Michigan Upper Peninsula trip (1 Viewer)

[dnurk]

Pastie is pronounced past-ee. 

If you ask for one and pronounce it “paste-ee” you’ll likely get some strange looks. 

 

[Tick]

Not sure if you have ever done this or thought about it, but driving up the coast of lake Michigan is a lot of fun. 

We did the trip before we had a kid. Started in Saugatuk, Grand Haven, Muskegon, Ludington, and ending in Traverse City. Highly recommend especially if camping and can plan the trip early and get reservations at the state parks. A lot of them are right on the beach. 

We drove up along the shore as far as Frankfurt, which was cool. Charlevoix surprised me with how nice it was.  Tahquamenon was neat.

Pictured Rocks… we got out on the lake and the captain called off the trip for wind/waves.  He took us to Grand Isle, which really hit my wife hard - she’s been wanting to kayak Pictured Rocks forever, and it was the cornerstone of this trip.

We’re in Marquette tonight hoping the trails are ridable after expected rain tonight.  Planning on Lagniappe for dinner tonight.

 

[mr. furley]

We drove up along the shore as far as Frankfurt, which was cool. Charlevoix surprised me with how nice it was.  Tahquamenon was neat.

Pictured Rocks… we got out on the lake and the captain called off the trip for wind/waves.  He took us to Grand Isle, which really hit my wife hard - she’s been wanting to kayak Pictured Rocks forever, and it was the cornerstone of this trip.

We’re in Marquette tonight hoping the trails are ridable after expected rain tonight.  Planning on Lagniappe for dinner tonight.

we're close and i've still never been to Marquette. would love to hear your thoughts on it.

 

[tri-man 47]

We drove up along the shore as far as Frankfurt, which was cool. Charlevoix surprised me with how nice it was.  Tahquamenon was neat.

Pictured Rocks… we got out on the lake and the captain called off the trip for wind/waves.  He took us to Grand Isle, which really hit my wife hard - she’s been wanting to kayak Pictured Rocks forever, and it was the cornerstone of this trip.

We’re in Marquette tonight hoping the trails are ridable after expected rain tonight.  Planning on Lagniappe for dinner tonight.

Bummer about the missed opportunity for kayaking.

 

[Tick]

we're close and i've still never been to Marquette. would love to hear your thoughts on it.

We really liked it, but were only there for a day. The trails were great. The shore is wild and scenic.  Lagniappe was tremendous, and there’s a takeout Thai restaurant called Rice Paddy that I’ve had 4x across three trips through Marquette and always enjoy.  Wife wandered around downtown and went on a lighthouse tour she didn’t love… then we moved on. If you like hiking or biking, there are lots of options. 
 

I had forgotten how much of a step up the trails were over the lower peninsula. They shocked my son, but he held his own.

 

[Tick]

we're close and i've still never been to Marquette. would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Oh, and Munising is only like 45 minutes away, with lots of waterfalls and there’s the Pictured Rocks.

 

[Tick]

We're back... Copper Harbor has some closed MTB trails that we didn't know about, and the sign telling you they're closed looks just like the sign telling hikers that some of the trails are bike-only... and we rode through a sign without knowing it.  We ended up in a dead end where all three trail choices said no biking.  We walked back to a junction, rode a different trail to another point, and again faced two dead-ends or backtracking.  We ended up cheating and riding a trail to the nearest exit point just to get out of the mess.  I had tried to talk to the bike shop guy before we started just to see if there was anything I needed to know about the trails, but the shop said it was closed when I stopped by in the morning... dang.

That said, those trails are incredible, and having my wife give us rides to the top made it so we rode most of them downhill in a morning.  My wife and I walked to the fort, which was a cool museum.  Unfortunately, the older kids were being stinkers and we aborted the trip a half-day early and drove all the way home rather than eating at the German restaurant there and poking around in the little artist shops.

 

[Osaurus]

This thread is making me consider another hiking/camping trip in Ottawa NF. Love that place.

 

[mr. furley]

just booked a quick getaway to Marquette

which of the breweries are worth it? there are three within pretty close distance to where we're staying.  ditto for bakeries.

i see Lagniappe mentioned upthread. that's top of my list for dinner one day. any other non-chain joints with surprisingly good food? i like comfort food. pub burger and fries would suit me fine.

TIA

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

just booked a quick getaway to Marquette

which of the breweries are worth it? there are three within pretty close distance to where we're staying.  ditto for bakeries.

i see Lagniappe mentioned upthread. that's top of my list for dinner one day. any other non-chain joints with surprisingly good food? i like comfort food. pub burger and fries would suit me fine.

TIA

How long are you there? Munising is 45 minutes east and the starting point for the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  If you've never been I would highly recommend it.  It rivals the Grand Canyon IMO in beauty. I think you can do a couple hour tour by boat and take it all in. Again, it's not to be missed if you are this close.

 

[mr. furley]

How long are you there? Munising is 45 minutes east and the starting point for the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  If you've never been I would highly recommend it.  It rivals the Grand Canyon IMO in beauty. I think you can do a couple hour tour by boat and take it all in. Again, it's not to be missed if you are this close.

