My family and I recently went on an impromptu trip to the UP in Michigan. This was a last minute trip that was planned in just a couple of days. I was blown away by how beautiful the beaches and scenery are in the area. The drive from our house is about 5 1/2 hours. My brother in law has an RV and that is what we drove up in. Even though the drive was not too long, the RV made it so much more fun!
There are so many campgrounds in the area, many of which have cabins to rent if roughing it in a tent is not your style. Since we planned this trip last minute, a lot of the campgrounds were booked so we ended up at a place called Gitche Gumee, which the Ojibwa natives called Lake Superior. It means Big Sea Water. This campground is located across hwy 28 from a beautiful, clean beach where you can watch the sunsets, sunrises, swim and start a campfire, all right there in the sand. You need to climb down a decently steep cliff but manageable and worth it!
Other campgrounds in the area
We spent a majority of our time on the beach. The water was so clear and such a beautiful teal color, so cold but so refreshing. The sand was clean and there were no weeds or muck anywhere. Nothing but sand and rocks. There are so many beaches and lookout points along highway 28. The area of beach we stayed on was at the Lake Superior Roadside Park. It was not very busy and we had a section of the beach all to ourselves.
Things to do
• Beaches – There are so many to stop at along the highways
• Hiking trails in the Summer – This site is great because it breaks down trails that are under and over a mile depending on how far you want to go.
• Snowmobile trails in the Winter
• Waterfalls – most are along hiking trails.
• Shopping
• Kayaking – We wanted to book this trip where they shuttle you out to your kayaking destination and you push off from the boat into your kayak! The video is amazing, check it out on the site here. BUT this was a last minute trip, the shuttle boat one was booked so we ended up going with a different kayak tour; Pictured Rocks Adventure. Check out my Instagram post for the most amazing video! The photos do not do this place justice. These cliffs are so high that you will hurt your neck looking up at them.
That concludes our adventures. We only stayed 4 days but packed them full of fun and memories. We were supposed to stay through the weekend but it ended up raining all day on Saturday so we packed up and headed home early. It was an amazing trip. One that I will look back on and go back and visit. The area has so much to offer. Sean and I are hoping to get back up there to do a lot more hiking. We didn’t get to do as much as we wanted but it was more about family time than anything.
Thank you all so much for reading. Until next time,
