Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is filled with adventure! It’s one of my favorite places in the United States to visit. Although my sister has spent her entire life as a Michigan resident, she had never visited the Upper Peninsula. One weekend in September, I planned a spontaneous, whirlwind-style, trip with just the two of us to hit the highlights of the Eastern U.P.

Day 1:

We met after work on Friday afternoon and headed north. If you have more time, there are plenty of stops along I-75 to get out and stretch your legs. However, we were on a mission to get to the major highlights in the Upper Peninsula and wanted to get there as soon as possible!

Some things you could do on the way to the Mackinac Bridge:

• Gaylord to visit the Elk
• Seashell City (giant souvenir shop and fun for kids)
• Hartwick Pines

We made it to the Mackinac Bridge around dinner time and immediately stopped in to have a Clyde’s Burger. Clyde’s is a drive-in style burger joint with greasy, delicious burgers. The classic Clyde’s burger is enormous, so be prepared!

After picking up our burgers, we drove across the street to the Bridgeview Park to eat. The weather was beautiful, so we sat on a park bench and watched the traffic crossing the bridge. There is a large parking lot, some historical education markers and it’s right on the beach.

Once we were finished eating, we drove just down the road to the Straits State Park. There is a campground there so it is easily accessible. After a very short walk, we stood on the observation platform and looked straight down the Mighty Mac toward the Lower Peninsula.

Our next stop was the Cut River Bridge, heading west down U2. The Cut River Bridge is a massive bridge that spans across a gorge with a trickling stream that leads to the Straits. You used to be able to park on either side of the bridge and walk in a circle to go all the way around. They have removed the Western parking area and now can only park on the Eastern side.

There are plenty of stairs to prepare to get huffy!

The first time I visited here, about 20 years ago, I didn’t realize there was a troll living here. We’ve visited a few times since then 🙂 It is sad the amount of graffiti people put here, though.

At the bottom, you will find a sandy beach. I like the U.P best in September, so I’ve never actually seen any other humans visiting this area. This time there was a family swimming. I can only imagine how cold it must have been! We added our own version of graffiti to the sand.

Before the sun started to set, we headed north toward Newberry for the night. My sister and I are both early risers and enjoy nature when we can share it with less people. Since the next day was Saturday, we wanted to get an early start to avoid any crowds.

Day 2:

Our first stop on Saturday was Tahquamenon Falls. There are two sections of Tahquamenon Falls State Park – the upper falls and the lower falls. We were coming from Newberry, so it made sense for us to go to the Upper Falls first. The walk is not too long, but there are hundreds of stairs to climb. Its a great way to get your heart going in the morning!

The Upper Falls has a restaurant, souvenir shop and restrooms, but we were too early for any of that to be open.

Our next stop was the Lower Falls. Within the past few years they have renovated this entire area. The falls split and formed an island across the main land and you used to only be able to get there by renting a row boat. Now, you are able to walk around the edge of the river and cross a bridge to explore the island. The change was controversial. I personally don’t like the aesthetics of the bridge, but it does make it more accessible for people who otherwise would never get to see it.

The Lower Falls from the island are so pretty!

There is also this perfect spot for a classic photo!

Our next stop was Whitefish Point. Whitefish point has a shipwreck museum and a long, rocky beach that is perfect for rock hounds. We spent an hour or so watching ships go by and picking up cool rocks.

After visiting Whitefish point, we had to backtrack toward Newberry on our way to Munising. If you have time and want to see bears, Oswald’s Bear Ranch would be a good choice to break up your trip heading back west toward Munising. You could also take a slightly longer drive and travel through Grand Marais to see the Log Slide Overlook or visit Crisp Point Lighthouse.

We opted to grab a giant coffee and pour on the gas to get the Munising earlier in the day.

Our first stop was Sand Point. This is a great swimming beach and a lot of people were out enjoying the sun. We just stopped here for a quick minute because it is on the same road as the access point for Tannery Falls used to be. Tannery was one of my favorite waterfalls to visit, but because of erosion the state opted to close down the entire area.

