Category: Upper Peninsula

Wetmore Landing Beach Marquette MI
Wetmore Landing beach, along the North Country Trail, just off Big Bay Road/County Rd 550.
Wetmore Landing, on the North Country Hiking Trail is a local favorite in the Marquette area. A popular hiking route is from Little Presque Isle Point to Wetmore Landing (approximately 1.6 miles), with parking at both locations. It hugs the shoreline of Lake Superior through trails surrounded by huge pines and sweeping views of Lake Superior in all its glory. It’s also a starting point for a hike to Rum Runner’s Cove, an abandoned dock for bootleggers during Prohibition (you can still see the metal docking loops and cement landing.)

This short path through the woods leads to the beach at Wetmoor Landing.
You’ll need a Michigan Recreation Pass to park in the Wetmore Landing parking lot, which is a very short hike to the beach. Country Road 550 is a gold mine for other local hotspots such as Hidden Beach, Little Presque Isle, Hogback Mountain, Echo Lake and Wetmore Pond. It’s gorgeous if you love lichen or mushrooms, in fact it’s where NMU takes their biology students for their lichen and mushroom labs. The paths have soft pine needles and are easy to walk on. Once you hit the beach there’s lots of rocky structures to hike on and it’s a great place to take your dog.

Tips from Rhianna:

  • During winter, paths can be slippery; wear good winter boots with lots of grip.
  • The wider paths are farther from the beach and make for an easier trek.
  • The paths closer to the beach are narrower and more rugged (but entirely doable).
  • If you don’t have a Michigan recreation pass, you can park along the side of the road on Country Road 550 for free.

Wetmore Landing Map

Our Upper Peninsula correspondant, Rhianna Hudson will be writing more about this area soon.

Post contributor: Rhianna Hudson

Canyon Falls is a spectacularly wonderful, magical place to visit. Who goes to a roadside park and sees something like this? If you’re in northern Michigan, or the Upper Peninsula, hopefully you do!

The park is on US-41 near L’Anse and serves as the trailhead for an easy hike (about a mile) to the largest box canyon in the state of Michigan. To find the trail, look for the water pump at the roadside park, the trail is just behind it. A 1/4 mile hike through beautiful woods, on a nice, level trail with boardwalks takes you to the main drop of Canyon Falls. Keep going for another 1/2 mile or so to see the next major drop with another impressive falls.

If you keep going after that, you’ll soon see the upper falls at the end of the canyon. Although the trek to the last two falls is slightly more difficult than the beginning of the trail, it’s totally worth the effort.

Directions: From L’Anse go South on US 41 for 9 miles, approximately 4 miles North of the US 41 & M-28 junction. Here’s a map link.

 

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This little cove is at Presque Isle Park in Marquette.
This little cove is at Presque Isle Park in Marquette.
Every time I take a trip to Michigan’s upper peninsula, I’m mesmerized by its beauty and unique atmosphere. I know, “unique atmosphere” is an odd descriptor of one of my favorite places on earth, but it’s true. It’s a place of extremes. Extreme snow, extreme sky, extreme weather changes, extreme water, extreme terrain variations, and, it’s a place where time stands still. Here are some of the things that make the Marquette area a formidable vacation choice that’s hard to beat:

  • Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world.
  • Long summer days, just 5 hours of total darkness near the summer solstice.
  • A good chance of seeing the Northern Lights if you stay up there long enough.
  • The Milky Way, on a clear night, it’s visible and unforgettable… if you’re willing to stay up late for it.
  • The old mines in the Keeweenaw peninsula.
  • The Pictured Rocks.
  • Waterfalls, abundant waterfalls.
  • Constantly changing weather, if it’s rainy when you wake up, who cares, it will probably be sunny later in the day.
  • Limitless sights to see, places to go and things to do that are unique and unusual.
  • Wonderful places to camp and hike.
  • Crossing the mighty Mackinac bridge to get to the Upper Peninsula.
  • Walking along the paths along the shoreline.
  • The iron ore shipping docks.
  • Presque Isle park.

