Hello fellow midwesterners! I recently moved to Michigan but have never traveled to upper peninsula or even the northern part of Michigan. I’ve heard there are some great places to visit, some beautiful places to see, and want to start writing a list of ideas. What recommendations do you have for things to visit while on a multi-day trip?
The drive out to Copper Harbor is nice.
I’ve been going to Charlevoix for 30 years. Love the place, there’s a sweet festival during late July called, “Venetian Festival” that has a boat parade and fireworks. Super nice quaint town between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix.
I don’t live in Michigan (wish I did) but Hawk Ridge in Duluth and Gooseberry State Park are both really beautiful places.
If you like wine you should go on a wine tasting tour of old mission in Traverse city. My wife and I try to go once a year.
I’d actually recommend Petoskey’s wine scene over Traverse City. I couldn’t find a single wine I really liked in the Traverse City area.
Maybe we should try that. We love old mission but we have done it every fall for 10 years. Maybe time to try something new…or maybe both.
There are plenty of cool places to see in the UP like pictured rocks, tahquamenon falls, Kitch-iti-kipi, and Big Spring. There are also some good sounding state parks up there, but I haven’t been to any yet.
In the lower peninsula, check out silver lake and sleeping bear dunes. Both have way more sand than I expected to find in Michigan after moving here from the east coast. Sand dunes aside, both have camping and offer plenty of hiking opportunities. There’s also Muskegon state Park and PJ Hoffmaster a little further south. These last two are somewhat close to Grand Rapids, which is worth checking out as is the nearby Michigan Adventure and Meijer Gardens and Sculpture park. If you like art and gardens you can easily spend a full day there and get a decent amount of walking in.
