The Wonderful Wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Immortalized by Longfellow, the Midwest's preferred vacation spot offers unspoiled forests, waterfalls and coastal villages

  • By Jonathan Kandell
  • Photographs by Scott S. Warren
  • Smithsonian magazine, May 2011, Subscribe
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Presque Isle cove
Northern Michigan's rocky coast, shown here is a Presque Isle cove, has long beckoned as a summer playground. The picturesque region, wrote American naturalist Edwin Way Teale, is "a land of wonderful wilderness." (Scott S. Warren)

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Journey Into Summer

by Edwin Way Teale
St. Martin’s Press, 1990

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From the summit of 1,327-foot Marquette Mountain in northern Michigan, the view offers a pleasing mix of industrial brawn and natural beauty. Dense pine forests descend to the red sandstone churches and office buildings of Marquette, the largest town (pop. 20,714) in the Upper Peninsula, or UP. In Marquette’s harbor on Lake Superior, the world’s largest body of fresh water, a massive elevated ore dock disgorges thousands of tons of iron pellets into the hold of a 1,000-foot-long ship. Closer to my lofty perch, a bald eagle plunges toward unseen prey in the lake’s blue waters.

For more than a century, the UP has been the summer playground of Midwesterners. From the early 1900s on, captains of industry and commerce—including Henry Ford and Louis G. Kaufman—converged here. The industrialists erected lavish lakeside “cabins” that rivaled the Adirondack “camps” of the Eastern Seaboard elite. By the American automobile’s mid-20th-century heyday, Detroit assembly-line workers were flocking here as well.

With Lake Superior to the north, Lake Michigan to the south and Lake Huron to the east, the UP covers 16,542 square miles, or about 28 percent of Michigan’s landmass. (Since 1957, the two peninsulas, Upper and Lower, have been connected by the five-mile-long Mackinac suspension bridge.) Yet only about 3 percent of the state’s population—some 317,000 residents—live amid the UP’s woodlands, waterfalls and icy trout streams. Ernest Hemingway, who fished in the UP as a boy and young man, paid homage to the region in a 1925 Nick Adams short story, “Big Two-Hearted River,” set there. “He stepped into the stream,” the novelist wrote. “His trousers clung tight to his legs. His shoes felt the gravel. The water was a rising cold shock.”

“Yoopers,” as local residents call themselves, scoff at warm-weather visitors; as much as 160 inches of snow falls annually in parts of the UP. Even in July and August, when daylight stretches past 10 p.m., Lake Superior breezes keep average temperatures below 80 degrees. By nightfall, lakeside restaurants are packed with patrons tucking into grilled whitefish and pasties (pronounced PASS-tees)—turnovers stuffed with beef, potato and onion, a regional specialty introduced more than 150 years ago by British miners from Cornwall.

I confined my nine-day journey to a scenic stretch along Lake Superior, between the heavily transited ship locks in Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced SOO Saint Ma-REE, pop. 16,542) on the east and the lonely crescent beaches of the Keweenaw Peninsula, 263 miles to the west. Looming on the horizon at nearly every turn was Lake Superior, considered an inland sea despite its fresh water—so big it holds more water than the other four Great Lakes combined. The Ojibwa tribe called it “Gichigami,” meaning “big water,” and it was memorialized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, “The Song of Hiawatha”: “By the shores of Gitche Gumee / By the shining Big-Sea-Water...”

French Explorers came to the Upper Peninsula in the 1600s for pelts, particularly beaver; they used Huron and Odawa Indians as go-betweens with trappers from other tribes. “The fur trade led Native Americans to give up their traditional way of life and plug into the global economy,” says historian Russ Magnaghi of Northern Michigan University in Marquette. The tribes also revealed locations of copper and iron deposits. By the 1840s, metal ore revenues surpassed those from fur, attracting miners from Germany, Ireland, Britain, Poland, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

At first, ore moved by boat on Lake Superior to Sault Ste. Marie, then was unloaded and carried overland by horse-drawn wagons past the St. Mary’s River rapids, a distance of some 1.5 miles. Then the ore was once again loaded onto waiting ships—a “staggeringly slow and inefficient” process, says Northern Michigan University historian Frederick Stonehouse.

