The UP

[fudgie]

Anyone been to Munising MI? Looking at it a a possible trip next year for our annual trip. Plan on doing the boat tours. Then hit Saute St Marie on our way back and day trip into Canada. Wondering what other things to see and esp the weather at the end of July/ early Aug. Toss up between this, Sturgis, or Iowa. Also depends on IZ location.

[GiG]

Munising is incredible area, ask Randy Wizard, he’s got a hookup. Great weather end of summer. H58 runs along Lake Superior shoreline, great scenic MC road with dunes & Pictured Rocks. Go to Lake Superior Brewery in
Grand Marais, sit outside & order fresh caught whitefish   .    State park campground within walking distance  

[Moonshot_1]

Great place. Painted Rocks Lakeshore is awesome. Boat tour is great. Side story, when we went on the boat tour it was really foggy to the point they thought about canceling the ride. They didn't and gave us half off. But the fog made the trip overthetop great. To see the rock faces come out of the fog was really neat. I'da paid double.

To the east is the town of Grand Marais. Great town with a brew pub. And the beaches there are spectacular.

We were up there maybe 8 or 9 years ago on the bikes. Did the Duluth, Copper Harbor, Munising, and Grand Marais. Was going to go to Saute St Marie but a family emergency made us cut it short so only made it to Grand Marais.

Love Lake Superior.

[GiG]

Great place. Painted Rocks Lakeshore is awesome. Boat tour is great.
To the east is the town of Grand Marais. Great town with a brew pub. And the beaches there are spectacular.

We were up there maybe 8 or 9 years ago on the bikes. Did the Duluth, Copper Harbor, Munising, and Grand Marais. Was going to go to Saute made it to Grand Marais.

Love Lake Superior.

Alright, Mike you managed to hit the high points! Glad you enjoyed it!
Pub is LSB “Lake Superior Brewery”. I talked with the cook who served the incredible whitefish. Turns out he caught a batch just hours earlier. Man, I could almost run up there now just to get lunch-  
They claimed to brew in-house, but I didn’t see the kettles      A definite  destination  :cooldude :
Camping a block away at State Park with awesome views  

Also in area is Whitefish Pointe & Shipping Museum. Beautiful! A guy has a lunch truck on the corner in town with delicious fish- Yum! 

[cookiedough]

log slide overlook is a must see viewpoint looks like you are on another planet

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g42255-d2254160-Reviews-Log_Slide_Overlook-Grand_Marais_Upper_Peninsula_Michigan.html

Along with the numerous waterfalls and parks,  yah, do the boat tour from the water.  

If you have time to hike about 7 miles total thru the woods,  a must see is chapel rock.  Is pretty neat to see a tree growing on a separate rock only held on by the root structure growing over onto the main land. Tons of beaches to enjoy as well as waterfalls.

whatever you do, do NOT go down the sand dune 500ft or so to the shoreline.  Do NOT ask me how I know since takes 5 minutes to run down it, but near 3 hours to crawl on my hands and knees up the sand dune.  Boy was my wife pissed at me for wasting near 3 hours getting back up and my calf muscles were so tight beyond belief I could barely walk or stand up afterwards, let alone drive my vehicle.

We hiked about 25 miles in 5 days or so and was pretty cool to see the rock cliffs 200 ft or so above the water from on top of the cliffs with some awesome views from up top.  Wear comfy hiking shoes for sure.

[GiG]

yah, do the boat tour from the water.  


.  Boy was my wife  
.

Yah, water is generally recommended for a boat tour
 

[fudgie]

yah, do the boat tour from the water.  


.  Boy was my wife  
.

Yah, water is generally recommended for a boat tour
 

 

[Motoman1]

If you go to the Yoop you need to go to Copper Harbor. A great ride up there. Also the Porcupine Mountains on the West side. Lake of the Clouds is a site worth seeing. The whole UP is worth seeing.

