Back in eighth grade, I had to memorize all 50 states (shoutout to MIMAL, if you know, you know). I spent literal hours just staring at the map of the US, and that’s when I first noticed this *random* chunk of land above Michigan. Technically, it’s part of Michigan, but you get what I mean.
That piece of land, surrounded by, count ’em, THREE Great Lakes, looked like an island tucked away inland. As Carrie Bradshaw said, I couldn’t help but wonder, what was even out there? It became my own version of Narnia, and I started telling people that visiting it, the Upper Peninsula, was at the top of my bucket list.
Twenty years later, I made it there.
It was the most ambitious trip I’d ever planned: seven places in seven days, a road trip all the way around the perimeter of the Upper Peninsula.
Now, let me tell you all the things I learned along the way…
1.
First off, the Upper Peninsula, better known as the UP, is sometimes compared to Alaska, and I swear I saw someone call it the the Alaska of the Lower 48 (so that’s what I tell people now lol).
2.
Lake Superior is the true star of the show in the UP, and fun fact: It’s the largest freshwater lake by surface area in the entire world. It holds 10% of the world’s freshwater!!
3.
People from the UP are known as Yoopers, a *clever* play on the initials “UP,” get it?
4.
The official food of the UP is the pasty, which is basically a meat pie. Pasties gained popularity in the UP because they were the perfect meal for miners during the UP’s first copper boom, which was actually the first in the United States. Pasties are heavy and filling as hell.
5.
The UP is home to one national park: Pictured Rocks National Park, and it’s kind of a shocking place. More on that later.
6.
It goes without saying, but it literally feels like you’re surrounded by the ocean the entire time you’re in the UP. The sand, the colors, the vibe. It’s practically a sea.
7.
Buuuut before I get too far, let me tell ya how I got there. So, there’s no super easy way to fly to the Upper Peninsula. Your best bet is to go via Traverse City. And let me tell you, the Traverse City airport is one of the smallest airports I’ve ever been to. There are only five gates!
8.
Cherries are a big thing there, and you have to get them (in season).
9.
To actually get to the UP, you have to cross the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge opened in 1957, and prior to that, there was no land route that connected the UP and the lower peninsula. Once you cross that bridge, it’s like you’re in an entirely different place.
10.
My favorite town and first stop in the Upper Peninsula was Grand Marais.
11.
The UP is home to the largest collection of freshwater sand dunes in the world. The Grand Sable Dunes (just outside of Grand Marais) were my favorite. Just breathtaking.
12.
The UP is quiet. You can easily find yourself alone on a beach as far as the ol’ eye can see.
13.
Rock collecting is a very big deal there, and you will get caught up into it. I’m not joking, it’s addicting. I’m in Facebook groups about it now!
You’ll find rocks you’d buy in those Natural Wonders mall stores from the ’90s.
14.
The UP is also known for these rocks that glow in the dark called yooperlites. You’ll find people looking for them at night in the water with their little blacklights.
I bought some UV flashlights, but no luck!
15.
The sunsets in the UP are next-level gorgeous. It was giving Gulf of Mexico sunset, except you are way up in Michigan.
16.
The UP is very wild and not super developed. We’re talking dirt roads. Mrs. Google can, and will, lead you astray onto unpaved roads for long stretches.
17.
My absolute highlight of the trip was the hike to the Pictured Rocks National Park. I recommend doing the 10.5-mile hike through the woods (it’s a loop).
18.
The big reveal when you get to the water is unreal:
21.
It was giving Caribbean fantasy but in Northern Michigan.
22.
Then there are the bugs. Lots of bugs!!!
23.
We actually got really lucky with the bugs; they weren’t terrible-terrible. But whew, if you hit a swarm, it wasn’t cute. We sprayed our clothes with this stuff before we even went on the trip as a precautionary measure.
25.
Marquette is the biggest city in the UP, and it’s very, very cute.
26.
The (not so) hidden gem in Marquette is a southern Creole New Orleans-style restaurant called Lagniappe. Never in a million years would I expect to get authentic New Orleans food all the way up there, but I did, and it was 10/10.
27.
Outside of Marquette, there’s this super libbed-out metal sculpture park that is free to drive through called “Lakenenland.” If you ever wanted to see multiple sculptures dedicated to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, then this is the place for you.
28.
They even had this Mount Rushmore of (liberal) politicians.
30.
Speaking of Marquette, you have to check out the Black Rocks in Presque Isle Park.
31.
If you’re there in the summer, you’ll find tons of people jumping off the rocks into the water.
32.
And that’s when you’ll learn just how cold Lake Superior water is. The average summer temp of the water is just about 52 degrees.
33.
The Keweenaw Peninsula is probably the *coolest* part of the UP.
34.
If you’re into ruin porn, then the Keweenaw is for you.
35.
They have a bunch of abandoned old factories. This one is in Gay. Yes, Gay.
36.
There’s a town named Gay in the UP, and you betcha I went there just for this picture:
37.
There is also the Gay Bar:
38.
And then there are the Gay Sands:
39.
The “Gay Sands” is actually a designated Superfund site where large deposits of stamp sands, crushed rock waste left over from copper mining, were dumped. The Gay Sands are pretty much a toxic, barren wasteland.
40.
It feels like another world.
41.
The best (or at least most memorable) bakery in the UP is one run by Byzantine monks called the Jampot.
42.
They sell a cinnamon bun the size of a human head that is practically *blessed*.
43.
If you were wondering, my favorite beach in the UP is Bete Grise. This beach has “singing sand,” which means when you walk on the sand, it squeaks.
44.
Oh, a random thing that surprised me was that you could have fires on the beach.
45.
On the tippy top of the Keweenaw is the town of Copper Harbor, where the rocks are, duh, copper colored.
46.
Copper Harbor definitely gives “edge of the world” vibes, and you’ll find a lot of people spending the night here because this is where you get the boat to Isle Royale National Park. Isle Royale is one of the most remote national parks. It’s an island in the middle of Lake Superior.
47.
You have to do a mine tour, not only because being in a mine is cool, but for the fashion (the hard hat).
49.
The Champion Mill is in Freda, right on the shore of Lake Superior. For context, that’s me. It’s huge.
The “beach” outside of the mill was wild, filled with old screws and debris from the factory.
50.
One of the strangest things about the Upper Peninsula is that part of it is in the Central Time Zone. This was especially confusing on the ride back when our phones kept on switching between Central and Eastern time.
51.
The most essential roadside stop (besides for pasties along the way) in the UP is the Kitch-iti-kipi Spring:
52.
Annnnd lastly, there’s one mountain range in the Upper Peninsula called the Porcupine Mountains, or as they call it, the Porkies. The best-known place is called the “Lake of the Clouds,” and it’s a definite must-stop.
After a week in the UP, our journey ended with a night in Traverse City. Seven days in the UP delivered constant surprises and gave me a genuine connection to our great Mother Superior (what we called Lake Superior). I honestly had no idea a place like this existed. After experiencing its wild beauty, endless coastlines, waterfalls, historic/abandoned sites, and cute small towns, I’m seriously convinced it’s the most underrated destination in the country.
Sooo, if you like vast, empty landscapes…
Enormous sand dunes where you’d never expect to see enormous sand dunes…
An abundance of lighthouses…
And the most stunning scenery you’ve ever seen, then maybe you should add the UP to your bucket list.