Visiting Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Visiting the Upper Peninsula in Michigan feels like you are visiting an entirely different state.

The water is ice cold, but immediately refreshing due to the 90 degree weather. As one of the largest and most northern Great Lakes, Lake Superior is often cold well into the summer months, oftentimes the water doesn’t reach over 65 degrees until August. But, on this particular trip, at this particular time, it felt fine because of the temperature outside.

People have accents, they are friendly (like, giving me their life-story two seconds after meeting them friendly) and don’t seem to mind the cold weather. We only had time to visit Munising and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, but I promise next time to see and visit much more!

We started off our trip by staying at the Bay Furnace Campgrounds in Christmas, Michigan. This particular campground is located in the Hiawatha National Forest and they have three campsites that are directly on the lake. Make sure to reserve these six months to the day that you want to arrive. I forgot until about noon on January 1st and the third best campsite (#12) was the only one left. We still had direct access to Lake Superior, our own little beach and views of Grand Island.

The next day, we headed to Pictured Rocks, which is best viewed by boat (more on that later). We decided to hike the 6.2 mile Chapel Rock and Chapel Beach loop, which was a great day hike.

We got to the trailhead early (it fills up) and started out, hiking past Chapel Falls (about 1.5 miles in) and finishing on Chapel Beach, taking an hour to nap and read on the beach. Since you can only get to this beach via a 3 mile hike, it’s not super crowded. Just bring a towel, some snacks and something to read and enjoy a few hours! When leaving, you can go back the way you came, or do a loop. Additionally, you can add in Mosquito River and Beach to get a full 10 miles in.

Remember when I said the Pictured Rocks are best viewed from the water? We thought it would be fun to rent kayaks with Pictured Rocks Kayaking to be able to see them close up. Unfortunately, there were too many waves the day we ventured out and instead had to kayak near Grand Island. This was a huge bummer because it was one of the reasons we were there. And now, we had to either skip seeing the rocks, or take another 2 hours out of our vacation to do a cruise. We didn’t have a ton of extra time, so we will have to come back and see the rest of the Pictured Rocks next time!

Our last day included a quick walk to Miner’s Castle (this is just a short walk to see it - the upper view is the best, the lower view isn’t anything to write home about) and then off to the beach.

Again, it was 90 degrees that day and we were on vacation - a beach day was in order. Miner’s Beach is pretty well used and the lot fills up quickly on nice days, so try and get there before 11 to grab a spot. 

Where to Eat, Drink and Stay in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula:

So, there is this thing called a Pasty that is their unofficial food - it’s like a handheld pot pie, if that makes sense. I tried the traditional, but the chicken was much better from Muldoons. Apparently you eat it with ketchup, which sounds gross. The other option of hot sauce made much more sense.

Captain Ron’s! You have to go to Captain Ron’s to get a whole smoked fish. Trust me. Additionally, he has a food truck that sells fried fish. Whitefish or Trout.

Taco Primo is a pretty decent taco place in town, it’s BYOB, just FYI

East Channel Brewing Company had decent beers on tap, but the real standout is the Barge Inn. It was definitely a locals joint, but they had live music, a great patio and cheap drinks. You might run into a Bob Ross look-a-like there, so be on the lookout! 

It used to be that you could just show up in the UP and find a place to stay. That is becoming harder and harder, with reservations at hotels and campsites selling out in the summer months. We stayed at the Roam Inn in Munising and it was a pretty nice place! It’s on the edge of town, so we walked about a half a mile to get to the main drag each night. 

Where do you want to go adventure in the UP? Share your Upper Peninsula love below!

Thanks for reading!

Amy K