Tony
Seattle
My wife and I are visiting in early June for some family stuff and wanted to explore the region. We've heard good things about Pictured Rocks and the Apostles - is one better than the other? Are there great towns in the area that we should hit? We prefer small/interesting towns to cities and would be up for some kayaking/hiking. We're flying into Chicago, so I expect we'll be doing a bunch of driving.
The UP has some beautiful spots. We really enjoyed Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Munising (Munising.org has a great interactive map), we walked Lake Shore Trail down to Miner's Beach, about a mile, while at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Whitefish Point Lighthouse is nice and has a big beach and Sault Ste Marie (Michigan) and the Soo Locks are interesting, you can call and find out times boats are scheduled. Also, depending on your route, Mackinac Island is a nice ferry ride over. The Island itself has a tourist area, we stayed out of that and rented bike to ride around the island. And Oswalds Bear Ranch in Newberry is really cool. This is close to Tahquamenon. You can see bear cubs and other rescue bears.
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Bayfield is a very nice small town with shops and interesting places to visit. Apostle Islands are interesting to visit as well. There is a ferry boat that travels out to Madeline Island from Bayfield for a small fee. The island has a state park which offers plenty of hiking and biking trails. We rented bikes on the island and rode around the island. Think it was about 18 mile ride. Generally flat roads
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The Upper Peninsula is incredibly beautiful. So many places to hike, kayak, and some interesting towns as well. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore has kayaking, a few trails, and boat tour. Porcupine Mountains near Ontanagan is an amazing place for hiking. Do a google search for Lake Of The Clouds and you will want to visit this place right away.
The Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula is another beautiful area. Copper Harbor is a neat little town at the tip. The area also has a fascinating bunch of small and medium sized towns, which are interesting to check out like Calumet, Baraga, L'Anse, Houghton/Hancock (Michigan), and Marquette (Michigan), and Sault Ste Marie (Michigan).
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The Apostle Islands are great places to camp! I took amazing pictures from these areas(especially in the morning) during a trip where i visited almost a dozen islands. Bayfield is a popular area that many people travel to. The islands have cool sea caves that are great to explore via kayak. If you go to stockholm island watch out! It has one of the highest bear concentrations in North America. There are some cool museums about lake superior in the city of Superior and also Duluth (Minnesota). Have a great adventure man, you should get amazing pics!
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