OT: Roadtrippin’ through the Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin
After being deprived of any real adventure and not getting outdoors enough since lockdown, we escaped to my parents’ cottage in Frankfort, MI for the week. But rather than taking the quick way back home to Chicago, we decided this weekend we’d take the long way back and drive west through the Upper Peninsula and then south down Wisconsin. Wondering if the board has any recommendations for must-see/must-do/must-eats.
Current itinerary is...
Friday: Drive north on US-31 and make a stop in Petoskey, drive over the Mackinac Bridge, and then drive west along scenic US-2. Then we’ll cut up north towards Munising to see Pictured Rocks and stay the night in Marquette. 5.5 hours drive time.
Saturday: Drive south on US-41 through Green Bay and then head up the peninsula to Door County, WI. Staying the night in Sturgeon Bay. 4 hours drive time.
Sunday: Head south back to Chicago and stop at Mars Cheese Castle before crossing the border. 4 hours drive time.
Appreciate any ideas!
I would highly suggest a trip to Tahquamenon Falls. It is absolutely gorgeous. Whitefish point and the Soo were always fun for me and the family as well.
Eat Pasties, be happy. Safe travels.
We loved Whitefish Point as well. We like all things freighters, so the museum there was quite interesting as well. Also, Mars Cheese Castle is an amazing place. Highly recommend. I love this roadtrip idea.
And if you do head to Taquamanon Falls that means you're probably going up I-75 after crossing the Mighty Mac.
In that case, a very scenic route to take would be north on I-75, then west towards Brimley, then continue west along Iroquois Rd/w Lakeshore Dr until you reach Point Iroquois Lighthouse, which is open for tours---you can even climb the spiral staircase inside the lighthouse to the top of the 65' tower and take in the 360° view of the grounds and of passing Lake Superior Freighters.
Point Iroquois Lighthouse 13042-13260 W Lakeshore Dr, Brimley, MI 49715 https://g.co/kgs/fmwhA1
Plan on a relaxing hour or so stop, including a walk along the beach to collect souvenir stones or driftwood.
Once you depart and continue west towards Taquamanon on Lakeshore Dr, the very scenic road will take you between dunes and thru tunnels of trees, w/lots of the trip offering beautiful views of "gitchie-gumie" .
Skip the falls and do pictured rocks in Munising. You’ll be there anyways and you’ll like it better. I’ve lived here all my life.
Appreciate the ideas. Those places look gorgeous. We’re already booked for Munising/Marquette and have a somewhat tight schedule. And those places look to be a little out of the way. Next time maybe!
Know all about the pasties, but are there any specific places we should try? Or are they available at most restaurants up there?
Muldoons pasties in Munising
Jean Kays in Marquette....and pick up some beer from Blackrocks Brewery!
Take the US-2 route you were initally going to take. Stop at the grocery store on US-2 in Manistique and pick up some pasties. Head to Munising and see Pictured Rocks, then head over to Marquette and hit the hotel. Stop and Black Rocks and have a beer or three.
Miners Pasty's in Munising has two locations including one that you can stop at right after you get off the cruise boat. Munising is a little torn up with construction right now so the less you have to navigate the highway through town the better. Plus, I dont think you will find a better pasty in the entire UP. Enjoy your trip up here
I think it’s a must to get on M-28 to Marquette for the view. Navigating through the construction would be worth it.
List of things to see in Green Bay
-packer heritage trail including their original field, City Stadium
-packer pro shop
-Hinterland in the TT district next to the stadium
-Titletown brewing (Green Bay proper downtown)
Jealous that you get to go to the cheese castle. Total wine and liquor in Milwaukee is the largest liquor store I have ever seen. They have a vodka aisle, tequila aisle, whiskey aisle, scotch aisle, a third of the store for craft beer and a third of the store for wine.
Try the Old 96’er.
Nice.
Live in WI outside Milwaukee. Been to Door County several times.
Wilson's in Ephraim is a great ice cream shop.
http://wilsonsicecream.com/
Wild Tomato locations have good pizza and beer.
https://wildtomatopizza.com/
Cookery in Fish Creek has good food for nicer sit down lunch or dinner.
http://www.cookeryfishcreek.com/#home
Might not work for your itinerary but the keweenaw peninsula.
