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Marquette to Sault Ste. Marie Michigan -
Waterfalls,
Hiking & Camping
- South Shore Lake Superior Circle Tour
From Marquette to Munising, there are two alternate routes. Michigan 28 is the most direct and runs largely along the lakeshore. Waterfall seekers may want to take the longer route, via US Highway 41 and Michigan 94, to stop at Laughing Whitefish State Park to see the water fall. This route also takes you past the waterfalls located to the south of Munising.
From Munising to Whitefish Point on Whitefish Bay, traveling becomes more complex. The road that stays the closest to the lake (Highway H58) is 90% a sand forest road, with occasional spur sand roads to get to the lake or campgrounds. So plan of collecting some dust if you elect this route. The bonuses are more lake views and some very nice rustic campsites that can only be reached via this route. One we really liked was right on the lake between Grand Marais and Deer Park. Otherwise you'll be traveling on Michigan 28 and then taking paved spur roads north to selected on-the-lake locations - like Grand Marais, Muskallonge State Park, and Tahquamenon State Park. One traveling bonus of taking the longer, paved route is you travel close to the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. Only a few miles south of Higfhway 28 at Seney, it has hiking trails plus an "automobile" nature trail, a decent size visitor center-educational exhibit, and even canoeing opportunities.
From Tahquamenon Falls east - Whitefish Point, Paradise, Bay Mills, to Sault Sainte Marie - you have paved roads that run largely along the lake. |
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Marquette Michigan
Marquette's early settlement was due to the discovery of large masses of iron ore nearby in the 1840s. It was officially incorporated as a village in 1859 and a city in 1871. The city and its residents have done a great job preserving the old historic brownstone buildings. It is the Upper Peninsula's largest city with a population a little over 20,000.
Elizabeth's Chop House, overlooking the Marquette Harbor, is one of many in the historic waterfront district. While mining remains part of the economic picture, the city is clean, with lots of big trees, well maintained residentail neighborhoods, and nice wooded parks.
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 Pictures and visitor information on Marquette, MI |
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Big Bay, Michigan
Big Bay is located along Lake Superior, 28 miles north of Marquette, at the end of County Road 550. In 2005 we traveled the UP in our new Rialta mini motor home, rather than tent camping as we have done for many years. Since this mode allows us to overnight practically anywhere, we decided to go all the way north of Marquette to visit Big Bay and see what it had to offer. Conclusion. Unless you are hiker, kayaker, mountain biker or fisherman who plans to spend a few days there, I recommend taking a pass on the trip. The road, while paved, has several miles of potholes and broken pavement. And most of the stretch is too far from the lake for any scenic compensations. It was a long and boring trip that we had to repeat on the return trip since Big Bay is at the end of the road. But if Big Bay is your destination because of the aforementioned interests, then what it has to offer is worth the price of traveling the road (which I guess serves to keep the riff-raff out, eh?). |
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Marquette to Munising, Michigan
The shortest route between Marquette and Munising is Michigan 28 running along the lakeshore. However, on our first trip, we didn't take the route. Instead we continued south on US 41 to Michigan 94 and then east to Munising. This was so we could hike into to see Laughing Whitefish Falls at the park of the same name. A one mile hike to the falls. It has a nice set of stairs and trails around the falls so you can get a view from many angles. > > > |
Laughing Whitefish Falls |
Lakeshore route to Munising
If you elect to take the Lake Superior route from Marquette to Munising (Michigan 28) and you are a camper or RV er, you might want to check out Gitchee Gumme Campground. They had high praise from one Circle Tour traveler: "This is a campground you should visit just for the experience. Ranger Jeff, host and owner of the campground seems to be quite a brilliant craftsman. His unique touches on the campground will keep your eyes looking for more. . . . Nothing goes to waste and everything has some sort of use. A really fun place to stay. "
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photos courtesy of
Carrie Vincent |
Munising has 4 waterfalls within 5 miles of town. The one we liked the best was Munising Falls. It is actually located within the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park. The hike to the 50 foot high falls is a half mile on a well maintained trail. Another pretty falls is Wagner Falls.
