Michigan Medley

Travel America, July, 2000 by George Bushnell

Water and woods dominate getaway havens in the Great Lakes State

This two-peninsula state provides a double dose of a vacation fun in all seasons. Its resorts, villages, and state parks are especially popular with urban-dwelling Midwesterners looking for a breath of fresh air.

In summer, Michigan is a sunny land of sparkling blue lakes and rushing cold streams, harbors dotted with white sails, thick green forests, cascading waterfalls, white sand beaches, colorful art fairs, and busy shopping villages.

Fall splashes the hills and valleys with vivid reds, golds and russets. Roadside stands sell cider, honey, pumpkins, apples, and vegetables fresh from the farm. The air is crisp and clear, the sky a deep blue.

Winter covers the coutryside with a white blanket for skiing, snowmobiling, sled-dog racing, ice fishing, and trail hiking. In our 40-year love affair with Michigan, we keep discovering new treasures, from a photographic vantage point and an offbeat museum to a waterside restaurant serving the state's signature whitefish.

Michigan's magic can start in the western Upper Peninsula. The U.P. is a vast, unspoiled region 384 miles long and 233 miles wide, with 1,700 miles of pristine shoreline, 40 lighthouses, an incredible 200 waterfalls, 24 skate parks, and 1,200 miles of rivers and icy trout streams.

Only four percent of Michigan's nine million residents inhabit the U.P. Living far from high-city congestion, "Yoopers" are delightfully friendly and relaxed.

Ironwood is western U.P. waterfall and winter sports country. Six large waterfalls splash along a two-mile stretch of Black River Road leading to Lake Superior. The dare-devil, 469-foot-high Cooper Peak Ski Flying Hill is rated the world's highest manmade ski jump.

A must-see is 20-mile-long Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, bordering western Lake Superior. The "Porkies" provide camping and cabins, 93 waterfalls, old-growth forest, and bicycling and hiking trails. Lake of the Clouds is a camera bug's favorite.

Thumb-shaped Keweenaw Peninsula has mined copper for at least 7,000 years. At Hancock, take the two-hour Quincy Hoist and Mine tour. Visitors begin with a video of the long-vanished miners, who were raised and lowered by the 60-foot drum cable hoist. Everyone then dons hard hats and slickers to ride a red tram down a steep hill, then into a dimly lit tunnel.

At Copper Harbor, take the super-scenic, nine-mile Brockway Mountain Drive off M-26, with spectacular panoramas and seasonal wildflowers. Catch the ferry to remote, rugged, and roadless Isle Royale, home to moose and wolves. Non-campers can stay at the 60-room Rock Harbor Lodge.

Marquette, population 23,000, is the U.P.'s largest city. A walking tour should include century-old downtown buildings and the Lake Superior harbor, where railroad hopper cars pour taconite iron pellets into freighters.

King of Michigan's waterfalls is the much-photographed Upper Tahquamenon Falls, 200 feet wide, in a state park with viewing platforms. The equally beautiful lower falls and island are three miles away. Whitefish Point, long a ships' stormy graveyard, recalls ship disasters (like the 1974 Edmund Fitzgerald) in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and nearby light station.

St. Ignace is the U.P.'s southern gateway to Mackinaw City and a departure point for Mackinac Island. Cross high above the Straits on the 26,372-foot-long Mackinac Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge, with spectacular views of blue water and freighters far below. (Whether spelled "-ac" or "-aw," pronounce it "Mack-ih-naw.")

Auto buffs flock to St. Ignace's popular car shows in June and September. For year-round gaming, there's Kewadin Casino. The Lake Huron Boardwalk, across from the Museum of Ojibwa Culture, ribbons its way along the downtown waterfront, with signs and exhibits about local history.

Mackinaw City is also a major tourist destination. In the works is the $25-million Great Lakes Lighthouse Museum, to be located 1400 feet off shore on the State Ferry Dock. Special three-hour cruises from Shepler's dock spotlight the Straits' lighthouses on selected dates this summer.

Colonial Fort Michilimackinac is a restoration of the original 1715 French trading post. On Memorial Day weekend, British soldiers and Indians re-enact the fort's 1763 capture and massacre during Chief Pontiac's uprising.

A major drawing card is Mackinaw Crossings, a Victorian-style entertainment-shopping complex. It has 50 shops, restaurants, a five-screen theater, and nightly laser shows. Stop in at the Wings of Mackinaw butterfly garden.

Most visitors come to Mackinaw City to embark for Mackinac Island, a popular summer retreat since the 1880s. Automobiles are banned (except emergency vehicles), but visitors can bring or rent bicycles, hike, or take a 90-minute narrated horse-drawn carriage ride. Fort Mackinac, built in 1781, has been restored to its 1880s period. The elegant hilltop Grand Hotel looks over the harbor from its 660-foot front porch.

On the lower peninsula, Little Traverse Bay is home to the Lake Michigan resort communities of Petoskey, Harbor Springs, and Boyne City. The area abounds with warm-weather festivals, public golf courses, sandy beaches, and lakeside hiking and biking trails. Shoppers make a beeline to Petoskey's charming Gaslight District and the new shops at the Bay Harbor Marina District.