After Sand Point, we visited Munising Falls. Munising falls reminds me of the Wisconsin Dells. This area has changed drastically over the last few years, too. There is now a Visitor’s Center and a station to buy your park pass for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I have been coming to this area for decades, and this was the first time I needed to buy a pass. Hopefully this small fee will help preserve the beauty of this place.

Munising Falls

After Munising Falls, I took my sister to see Miner’s Castle. This is where I discovered that she has a major fear of heights. I had no idea! She got the willies looking over the platform at the water below. Look at those colors, though!

We walked down the trail that leads to the backside of the point. She didn’t enjoy that, either! 🙂

Just down the road from Miner’s Castle is Miner’s Falls.

An obnoxious amount of people went off the trail to get to the bottom. I was disappointed to see the hillside being destroyed from so many people climbing up and down.

After the falls, we went into Munising to have an early dinner at Sydney’s. On the way to our AirBnB, we stopped at Wagner Falls. It’s a SUPER short trip back there, and if you’re already in Munising, it’s worth the stop.

There are PLENTY of things to do in Munising. The next morning our plan was to get up screaming early to hike the Chapel Loop, so we opted to have a quiet evening. However, my husband and I have kayaked Pictured Rocks before and recommend doing that at least once in your life. We loved every minute of it! There are also cruises and boat tours that will take you down the shore to see Pictured Rocks, too.

Day 3:

We wanted to get to the parking area for the Chapel Loop hike by 7am. I have seen this parking lot packed before with cars lined up down the road. Again, our aversion to crowds lead us to getting there super early.

The Chapel Loop is a 10-mile hike along the top of a section of Pictured Rocks. It’s my favorite hike in all of Michigan.

Chapel Falls is the first landmark you come across on this hike.

The sun was just starting to light up the cliffs when we reached Chapel Beach.

This is another one of my favorite beaches to pick up cool rocks 🙂

After you pass the beach, you head up to hike on the cliffs.

It seems like every corner you turn on this hike is breathtaking. My poor sister, being afraid of heights, didn’t love that I kept going out to the edge. She said she needs at least a 5-feet buffer, haha! I love to look at the colors of the water and rocks.

She was also not very thrilled when we came up to this arch that collapsed a few years ago. It added to her paranoia that these rocks are going to fall at any second.

A few miles in, there is a large flat area on top of the cliffs that is my favorite place to take a short break. We had snacks here and watched the boat tours float by.

This is the arch my husband and I paddled under when we kayaked Pictured Rocks.

There is no shortage of beautiful places to stop. Take a look at that rock pile behind me. It was the stuff of my sister’s nightmares!

By the time we got close to Mosquito Beach, we had only seen about 10 people, but there were more and more coming in. A group of cross-country runners went by. Mosquito beach is also a camping/backpacking area. I’m SO happy we started early! You can take a slightly longer way back to the parking area, but my sister’s boots weren’t broken in yet, so we decided to take the shorter route back to the car. She isn’t a hiker, and although that was a pretty intense hike for me to subject her to, she said it was worth it!

After leaving Pictured Rocks, we drove straight south toward Manistique for lunch and to stop at Kitch-Iti-Kipi before heading back home. Kitch-Iti-Kipi, “The Big Spring,” is basically connected to the parking lot with a gift shop and a play area for kids. When we pulled in, I could see that she was sore from our morning hike, so I pulled a prank on her and said, “okay, this one is only about 4 miles, so it should only take a couple of hours.” Her face went completely blank and she just said, “Okay, well I’ll see you when you get back because I’m not getting out.” People could hear me laughing at her throughout the entire parking lot, haha!

We rode the raft and looked at the giant fish swimming around in the spring. It’s surprisingly deep and the water is crystal clear. You can see the water bubbling out of the ground as the raft travels across. She was happy that we weren’t actually hiking!

After lunch, we made our way back home and had enough time to settle in and get ready for the week ahead!

There are SO MANY ways you can enjoy the Upper Peninsula. I’m satisfied that this was the perfect amount of highlights to visit on the Eastern side to get a good dose of adventure before heading back to real life!