[carolinarider09]

It was a few years ago but in September 2019 we took a trip to Canada and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The picture below is the route we took while in the UP.  It was a nice ride.  We made it a point to stop in Newberry, MI because Newberry, SC is close to where we live in SC.

[GiG]

It was a few years ago but in September 2019 we took a trip to Canada and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The picture below is the route we took while in the UP.  It was a nice ride.  We made it a point to stop in Newberry, MI because Newberry, SC is close to where we live in SC.

Hey, Carolina:
You must have just missed a cool Valkyrie event in Newberry- that’s where we have the Yooper Ride!
It’s kind of centrally located and accessible to Taquomenon Fails, Whitefish , Paradise , Deer Park &
Other beautiful attractions 
LOVE the UP!    Never want to leave while there… 

[luftkoph]

If you take the painted rocks boat go in the afternoon and sit on the starboard side, if your in the Soo and take the Soo locks boat tour sit on the port side.

[GiG]

If you take the painted rocks boat go in the afternoon and sit on the starboard side, if your in the Soo and take the Soo locks boat tour sit on the port side.

Sounds like good advice, my Air Head friend, thanks!!     

[Oss]

One of the best naps in recent memory riding back from the
painted or picture rocks in the open air.  Slept like a baby !   the wind just was cool and fresh

The shoreline was pretty nice but the shoreline on the catamaran ride we just did
in Kauai Hawaii was exceptional on that day. It included unimited drinks and food
and the water we jumped into was 85 degrees no waves to speak of

  Saw dolphins too but not the Miami kind jig

[GiG]

One of the best naps in recent memory riding back from the
painted or picture rocks in the open air.  Slept like a baby !   the wind just was cool and fresh

  Saw dolphins too but not the Miami kind jig

What kind, then??
“  … swimming ahead of sailing ships,  This resemblance, along with its lively, fast movements and sometimes iridescent colors, earned it the nickname, dolphin despite the fact that it is a fish and completely unrelated to the marine mammal dolphin.”

Take another nap & say a prayer for your new mayor   

[Oss]

 

[Fazer]

Great time in the UP for Gig's rides, before his unfortunate accident.  Made it up there three times, twice with my son Justin.  Unforgettable.  LuLu's breakfast burritos were spectacular.  Still have Pickle hats.

[GiG]

Aww, Greg, you are too kind, my friend! Always great to see you and Justin! I’ll be sure LuLu sees this 
She wanted to provide dinner so folks wouldn’t arrive then leave looking for food 
Then came the breakfast thing, I told her she started something by feeling a bunch of scooter bums.
Some unfortunate real life issues transpired to end this fun gathering, we will have to work on
Resuming the festivities 

[Jack B]

Aww, Greg, you are too kind, my friend! Always great to see you and Justin! I’ll be sure LuLu sees this 
She wanted to provide dinner so folks wouldn’t arrive then leave looking for food 
Then came the breakfast thing, I told her she started something by feeling a bunch of scooter bums.
Some unfortunate real life issues transpired to end this fun gathering, we will have to work on
Resuming the festivities 

It was always a good time

[GiG]

Yep, always a pleasure, Jack!
This thread seems to have drifted a bit because
Fudgie was asking about Munising, but it’s all
UP related     

[RP#62]

While we're talking about the UP, just ran across this.  I never knew about the Superior movement, of course, I don't get above the 45th parallel much.
RP


A Short History of the “State of Superior” — And Why the 45th Parallel Still Matters
December 2, 2025 by David T. Cloft

Ever since Michigan became a state in 1837, there’s been a quiet tug-of-war between the rugged north and the political south. The Upper Peninsula didn’t even want to be part of Michigan in the first place — it was handed to Lansing as part of the Toledo War settlement. By the 1850s, Yoopers were openly campaigning for their own state. They wanted to call it “Superior.”

That movement never fully died.