Seconded. Additionally, XM mentioned Sugarloaf Mountain ( https://www.michigan.org/article/trip-idea/sugarloaf-mountain-short-hike-amazing-view ) and I saw at least one mention of the Porcupine Mountains.
I was thinking about that too. Cooper Harbor, Fort Wilkens, thimbleberry jam, pasties, Finnish heritage, downtown shops in Houghton/Hancock, copper towns-turned-ghost towns, and the rugged Lake Superior shoreline.
And Lord knows how much that area depends upon tourism.
Food shopping to bring back home
in Iron Mountain if you go thru it - Becco's Italian sausage
Niagra, Wisconsin Kadulski's Bratwurst
UP - pasties
Get yourself some Spotted Cow while in Wisconsin
The Fudge Cheese at Mars Cheese Castle
I wouldn’t mind a roadtrip to the UP.
Easily your best post ever.
do you have kids? might want to go the bear ranch. link: https://www.oswaldsbearranch.com/.
hikes in marquette, the homeland. sugar loaf is nice, incredible views. there's one over just south of town, too, that has some really neat views and isn't overly challenging.
swim at the sand river where it flows into superior near munising/pictured rocks. friends were there last week and this warm weather has made even superior very nice.
if you like to fly fish i might be able to recommend a couple of places.
get some pasties, well, because its da UP, eh.
You're from Marquette, XM? I grew up there as well.
family in MQT back in 1855. our oldest 2 kids were born there. road and buildings named after great grandfathers. we've been blessed below the bridge, but always, always love the UP.
Superior “very nice” for swimming you say? Surely you jest. If so, that’s legitimately nutso and I may take a road trip up there just for that experience. Last time I was in Superior was jumping in at Isle Royale a few years ago in mid-May, when it snowed the same day. It was memorable, but not terribly nice at that moment :)
my water temp cut-off for lake swimming is right about 55-56 degrees. i try to swim a mile a day 3-5x/wk from as early in may as i can tolerate the water to as late in october as it stays above 54-55 degrees. superior gets there most summers. we've had a couple of weeks of really nice/warm weather, so near shore waters are in the high 60's.
Damn, XM, you could escape from Alcatraz with your ability to handle mid-50 degF waters. Just need to outswim the sharks.
i can handle the waters because i'm a little too well insulated, if you know what i mean. funny thing, and maybe there is some physiological explanation for it, but getting into the cooler water in the fall is easy for me. not as much in the spring, takes a little more of an internal nudge to deal with that cold water.
Ha, maybe that was my problem back on Isle Royale, I had a bit less insulation a few years back, I should try it now :). At that point though, I went to that NOLA website and the surface temp at the northern area was around 33-34 degrees. It was a little brisk.
You can swim in Munising Bay just east of Munising.
The water is shallow and a lot warmer than the rest of the Lake Superior.
Skip WI. You can do Chicago.anytime.
Go west from Marquette to Sturgeon River roadside park just west of L'Anse. Continue to Copper Harbor and the Kewaunaw. The Jampot is the best bakery in the WORLD! Then go to Porcupine Mountains, Bond Falls, return on US 2
Thanks. No kids. But given your knowledge of Pictured Rocks, what do you think of the cruise tours? We looked into them briefly and they look pretty cool.
sure. nice trip. pretty. its good tourist stuff. we took my in-laws there when the kids were young and they enjoyed it, too.
Literally drove thru the UP today back to Milwaukee. Pictures rocks are beautiful. Porcupine Mts are out of your way, but if you have the opportuty check them out. I like the side of the road stops just to be by the lake.
Mars Cheese Castle may disappoint. Been there before and it's pretty much a grocery store.
Highly recommend checking out kitch iti kipi
Stopped there with the kids many years ago. Very amazing natural spring.
Love the UP. When we go we rent a cabin for a week in Grand Marais. Centralized location where you can easily drive to any of the Pictured Rocks sights or head east to Tahquamenon.
I'd say you have to eat at Johnny Dogs in Munising but a quick web search suggests that they might no longer be there.
FYI. Born n raised St. Ignace boy. Go Lady Saints.
Once you are passed the Sand Dunes (Brevort) US2 Is a boring death trap. Up top someone mentioned getting up to Brimley and then raking a Superior route to Munising. I will triple down on that.