The sky is constantly changing in Michigan's upper peninsula, I saw this on the way to Marquette.
The sky is constantly changing in Michigan’s upper peninsula, I saw this on the way to Marquette.
I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Marquette, so of course, I took photos to share with you all. Here are some of my favorites and I’ll be adding to them this summer. My vacation, was courtesy of the kind and wonderful owners, Pat and Wendy Dudley, of the Funky Beach House, which is literally on Lake Superior with a fantastic, private beach. They let me stay there for a few days while I was doing my blogging vacation thing. If you’re looking for a place to stay near Marquette, I highly recommend the Funky Beach House, it’s available for rent most of the year and a delightful gem in the woods. If you’re the artsy type, like me, you will especially love it. Here’s a link to the Funky Beach House reservations if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to get some time up there. This is the Funk Beach house “backyard.”

This is the awesome Lake Superior beach at the Funky Beach House, the sunset lasts forever.
This is the awesome Lake Superior beach at the Funky Beach House, the sunset lasts forever.
I’ll be adding more posts about the Marquette, MI area over the summer with some of my favorite places and finds so you’ll have an easier time discovering local favorites. Here’s more information about Marquette from my visit in the fall.

 

Tall grassy areas are a typical place to be aware of ticks.
Tall grassy areas are a typical place to be aware of ticks.

Yes, I said it, lyme disease is in Michigan and if you live here, or visit here, you need to know about it. The last few years, I’ve been hearing more and more about lyme disease in Michigan and this year is no exception. I am not saying this to alarm you, ticks and lyme disease don’t need to ruin your fun, you just need to know that it’s here, it’s probably not going away anytime soon and how to protect yourself. Most cases in Michigan occur between late spring and mid-July, but can happen even in the fall.

Check out the below map provided by the state of Michigan, it shows where the most cases have been discovered in the state, and where lyme disease is heading. If you’re visiting the lakeshore, ticks like to hang out in tall grassy areas and hop on for a tasty meal when folks walk by them. But, you can prevent this by either covering up, and/or spraying with tick repellant. I prefer to use natural repellants with at least 20% oil of lemon eucalyptus. After being in wooded or tall grassy areas, check for ticks and take a shower. If you discover a tick, remove it and save it so you can send it in for testing if you get sick. If you remove a tick within 36 hours of it attaching itself to you, chances are more likely that you won’t get lyme disease. If you do get sick, getting immediate 30 day treatment with antibiotics that last for at least 30 days is important. Following are some useful resources to help combat this issue:

Michigan Lyme Disease Association

DBC Holistic Health Dr. Adrian Den Boer, nationally known for wholistic treatment of lyme disease.

Prevention: Be cautious when walking in the woods, avoiding bushy and grassy areas. Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts and wear insect repellent containing DEET on exposed skin or, if you’re like me use something natural containing a strong solution of oil of lemon eucalyptus. After walking in wooded areas, thoroughly check the skin for the poppy-seed sized ticks, paying particular attention to the scalp, armpits and groin. If you find a tick, carefully remove it with tweezers or a tick remover. More info

Repel Plant Based Insect Repellant with Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus has been recommended as a natural solution.

Permethrin on clothes kills ticks on contact and lasts several washes

Dammix Tick Tubes offer an innovative solution to rid your property of ticks.

Ticked Off Tick Remover

Useful guide from the Michigan Department of Agriculture for preventing tick borne illness: Ticks and Your Health

Michigan Lyme Disease Map (does not include results from 2013).

Lyme Disease Map for Michigan
Lyme Disease Map for Michigan

 

 

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Michigan beaches are among the best in the world and are regularly voted as top destinations. In fact, this summer, the Grand Haven beach was named #14 by CNN Travel as a “Must See Beach.”  Here are some of my favorite Michigan beaches:

This is not even close to a complete list of nice Michigan beaches, it’s just ones that I am familiar with and love. Please add your favorite beaches in the comments section.

picturedmss.jpg

The Pictured Rocks are located in the Upper Peninsula (UP) in Munising, Michigan and are quite spectacular. It seems like everything in the UP is a little over the top and the Pictured Rocks are no exception. If you go there, you’ll probably want to take a boat tour.

Houghton MI
If you’ve never been to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you really need to make the trip. It’s another world up there, a trip back in time. I took this in Houghton a few years ago with my film camera on an overcast day.

Some of my ancestry is from Cornwall, UK and were miners. One of the things I found fascinating about the U.P. was all of the mining history. This coming summer I plan on spending some mega time up there taking photos.

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