3 days

would absolutely love to do the boat tour but wife gets seasick riding in a car. boats are all the way out :(  

but.... Pictured Rocks is on the radar. one of the things i was wondering if it the trip were worth it if you can't do the boat tour?

 

[Tick]

We’re headed back up to camp at Copper Harbor near the end of June… might give Pictured Rocks another try and hope for better weather.

 

[MrJimiT]

We’re headed back up to camp at Copper Harbor near the end of June… might give Pictured Rocks another try and hope for better weather.

I've lived in Michigan all of my life, with several trips to the Upper Peninsula. However for the first time in the summer 2021, I visited Copper Harbor and various places within the Keewanaw Peninsula area. It was unbelievably beautiful. Very slow paced but very rewarding. 

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

3 days

would absolutely love to do the boat tour but wife gets seasick riding in a car. boats are all the way out :(  

but.... Pictured Rocks is on the radar. one of the things i was wondering if it the trip were worth it if you can't do the boat tour?

Hmm that’s too bad. The boat tour is basically an open small ferry type of boat if I remember right. 
 

UP trip is definitely worth it anyway. Tons of unspoiled land to check out. There are also numerous waterfall trails all around that area you could check out. A few ghost towns just south of Marquette area as well

What direction are you coming from east or west?

 

[Johnnie Nepal]

which of the breweries are worth it?

I'm only familiar with Blackrocks. I made it a point to stop in at their Brewpub last summer after having enjoyed their distributed beers over the years.

They were in the middle of renovations while they expanded from the original house to the building next door, so the entrance and flow from inside to outside was a little discombobulated. Once we had beers in hand, we were able to enjoy a great session on their back deck. There was a stage outside, so I would expect occasional live music... if you're into that. 

I would go back, if I make it up that way ever again. 

 

[mr. furley]

Hmm that’s too bad. The boat tour is basically an open small ferry type of boat if I remember right. 
 

UP trip is definitely worth it anyway. Tons of unspoiled land to check out. There are also numerous waterfall trails all around that area you could check out. A few ghost towns just south of Marquette area as well

What direction are you coming from east or west?

we're coming from essentially directly south of Marquette about 3 hours

 

[Tick]

I just booked our trip - it got a little longer than we had planned.

• Day 1: Drive to Cheboygan, camp.
  
• Day 2: Drive to Marquette, bike.  Drive back to Munising, camp (couldn't get any camp spots in Marquette).
  
• Day 3: Drive to Copper Harbor, bike, camp.
  
• Day 4: Drive home.
  

We'll be eating camping food most nights, but might try to hit Lagniappe again - that was good last time.

I feel silly getting that close and not giving Pictured Rocks another try, but we'll have 2 dogs with us.  We're only taking the least-complainy kid with us this time.

 

[Ilov80s]

just booked a quick getaway to Marquette

which of the breweries are worth it? there are three within pretty close distance to where we're staying.  ditto for bakeries.

i see Lagniappe mentioned upthread. that's top of my list for dinner one day. any other non-chain joints with surprisingly good food? i like comfort food. pub burger and fries would suit me fine.

TIA

Not sure about the others but Black Rocks is a really solid brewery. I haven’t been up there but their IPAs and pale ales are real nice.

 

[mr. furley]

Not sure about the others but Black Rocks is a really solid brewery. I haven’t been up there but their IPAs and pale ales are real nice.

we did make it to Black Rocks and sat on the roof deck. 

the day we got there was miserable. pouring rain and cold. we went to BR but it was packed to the gills so we went back mid-day the following day. nice spot. fine beer.

 

[Instinctive]

Heading to the U.P. week of the 4th. Thinking of getting a tee time or two at Newberry Country Club or Hiawatha Sportsman. Anyone been to either before?

 

[mr. furley]

Heading to the U.P. week of the 4th. Thinking of getting a tee time or two at Newberry Country Club or Hiawatha Sportsman. Anyone been to either before?

stop at Moe's in Escanaba for lunch/dinner

for whatever reason there were a disproportionate number of good looking women working and walking in/out while we were there.  it was like teleporting to a modeling tryout.

 

[Tick]

stop at Moe's in Escanaba for lunch/dinner

for whatever reason there were a disproportionate number of good looking women working and walking in/out while we were there.  it was like teleporting to a modeling tryout.

This does not match my experience in the UP... which is fine, I grew up in Alaska, I don't mind some sasquatches.

 

[Tick]

We went back again this summer - 4 night camping trip near Munising. We did get to kayak the Pictured Rocks, which was great - I'm glad we tried again. Then we hiked along the same shoreline, which was neat to see the same stuff from a different perspective. The hike was long - something like 12 miles and over 5 hours (we stop and look at everything). We took our little dog in a backpack, and he did great.

We spent a day walking around Marquette - there was a mini-food tent festival that was nice, and it was a great day. We had good food throughout the trip - Eh Burger and a pizza place in Munising stood out.

It felt weird to be that close to good mountain biking and not do any (we even hiked a MTB trail network in Munising), but this was a camping trip with the wife, not a MTB trip.