r/upperpeninsula • u/PatrickAgumon • 5d ago
Discussion My Recent UP Itinerary
I found this sub a few weeks ago while I was planning my own UP trip from Ohio. I've seen a lot of posts where folks are looking for input on a road trip through the UP with multiple stops in too short of a time. Well my family and I did that, so I thought I'd share our itinerary:
Drive from Ohio to Straits State Park in St Ignace, camp overnight
9:30 Ferry to Mackinac Island, spent 4 hours there walking around the Island, got lunch, bought some fudge, left the island at 2 and drove to Tahquamenon Falls SP to camp for the night. Walked to the lower falls before calling it a night
Drove to the Upper Falls, did some of the trails there, drove to Clyde's in Manistique for lunch, then to kitch iti kipi to check that out, followed by driving to Fayette SP to camp for my the night.
Went to the Fayette Historic Park in the AM, then drove to Munising to camp at the Tourist Park there. That evening we had dinner at Captain Ron's and did a Pictured Rocks boat tour. The boat tour was supposed to be the following evening but the forecast called for high winds so they offered us to do it this night instead, which ended up working out for us because...
We were supposed to spend 2 nights camping at Munising, but the high winds combined with a series of mishaps and not really loving our campsite convinced us to pack up early and drive to Marquette to get a hotel. We grabbed a pastie from Muldoons and then headed to Marquette. We checked out Lakenland along the way, swam at our hotel pool, had Laker's pizza for dinner
Checked out of our hotel, drove to Presque Isle park (stumbled upon an incredible playground for our kids along the way) and did the loop there as well as walking out near the lighthouse. Then drove to Ontonagon Township Park where we would camp the following 3 nights.
Toured the Quincey Mine, had lunch at Four Suns across from the mine, drove up to Calumet to learn some more there but their national parks stuff was closed.
Went to the Porcupine Mountains (the visitors center, lake of the clouds overlook, hiked a portion of the waterfall loop) then had dinner at the Porkies Outpost
9-10. Left the UP, camped a night in WI, did some stuff in Milwaukee and Chicago, drove home.
The biggest criticism I've seen of this type of trip is that you'll spend most of the time driving. It's true most days had at least 90 minutes of driving, but the drives were really lovely, specifically because of the Fall leaves. I liked the drives. I do wish I would've had more time in most of the locations. Many of these places deserve so much more time wandering rather than just hitting the tourist spots. But, the tourist spots are the tourist spots for a reason, because they do stand out. Specifically I can't believe I was just going to drive through Marquette instead of at least spending a night there. But, this type of tourism must be popular because there was a group on our ferry to the island, who we also saw at the Tahquamenon Upper Falls and at kitch iti kipi, which was funny.
I'm glad we did this when we did. The leaves were really marvelous. Camping on lake Superior is no joke though, and specifically for us, who honestly aren't super experienced campers, we learned a lot. But overall it was a wonderful experience and we hope to go back in the future. If anyone has any questions, let me know!
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u/yooperann 2d ago
I recognized all those spots. Good work for such a quick trip. Glad you discovered the great new playground at Mattson Park in Marquette.
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u/PatrickAgumon 1d ago
Thank you! Yes, that was a spontaneous stop which is nice to do when you've planned so much. Looks like it was somewhat recently redone in the last few years. Really nice playground and in a beautiful setting.
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u/YooperDude1060 2d ago
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip/quick U.P. excursion. Sort of a whirlwind tour, eh?
It's a really special place, up here.
Maybe, next year, check out the the Locks, Big Bay, & the Kewanaw Peninsula. Safe travels!
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u/PatrickAgumon 1d ago
It was a whirlwind tour, which on one hand I knew it was going to be, but on the other hand I really tried to be intentional about stopping for some time to be spontaneous and just really enjoy the spectacular surroundings. We really wanted to explore the Kewanaw more than we did, but fell short on time, so it's on a to-do like in the future. Somehow Big Bay wasn't really even on my radar, but I'll make a note of that for next time also.
Like you said, a really special place. Probably as close to being untouched by massive overdevelopment as you can get around the Midwest, but with some amazing nature to boot. I've never been to Alaska, but it kind of felt like a version of what I imagine that's like.
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u/WearMoney7129 2d ago
I like your style in photography.