Upper Peninsula; Marquette to Whitefish Point

Well, I just got back from a spur of the moment trip to explore some new areas and routes in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. With fuel cost being so high I had changed my July trip plans and decided to do some shorter and more local trips in the region and its been absolutely awesome. So often I feel the need to drive thousands of miles to explore backcountry when I have some the best remote backcountry locations out my backdoor. Probably a case of the grass is always greener, but now that I'm spending more time locally I couldn't be happier.

The trip came to be when I was looking over maps on a new topo/atlas I just picked up and saw some routes that looked like fun. I took two full days, just night of camping since I was a bit time constrained. The route crosses east from Marquette on highway 94 towards Munising. About 10 miles out from Munising I started down a series of forest roads, paved at first then leading me onto dirt and across a region rich with lakes, rivers, and great dirt roads where I was literally driving under a tall green canopy of trees.

I was pleased to find the bugs were nonexistant. Hopefully they are done for the summer and my scab covered legs and arms can begin the final stage of healing from black fly bites. No matter what, the ability to stand in the northwoods on a breezy day without the constant twitching motions that all native Yoopers seem to display in the months of June and July. Ahhh

I crossed a short section of highway 94 again and began a northward trek on a route I had not yet taken. 448 is the county road number but it also goes by Highwater truck trail for the first half, then Creighton truck trail for the second half. Essentially the route runs through the western edge of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The trail follows numerous rivers including the Manistique and the Creighton. The surface of the road is a soft, mostly packed sand surface that was recently graded and excpetionally smooth. Over the course of this 25+ mile stretch I saw only one other vehicle, a Tacoma that was near the highway outlet on the south edge. Other then that I was all alone and saw way more animal tracks on the road then vehicle.


Working my way north through the corner of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. My tire tracks are a giveaway to the soft road surface. Note the lack of any other tracks.


The last stetch of the Creighton Truck Trail runs dead straight.


The sandy shores of a bend on the Manistique River. Adventurous souls can take a 5 day paddle from here and end up at Lake Michigan crossing some pretty remote country along the way.

Eventually I hit M28 and took a short jog west of around a mile before connecting again to dirt on county road 454. The road surface was a bit more firm with alot of loose rock and a steep crown. Again, no other vehicles till I crossed pass North Gemini Lake and onto the East/West dirt higway that is H58. H58 is the way to get from Munising across to Grand Marais and to see the majority of Picture Rocks National Lake Shore without the long detour south and around on M28 and M77. H58 is a fairly long route that crosses through old logging tracts, National Lake Shore, National Forest, and State Forest lands. In the past it had miles and miles of soft sandy holes to hard washboard surfaces. Presently they are logging the sides of the road coming from the west and look to be getting part of it ready to pave. A real shame as part of the adventure for the park visitors is overlanding it through here. With all the machinery and tourist traffic it made for an eye-rattling ride that I was happy to be off of as I turned north on to Kingston Lake Rd.

My next stop was 12 mile beach, part of the National Park. I grabbed a quick snack and marvelled in the cobalt blue waters combined with the stiff breeze blowing out of the north. Campers from one of the nearby campgrounds waddled the beaches, bent over like hunchbacks searching relentlessly for agates and cool rocks. The entire Pictured Rocks Lakeshore is beautiful but in peak tourist season, a place I really didn't care to spend much time in. I had just paddled a section of it the week before so I was keeping stops short here. Just down the road a bit I found a nice vacant stretch of beach to relax on.




Back on the road. I was anxious to set camp and still had some miles to cover. Next stop Hurricane beach, a nice little area with a campground at the mouth of the Hurricane River.





Next stop Grand Marais. I deliberatly skipped the overlook called "Devils Log Slide" on the Grand Sable dunes. Beautiful spot but I was feeling the need for sights without RV's, their occupants, and the Griswald families of the world. Grand Marais is a great little town. A Harbor of refuge, the town is little more then a half dozen business, a couple of great beaches, and a supply point for the throngs of tourist campers venturing into the National Park. I topped of the Cruiser's tank since I wouldn't be seeing fuel again for a long stretch of backcountry. A quck calculation showed that I was averaging about 14mpg. Not bad considering I convered alot of offpavement in those first 100 miles.

Heading out of town the route east on H58 quickly turns to dirt, thank god because that last stretch of pavement is brutal. Gnarly potholes that I think the locals keep there to ward off downstaters from wandering out into the woods. I found a nice campsite, right on the beach about 1/4 mile off the road. I was anxious to get camp set up so I could relax a bit for the rest of the evening. The great thing about the shoreline from Grand Marais east is the endless remote beaches with no one around.

It looked to be a great spot, secluded, huge amount of driftwood on the beach for a nice fire. I hung up the hammock, setup the shower enclosure and cooked up some dinner. Freeze dried Beef Stroganoff, perfect.


Looking west from camp.


Freighter riding the curve of the earth.




The rainbow didn't show up to well but it was a pretty striking scene.


After eating I grabbed a shower in the last of the sunlight. I got out just as the sun dropped down below the water. The sunrise was equally dramatic as it rose over the water to the east. Not many places where you can see that from one spot.


