You don’t have to travel to Alaska or Hawaii to shed the workaday world. The Lower 48 states pack plenty of places. How ‘bout the western reaches of Michigan’s largely pristine Upper Peninsula, the U.P.?
The Western U.P. Convention & Visitors Bureau offers some suggestions for wringing the most out of the season. Right now is a particularly good time to go. The fall foliage is fantastic – red, gold and burnished brown. Hike the Porcupine Mountains, perhaps the North Country Trail. Listen to the leaves crunch beneath your hiking boots. Smell the redolent forest.
Don’t be surprised if along the way you encounter a waterfall or three. There are some 150 of them arrayed across the western U.P. One of them is Agate Falls, on the middle branch of the Ontonagon River. Get a good view of the falls by following an improved, accessible foot trail. Try to make the trek before late October.
Get out on the water on one of the Cisco Chain of Lakes. Spread like blue jewels in a lush green setting, there are 15 lakes in all, and some 270 miles of shoreline. Spring-fed waters beget terrific walleye and Northern Pike fishing – muskies too.
Fishing is somewhat of a passion in the Upper Peninsula, and one of the best places to cast your line is Lake Gogebic, where walleye and small mouth bass abound. Like larger lakes? There’s always Superior. Hire a charter boat, get a good guide, and head out from Ontonagon, Black River or Saxon Harbor.
(Image: puroticorico)