But. The dunes are a world class beach. So if you are not afraid of a little detour you can do both. Go see the dunes. On their west end is Brevort Lake Campground Road going north. That T’s into to Worth Road. Take a right/east on Worth and that hits M123 just north of Moran. Left/north on that runs you right into Tahquimenon/Paradise. Not a bad detour and worth it if your straight up road tripping.
PS. Sparty is hanging the big banner when my boys Max and Bates wreck the world.
Do you actually believe Bates will play a single college game? Genuinely curious.
I put it at 90% he wears green.
The little chatter his camp has put out there on the thought process, and it isn’t much, is that both he and his parents want one year of college ball. Now weight that against his wishy washy commitment statement.
His camp comes across as quiet, competent and smart. I think they are leaning towards a year in green and are now getting advice on how to come out of it with max advertising dollars. Preferably AFTER he moves on. (Looks around nervously.)
So in short I think they are weighing Izzo development/later Nike money against G development/G League money. Sparty will win out on that based on history.....the times the G League has won are few and far between. I actually can’t think of any iff the top of my head.
Here’s hoping we all get to have a healthy safe season!
Kids and the Bear ranch? Forget the kids - LOL. The Wife and I were there for the first time several years ago. We loved it.
White Fish Pointe - Gotta eat white fish at Browns!
I like the Seney driving tour.
My Wife is Finnish so I try to get her across the bridge once a year or she get crabby!
Stay at the Landmark Inn in Marquette right downtown. Every room is classically different. Dine or drink in the lobby bar with great food and wine. Have a drink on the top floor bar with a great view of Lake Superior and the Iron Ore Dock.
On highway 2 if it’s nice pick any beach along the road and stop for a swim. If the waves are rolling north to the shore the water gets warm. You have miles of secluded sand to choose from
http://www.thelandmarkinn.com/gallery-en.html
For God’s sake don’t eat a Pasty. They are gut bombs invented to stay warm all day for the ore workers when they went off to the mines. If you do add lots of ketchup. Eat some whitefish. Have fun.
I always thought we were kind of cyber-friends....right up until you said 'no pastys'.
Hey we might be related given your Marquette background. I must have gotten my dislike of pastys from my Dads side of the family or maybe I just never found the right one.
maybe try some made with venison.
also, i always say in the UP we're all 'shirt tail relatives'. in one way or another everybody (hyperbole) is connected to the other yoopers.
I am particularly fond of buffalo pasties.
i have had/eaten buffalo, but never in a pastie. good idea.
i am probably the only one on this list that has ever butchered buffalo, though. so i got that going for me.
We are staying at the Landmark Inn! Happy to hear it’s well regarded. Hopefully your distaste for pasties isn’t indicative of your taste for other things. Seems that ticked off a few people lol.
Pictured Rocks is amazing. We recently got back from 3 night in Grand Marais on the east side of the park. The dunes on that side of the park are amazing and rival Sleeping Bear. Grand Marais is a cute little beach town with sand sand everywhere.
We found Pictured Rocks to be amazingly beautiful and will be going back. The hike from Hurricane River campground to the Sable light was amazing. Cut over to the beach and there are 3 shipwrecks right there. One is in knee deep water and the other is right up on the beach near the lighthouse.
Dunes, waterfalls, cliffs, shipwrecks... Pictured Rocks has it all.
Stop at Kopps frozen custard in Milwaukee.
When you're on I-41 just over the border, stop in Marinette and try Blue Bike Burrito. It's great!
Kitch-iti-kipi.
You're going right past it. Turn right on to 149 at Thompson. It's just west of Indian Lake.
Turn right again just past the lake.
Maybe 8 miles off of Route 2. A 30 minute side trip at the most and well worth it.
Crystal clear spring fed pond. Very UP.
Climb Sugar Loaf Mountain (like 20 minutes) and jump into Lake Superior from the Black Rocks in Marquette. Black Rocks should be #1 on any trip to the U.P.
Grew up in the Soo and seen it all.
Most of the best places have been mentioned and are on the north side of the U.P. ( and also amazing up into Canada).
Some options on your route:
1. Mackinac Island
2. If you can’t do that... get on the water. Rent a boat and cruise under the bridge. Amazing stuff.
3. It’s super touristy, but 5 minutes north of the bridge on I-75 is Castle Rock. Walk all the way up and enjoy the view...
4. previously Mentioned Kitch-iti-kipi...