Wet from the shower and cold from the dropping temperature, I indulge in a nice fire.

After watching the moon rise like a deformed orange giant over the water to the east I retired back to the truck. Out here only a couple of radio stations come in and I was pretty happy to be able to pick up NPR from Maquette. I chilled for a bit listening to some Jazz and reflected a bit on those things that give great perspective to one's life.

Dawn came with a sunrise through a clear sky. Felt like fall. That night, areas of the western UP hit the 30's but being on the water I was insulated a bit and saw mid 50's. Perfect camping weather. After strolling around on the beach and having some breakfast I broke down camp. Anxious to start the day's adventures. First order of business heading east to the mouth of the Two Hearted River. I travelled ORV and county dirt roads in a eastward direction to 410, 412, then 423. 423 dead ends at the mouth of the river. An outpost of civilization. A few residences, a campground, and a general store make this the most populated place for miles. The Two Hearted is a popular river for paddlers and I took a short walk on the beach before moving on. A new route that I tried was an ORV trail that skirts the beaches and heads east from the river mouth. Narrow and low at times the trail meandered along the shorline over hills and whoopedoos big enough to keep the travel slow. Eventually I crossed out onto 412, nothing more then an unimproved, seasonal dirt road that ends out at the Crisp Point Lighthouse.

Again, I saw no one. The lighthouse is remote, by car on normal roads it is 43 miles north of the nearest town, Newberry. The lighthouse has a historical society that has been raisig money to save it and because of its efforts hosts an improved (graded!) dirt road accessing it, along with some boardwalks, benches and big effort in thwarting erosion. When first built, the light was 400' from the water's edge, now, well, just look at the pictures...




From Crisp Point, I backtracked a mile or so before catching the ORV trail that would carry me across the rest of the way to Whitefish Point. Overall, great trail, not technical at all. The challenges really are the endless whoopdedoos, the occasional down, or low trees, or a few steep and deep sand covered hills (that had me happy for the nice wide Mud Terrains). While most of the route so far had been mud free due to the sandy nature of this eastern half of the UP, this section crossed some remote areas and wetlands. That said, it really wasn't more then mudpuddles, some stickier then others. Along this stretch I stopped as usual to occasionally sample some of the awesome, sugar sand beaches with no people as far as the eye could see down them. The trail branched at one point(actually there are hundreds of trails all along this route, but I'm referring to a branch that goes east) and I chose the one that followed the water. Good choice. The trail was tight at times and mostly sees ATV traffic. I had no issues other then a few low trees that I was able to squeeze through. The white sands of the beaches drifted over the trail in multiple places making for some really cool scenery. White sand, dark blue with aquamarine blue patches of the lake, and the dark greens of the trees provided quite the eye candy.



I started passing occasional cabins and knew I was getting close to the point. When I came out onto pavement I was about 1/2 mile south of the Coast Guard station and Great Lakes Shipwreck museum of Whitefish Point. From going to seeing no one all day to seeing the packed parking lots, I was a bit shocked. Funny how the handfull of great sites that litter this region with paved road access are the congregation points for such numbers of tourists, yet, even 2 miles away, down a lonely two track is a totally vacant beach. Very few people ever get to see any of the things I caught in my two day trek.

I took the pavement back through Paradise, Taquemenon Falls State Park, Newberrry, Munising, to Marquette. Total mileage ended up being around 375 miles, around 200 of those offpavement. It was a nice little trip and makes me hungry to get out for more soon. Stay tuned.

Here are some crude maps I put together of the route. Blue is upaved, red is paved for reference. A couple of the maps have alot of overlap, sorry about that! I used my atlas, GPS, Google Earth, and MS paint to make them up. A rich mixture of technology and stupidity. Hope I'm not offending the tech saavy! haha

Looks like a great trip, lived in MI my whole life and only made it to the UP once. I didn't really get the exploration bug until moving to AZ. Great report.

Cool stuff Kristian. I imagine that the peacefulness of being the only one for a ways must be pretty neat.

Your maps might come in handy if we decide to go to Crisp Point after the Keweenaw trip.

metapoint said:

Looks like a great trip, lived in MI my whole life and only made it to the UP once. I didn't really get the exploration bug until moving to AZ. Great report.

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Michigan is a funny state. For those living in the southern lower peninsula, it is such a long haul just to get to the bridge, then once you cross into the UP you have such a huge area. Its amazing how many downstate residents never get up here at all.

Rattler said:

Cool stuff Kristian. I imagine that the peacefulness of being the only one for a ways must be pretty neat.

Your maps might come in handy if we decide to go to Crisp Point after the Keweenaw trip.

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I figured that you would enjoy the Crisp lighthouse info. I highly recomend picking up a Michigan Atlas and Gazeteer by DeLorme. Most book stores carry them. That in addition to my GPS was very helpful. The roads and trails marked on each vary compared to what you actually encounter, so between the two you get a decent chance of making the right choices. If you do hit the Crisp point light, I highly recomend the route I took. If you are looking for secluded beaches I don't think you will find anything better anywhere in the country. Water isn't too bad already, by August it should be nice!