It resurfaced in the 1890s, again in the 1920s, and most famously in the 1960s–70s when Rep. Dominic Jacobetti, attorney Ted Albert, and several counties began formally petitioning Lansing for secession. Jacobetti even introduced House Bill 6115 in 1978 to separate the U.P. entirely.

It failed for one obvious reason:

Political gravity always pulls toward Lansing.

Whether you look at the 1850 census or the 2020 one, Michigan has remained a radically unbalanced state. Today, roughly 9 out of every 10 Michigan voters live within 90 miles of Lansing — the southern arc stretching from Detroit to Grand Rapids.

That means:

• Detroit and its suburbs decide everything.

• Northern Michigan’s political influence is statistically irrelevant.

• The Upper Peninsula has less population than many Detroit ZIP codes.

The result?

The same dynamic Yoopers complained about in 1855 still exists today: a government dominated by people who neither live nor think like the north.

And if we’re being honest, this isn’t just a U.P. problem.

**Everything north of the 45th parallel lives in a different world:

different economy, different culture, different priorities, different problems.**

Lansing governs as if the entire state is one giant suburb.

But the land north of the 45th is:

• timber, not traffic

• lakes, not freeways

• local community, not mega-metro politics

• hunting, fishing, agriculture, forestry, mining, and tourism

• small towns whose needs are drowned out by Detroit’s urban voting bloc

If representation means anything, this is the textbook case where statehood boundaries no longer reflect reality.

⸻

The Argument in One Sentence

If 90% of the population — and therefore 90% of the political power — lives within 90 miles of Lansing, then anything north of the 45th parallel isn’t represented. It’s ruled.

And ruled regions eventually want out.

Just like Alaska split from its administrative territory.

Just like West Virginia split from Virginia.

Just like Maine split from Massachusetts.

The map changes when the people demand it.

Maybe the old Yooper dream wasn’t crazy after all.

Maybe the future “State of Superior” isn’t just the U.P. —

maybe it’s all of northern Michigan, everything above the line the French explorers marked centuries ago:

45° North — the natural border between two different Michigans

[GiG]

While we're talking about the UP, just ran across this.  I never knew about the Superior movement, of course, I don't get above the 45th parallel much.
RP

A Short History of the “State of Superior” — And Why the 45th Parallel Still Matters
December 2, 2025 by David T. Cloft

Ever since Michigan became a state in 1837, there’s been a quiet tug-of-war between the rugged north and the political south. The Upper Peninsula didn’t even want to be part of Michigan in the first place — it was handed to Lansing as part of the Toledo War settlement. By the 1850s, Yoopers were openly campaigning for their own state. They wanted to call it “Superior.”

That movement never fully died.

It resurfaced in the 1890s, again in the 1920s, and most famously in the 1960s–70s when Rep. Dominic Jacobetti, attorney Ted Albert, and several counties began formally petitioning Lansing for secession. Jacobetti even introduced House Bill 6115 in 1978 to separate the U.P. entirely :

……………………………………………

Tourism and,  memories of previous mining, are not an economy to support an entire state.Of Superior.

RP: please remember that this absurd proposition  by Cloft predates the Big Mac bridge and
The closing of mining operations.
There is no “Natural Border” regarding 45* - no river, no mountain, just an imaginary line
On a map.
If the “Superiors” want to secede- go ahead! It’s unsustainable!
Start with denying Billion$ in infrastructure & welfare,handouts
Provided by the evil “rulers” in Lansing., paid for by Detroit suburbs’ taxpayers  
Very  beautiful but difficult to make a living there…
Don’t hold your breath, though, it’ll never happen.

[RP#62]

Oh, I wasn't advocating it, I just wasn't aware of the history.

RP

[Wizzard]

Everything mentioned in this thread is well worth the trip. I have been all over the UP numerous times and enjoyed every minute. The Valk gathering that Gig and Lulu did was outstanding and I surely miss those times.
Copper harbor is well worth it also.