park.

What a great choice for a place to go to college! Our daughter has loved it there and she is getting a great education!

Have fun there is a ton to do in the Keweenaw.

[Lily&Me]

We love the UP and, preferring to keep it simple, particularly like the abundance of inexpensive local campgrounds. We like to follow the coastline, and many of these are right on the shore of Lake Superior---the most beautiful and clear of the Great Lakes, in our opinion.

The shipwreck museum at Whitefish is interesting. Copper Harbor SP on the Keeweenawa Peninsula is also beautiful.

We have heard many good things about state parks in non-coastal areas of the UP, but have not ourselves explored them. We are shore-lovers.

Have a great trip!


Maggie

[goshawks00]

There are so many places to see in the UP. I spent most of my child hood in the summers there, then our kids summers , and now my older years. We used to camp then bought a cabin on an island to have more permanency there. Later sold the cabin and now are beginning to AS back there. I would suggest this site as a prelude to any planning.

hunts-upguide.com/

There have been some great places already listed. I'll add a few more random favorites of ours:

These can be looked up for for info.
Palms Book
The Two Hearted/Carp River ( Two of Hemingway's fabled fishing spots)
Seney wildlife Refuge
Soo Locks ( take the boat tour and visit the info building) While there at SSM eat at Antlers resturant)
A must do is also to eat pasties@ Leito's on US 2 a few miles west of St. Ignace (Over 60 years making pasties)
Drive over the Mac Bridge
Father Marquette monument also in St. Ignace
Visit as many lighthouses as you can (19 in the UP)
Visit as many waterfalls as you can (32 in the UP)
Pictured Rocks
Cooper Harbor
Porcupine Mts.
Drummond Island

Barry & Karen
(Yuppers caught up in Troll bodies)

[murreywalker]

Took that same trip last summer.

Petosky State Park was great. Elec. only but if you can, reserve site 174. The UP is very interesting, but then again the whole of Lake Michigan (both sides) is full of great camping opportunities.

Have fun!

[GeocamperAS]

If I had lots of time, I would go around Lake Michigan, as in, to Houghton through MI and back through WI or visa versa.

In MI

Mackinac Island. A very nice day trip. No vehicles allowed. Take the ferry over. Rent a bike or a horse drawn carriage to get around the Island.

Sault Saint Marie, MI Shipping Locks. Watch the big ships go between Lake Superior and Lake Huron


Being from WI a few of my favorite places alone the lake are

Peninsula State Park in Door County WI 1 ½ hour North of Green Bay in the thumb.

Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame in Green Bay

Manitowoc Maritime Museum in Manitowoc WI. Nice history on the ships of the great lakes as well as a WWII sub you can tour.

Kohler WI has the Kohler factory tour. Be careful with this one. You will want to remodel your kitchen and bath at home and in your AS with all the cool ideas.

[larry b]

McLain State Park
The Jampot

Visited this part of Michigan two years ago, absolutly loved Mclain state park and the keweenaw peninsula.

Points of interest:

mineral exhibit at the college
Jampot is a monk bakery that is great place to visit.

[goshawks00]

Here are a few places we enjoyed in Wisc, again a google search for more info.

Hodag festival in Rhinelander

Timms Hill, the highest point in Wisc. and they have a great walk up tower that looks over the state.

North east Wisc has 7 falls... most are really really cool. Our favorites are Lower Potato Falls and Big Manitou.

There are also 8 lighthouses scattered across the north east shore, all worth a visit.

Happy exploring,
Barry

[Jake Holt]

The Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, are a nice visit. You can walk around them and or even go on a tour through them. I forget where the tours start, but there are signs that direct you to the launch. While you are there you will more than likely see many freighters. The thousand footers, the American Integrity is my favorite, are great to watch as are several others. You just missed the I-500 that happens every year. That's a really big 500 mile snowmobile race that takes place in the city (on a track of course). As stated before Mackinac Island, the Shipwreck Museum, Tahquamenon Falls, Pictured Rocks National Park, and Traverse City (lots of wineries/cherries there) are all great places to visit. If you are planning to visit your son often then the numerous places to sight-see are nearly endless. There are the Sleeping Bear Dunes along Lake Michigan as well. Holland, MI has a tulip festival every year. Your son will have a great time at Tech. If he likes to hunt and fish there is no better state (IMO). Winter activities are just as endless as sight-seeing locations. My closest of friends today I meet through college in the UP. Have fun driving there. The Big Mac (Mackinaw Bridge) will be quite a sight. Was for me my whole life (still is I suppose).
Former resident of Michigan, still a Michigander though.

[Nuvite-F]

Brad,

I am coming late to this thread but want to second several earlier comments.

In no particular order,

Michigan Tech is a great school. I attended a Large Midwestern University but have worked with several MTU grads and they were top notch.