Oh yeah, and combined with the Keweenaw portion you'll find the change of topography facinating. Basically from Marquette west you get rugged/rocky shorelines and east of Marquette, sugar sand beaches strewn with cool rocks and agates. Remarkably different environments you pass through.

upcruiser said:

I figured that you would enjoy the Crisp lighthouse info. I highly recomend picking up a Michigan Atlas and Gazeteer by DeLorme. Most book stores carry them. That in addition to my GPS was very helpful. The roads and trails marked on each vary compared to what you actually encounter, so between the two you get a decent chance of making the right choices. If you do hit the Crisp point light, I highly recomend the route I took. If you are looking for secluded beaches I don't think you will find anything better anywhere in the country. Water isn't too bad already, by August it should be nice!

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My gazeteer is almost ready for a replacement after about 15 years service. It is tucked away right behind my backseat. I couldn't tell you how many times that thing has helped me out! I don't think the new ones have changed much other than all the pages hold together better than mine. I couldn't really find much difference while studying it at Barnes & Noble.

I will hopefully be ordering a Magellan Crossover soon to go with it.

Beautiful! Thanks for the report.

Having just returned from our annual trip to the northern LP, I'm becoming more and more intrigued at the prospect of exploring Michigan. Driving across the state from Old Mission to Grayling, I passed 100's of "seasonal roads" and state forest land signs leading down dirt roads and two track to unknown destinations. The UP must be even more inviting.

Looking forward to your trip in August. Wish I could tag along.

Jacket said:

Beautiful! Thanks for the report.

Having just returned from our annual trip to the northern LP, I'm becoming more and more intrigued at the prospect of exploring Michigan. Driving across the state from Old Mission to Grayling, I passed 100's of "seasonal roads" and state forest land signs leading down dirt roads and two track to unknown destinations. The UP must be even more inviting.

Looking forward to your trip in August. Wish I could tag along.

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You were in Traverse City? I grew up out on Leelanau County and had a cottage there till last fall. Cool region. The only downer for me is the ever growing population in that area. The biggest difference with the UP and the LP is the sheer amount of undeveloped areas. The eastern coast of Lake Superior is similar to what you would see in the NW LP except you see agates instead of Petoskey stones. West of Marquette its more like the coast of Maine with alot of rock (sandstone, granite, old lava rock).

Indeed. My father-in-law has a place out on Old Mission Peninsula a few miles away from the lighthouse. Great area to explore on bike, and eat cherries right off the tree (although many of the cherry farms are converting to wineries). We were also near West Branch at Cabin Lake for a few days, where her uncle and cousins are part owners of a 1000 acre parcel of land that's been designated as a conservancy, so other than the 8 cottages it is completely wild. Tons of two track, and several accesses to the Rifle River.

Leelanau is amazing country, but like you say, that whole region has exploded with people and development. Interesting given that so much of the rest of Michigan's economy is struggling. I used to think Northern Michigan was one of the U.S.'s best kept secrets, but given the # of people and the prices for land up there, the secret is definitely out. And I realize that I've only seen a small fraction of what's up there, and so I'm always looking for ways to see more of it.

Old Mission is a great spot. I hear you about the vineyards, I built vineyards in that area for awhile. Now there are SO many vineyards in the area. But yeah, the cost of living is climbing and climbing there and I just couldn't afford my little cottage out in Glen Arbor any longer. By contrast, the cost of living in the UP is very low. It has to be one of the most affordable places to live in the country now, problem is that there is still a shortage of good jobs.

Jacket said:

Indeed. My father-in-law has a place out on Old Mission Peninsula a few miles away from the lighthouse. Great area to explore on bike, and eat cherries right off the tree (although many of the cherry farms are converting to wineries). We were also near West Branch at Cabin Lake for a few days, where her uncle and cousins are part owners of a 1000 acre parcel of land that's been designated as a conservancy, so other than the 8 cottages it is completely wild. Tons of two track, and several accesses to the Rifle River.

Leelanau is amazing country, but like you say, that whole region has exploded with people and development. Interesting given that so much of the rest of Michigan's economy is struggling. I used to think Northern Michigan was one of the U.S.'s best kept secrets, but given the # of people and the prices for land up there, the secret is definitely out. And I realize that I've only seen a small fraction of what's up there, and so I'm always looking for ways to see more of it.

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I have been all over the LP in my years. Until last year, I had only been on 2 across the bottom of the UP, Taq Falls, Whitefish Point and the Soo several times. It almost doesn't seem like the same state to a degree after some exploring last Summer. I totally agree :iagree: with cruiser that it seems so untamed compared to the LP.

If I could find a decent paying job up there I would think about moving.The wife even liked it up there. On our trip last Summer we rated as to how much we would like living in the different towns we stayed. Houghton-Hancock and Escanaba were the winners with Iron Mountain being a runner-up. I might have to start off living close to the bridge like St. Ig or SSM for the first Winter or 2. I wouldn't want to run into the Donner Pass-like thing in my first couple years there. I heard the Yoopers have a good recipe for cooking Trolls over an open fire. :Wow1:

Thanks for the great write up and photos!!!

Cant wait to see the UP for myself!!!

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