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| Munising, MI and its Waterfalls |
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Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks is backpacker and backcountry hiking paradise. In addition to back country camping, there are 3 drive in campgrounds as well as some accessible day hiking trails.
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Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park - Munising Side
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park - Grand Marais Side |
Miner's Falls |
Once you've explored Munising and the west end of Pictured Rocks, there are options to consider for routes to continue your journey east. If you want to sample more of Pictured Rocks, forest highway H58 runs northwest along the southern perimeter of the park. From that road, spur roads lead into the park, either to hiking trailheads or campgrounds. Eventually you'll arrive at Grand Marais, the town that bookends the east terminus of Pictured Rocks. The downsides of this route are: the road changes to sand/unpaved, it meanders around quite abit, and it will take twice a long to get to a destination than you might guess. But good news. In 2011 complete paving of H58 is scheduled.
Sable Falls |
If spending time on a winding, dusty road is unappealing, option 2 is to get back on Michigan 28 and continue east. At Seney you intersect with Highway 77. Take that north to Grand Marais and explore the east end of Pictured Rocks (Grand Sable Dunes, Sable Falls, and more).
Here's a national park service map (Adobe PDF file) on the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore Park that gives you an idea of these two route options.
Your next destination should be Tahquamenon Falls. Here again, you have the choice of a shorter route near the lake (H58) that again morphs into a sand road a few miles out of Grand Marais - or - take the longer route back south 27 miles to ole' M28, head east and then north on M123 near Newberry. |
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Tahquamenon Falls State Park
Tahquamenon is a large (40,000 acres, 13 miles long) state park with two widely separated camping areas (download a pdf map file of the park). The highlight of the park is the Upper Falls, almost a 50 foot drop and stretching across 200 feet. At times as much as 50,000 gallons of water per second cascade down. > > >
There are handicap accessible paths leading to the falls and adjacent to the river. After you've hiked around the Upper Falls area, you might enjoy stopping in the Tahquamenon Falls Brew Pub & Restaurant. While it might seem the state is operating this fancy establishment, it is actually a private concession on private property that just happens to be adjacent to the path leading to the Upper Falls. How this came about was the land immediately adjacent to the falls was in private hands for several years and existed side by side with the then existing state park. The deal that brought the falls into the park included the right of the owner to operate his enterprise and have ingress and egress through the park lands. After a hot day of hiking, this is a welcome amenity!
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Lower Falls
We found the Lower Falls area quite enchanting. There are several falls that cascade around a large island. You can rent rowboats and canoes here too, paddle over to the island or get a closer view of some of the falls. > > > |
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Scenic Fall Color at Tahquamenon Falls State Park and its waterfalls. |
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Whitefish Point, Whitefish Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
If you have time, take the trip north of Paradise to Whitefish Point before continuing south and east around Whitefish Bay. The route to Sault Ste. Marie largely runs adjacent to the Lake.
< < < Hans relaxes on the beach at a wayside stop along Lake Shore Drive (Pendills Bay) between Paradise and Brimley. Another nice rest stop along this drive is the Point Iroquois Lighthouse.
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
The Army Corps of Engineers "Soo Locks" at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan |
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Michigan UP Copper Harbor & Keweenaw Peninsula
Ontario East Shore Lake Superior Tour
Motel and Hotel-Resort Lodging in Michigan UP Circle Tour Cities
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Campground Directory
Lake Superior Circle Tour
Camping RV Parks
Upper Peninsula
Porcupine Mountains - Great Scenery, Great Hiking
 Michigan Upper Peninsula
Campground Directory
 Two Months in the
Copper Regions
In 1845 Geologist-Historian Charles Whittlesley spent two months exploring and documenting his travels from Sault Ste. Marie to the Ontonagon River. At that time the UP had only been open for settlement for 3 years and was still very much a wild and unsettled frontier. Until recently this faacinating account of life in the early UP was "lost" in 160 year old archives. Now recovered it has now been published by the Northern Michigan University Dept of History. It is available for $10 plus postage. Contact
rmagnagh@nmu.edu
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