By all means stop at Lehto's Pasties just west of the north end of Da Bridge. A U P institution for generations.

Scenery is beautiful anywhere in the U P and you have your choice of great lakes--Michigan and Superior--to drive along. Numerous cheap and cheerful municipal and private campgrounds on both shores.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point is well worth seeing. When we visited there we stayed overnight at Andrus Lake State Forest campground just down the road. (This is boondocking--no hookups. If you're lucky the local wolves will sing you a bedtime serenade.)

Northern Wisconsin is also pretty wild, with numerous campgrounds.

Door County is the crown jewel of Wisconsin. One of our regular campgrounds there is Monument Point Campground north of Sturgeon Bay.

With an MTU student in the family hopefully you can make it up to the U P and Wisconsin often. You'll love it. (Except for the mosquitoes and occasional hatches of black flies.)
.

[karenjude]

This is mrs nilesrob - Brad's wife. I was feeling a little sad that our son was going so far away to college - but not so much now that I see all the beautiful places we'll get to visit! Thanks for all of these ideas - they're great!

[goshawks00]

Originally Posted by Nuvite-F

Brad,

By all means stop at Lehto's Pasties just west of the north end of Da Bridge. A U P institution for generations.

.

Boy that's a mouth full. I had my first pastie there in 1956 at age 7. Dad had a deer camp in the UP and we would go up there in the summer to 'camp' out. We grew up knowing them and have fond memories of John and Katherine, their daughter and their grandkids from all the summers in the UP.

Our kids have all ate pasties there and now our 4th gen grandkids have eaten there. One thing that is kind of neat... they will ship frozen pasties to you if you ask.

50 plus years of eating them at their shop has been just the icing of spending many great years in the UP. We are looking so forward to again make the pilgrimage there during the "Under the Bridge" rally. If not before.
Barry & Karen

[AirsDream]

Several ideas for you ... I'm assuming that you are gonna' be driving up I75 and up on it through the Lower Peninsula or "Mitten" up to the Upper Peninsula.

First: The Michigan DNR website has an interactive map locaed here:
http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/parkmap.aspx that shows most of the public campgrounds in Michigan that are administered by the State. The State Park sites all have good maps of the campgrounds themselves. Most all of the Michigan State Parks have good though limited facilities .... typically 30A electric at sites but with dump stations and water available. Most also have very good shower / toilet facilities. Reserve well ahead, because they are VERY popular. There are a number in the lower peninsula that are worth staying at, though a bit out of your direct path. Certainly consider Ludington, Fisherman's Island and Wilderness state parks, the latter of which have some (if you reserve long enough in advance or get lucky) sites that are RIGHT ON Lake Michigan.

Second, Michigan also has quite a few state forest and Federal campgrounds that are right on nice trout streams. The State Forest campsites are shown on the above interactive maps. A DeLorme Michigan Atlas is a useful tool in finding these and the Federal sites. Most of these have hand pump wells, pit toilets, and no dump station. But they are secluded and mostly beautiful and tend not to attract the "huge rv and generator" crowd. Airstreams were made for this type of environment. The State Forest campgrounds don't take reservations, so plan to arrive early in the day, and mid-week is better.

Third, there is at least one township campground you may want to visit. It is JUST west of Munising, and has quite a few sites that are right on Lake Superior. It's a little run-down, but the views can't be beat. It is also just a little ways from the Federal Bay Furnace campground, which is also nice.

Fourth, all along the Lake Superior shore, from about Grand Marais over to Marquette and perhaps to L'Anse, there are a LOT of lovely waterfalls. Some, like Tahquamenon, have parks of their own, and are justifiably famous. Others are smaller but well worth the short hike to see them. Many are shown in the DeLorme Atlas. (No, I don't own stock in them, but I've been using their state atlases for decades, and they are very useful!)

Finally, if you have your passports along and you are in Michigan over a holiday such as Fourth of July or Labor Day or Memorial Day, when everyone for 700 miles is trying to get a Michigan campsite, consider Canada. There are many terrific Provincial Parks with lovely sites right on the Lakes (Lake Superior Provincial Park and Pinery Provincial Park come to mind at once) ... and since it's NOT a holiday over there when it is in the States, the campgrounds tend to be more available.

Oh, and in much of northern Michigan, you are in bear, mountain lion, and/or wolf country. Don't leave pets, food or children out unsupervised, and keep your eyes open!

You can spend weeks exploring all the nice places in Michigan, and turn it into months with a little hiking! It's also terrific in the winter if you like snow sports ... though you should be aware that air traffic in and out of Marquette can be spotty in the winter due to intense fog and snow ... lots of flights are cancelled or delayed, so don't try to fly in or out on a tight schedule ... give yourself plenty of driving / sightseeing time if you go by air. And allot EVEN MORE time if you're towing in the summer, so you can see all the great sights!