But in 1853, construction began on locks to allow the ships direct passage between Superior and Huron. Sault Ste. Marie’s Soo Locks opened on schedule in 1855. “The lakes themselves became a vital highway for the Union Army in the Civil War,” says Stonehouse. In the year before the locks opened, fewer than 1,500 tons of ore were shipped; a decade later, the annual total had increased to 236,000 tons. After the war, the ore was shipped to the iron mills of Ohio and Pennsylvania. “The economic impact of Soo Locks was felt throughout the Middle West and across the nation,” says Pat Labadie, a historian at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary on the shores of Lake Huron at Alpena, Michigan. Today, nearly 80 million tons of cargo pass through the Soo Locks each year, making it the third busiest man-made waterway after the Panama and Suez canals.


From the summit of 1,327-foot Marquette Mountain in northern Michigan, the view offers a pleasing mix of industrial brawn and natural beauty. Dense pine forests descend to the red sandstone churches and office buildings of Marquette, the largest town (pop. 20,714) in the Upper Peninsula, or UP. In Marquette’s harbor on Lake Superior, the world’s largest body of fresh water, a massive elevated ore dock disgorges thousands of tons of iron pellets into the hold of a 1,000-foot-long ship. Closer to my lofty perch, a bald eagle plunges toward unseen prey in the lake’s blue waters.

For more than a century, the UP has been the summer playground of Midwesterners. From the early 1900s on, captains of industry and commerce—including Henry Ford and Louis G. Kaufman—converged here. The industrialists erected lavish lakeside “cabins” that rivaled the Adirondack “camps” of the Eastern Seaboard elite. By the American automobile’s mid-20th-century heyday, Detroit assembly-line workers were flocking here as well.

With Lake Superior to the north, Lake Michigan to the south and Lake Huron to the east, the UP covers 16,542 square miles, or about 28 percent of Michigan’s landmass. (Since 1957, the two peninsulas, Upper and Lower, have been connected by the five-mile-long Mackinac suspension bridge.) Yet only about 3 percent of the state’s population—some 317,000 residents—live amid the UP’s woodlands, waterfalls and icy trout streams. Ernest Hemingway, who fished in the UP as a boy and young man, paid homage to the region in a 1925 Nick Adams short story, “Big Two-Hearted River,” set there. “He stepped into the stream,” the novelist wrote. “His trousers clung tight to his legs. His shoes felt the gravel. The water was a rising cold shock.”

“Yoopers,” as local residents call themselves, scoff at warm-weather visitors; as much as 160 inches of snow falls annually in parts of the UP. Even in July and August, when daylight stretches past 10 p.m., Lake Superior breezes keep average temperatures below 80 degrees. By nightfall, lakeside restaurants are packed with patrons tucking into grilled whitefish and pasties (pronounced PASS-tees)—turnovers stuffed with beef, potato and onion, a regional specialty introduced more than 150 years ago by British miners from Cornwall.

I confined my nine-day journey to a scenic stretch along Lake Superior, between the heavily transited ship locks in Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced SOO Saint Ma-REE, pop. 16,542) on the east and the lonely crescent beaches of the Keweenaw Peninsula, 263 miles to the west. Looming on the horizon at nearly every turn was Lake Superior, considered an inland sea despite its fresh water—so big it holds more water than the other four Great Lakes combined. The Ojibwa tribe called it “Gichigami,” meaning “big water,” and it was memorialized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, “The Song of Hiawatha”: “By the shores of Gitche Gumee / By the shining Big-Sea-Water...”

French Explorers came to the Upper Peninsula in the 1600s for pelts, particularly beaver; they used Huron and Odawa Indians as go-betweens with trappers from other tribes. “The fur trade led Native Americans to give up their traditional way of life and plug into the global economy,” says historian Russ Magnaghi of Northern Michigan University in Marquette. The tribes also revealed locations of copper and iron deposits. By the 1840s, metal ore revenues surpassed those from fur, attracting miners from Germany, Ireland, Britain, Poland, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

At first, ore moved by boat on Lake Superior to Sault Ste. Marie, then was unloaded and carried overland by horse-drawn wagons past the St. Mary’s River rapids, a distance of some 1.5 miles. Then the ore was once again loaded onto waiting ships—a “staggeringly slow and inefficient” process, says Northern Michigan University historian Frederick Stonehouse.

But in 1853, construction began on locks to allow the ships direct passage between Superior and Huron. Sault Ste. Marie’s Soo Locks opened on schedule in 1855. “The lakes themselves became a vital highway for the Union Army in the Civil War,” says Stonehouse. In the year before the locks opened, fewer than 1,500 tons of ore were shipped; a decade later, the annual total had increased to 236,000 tons. After the war, the ore was shipped to the iron mills of Ohio and Pennsylvania. “The economic impact of Soo Locks was felt throughout the Middle West and across the nation,” says Pat Labadie, a historian at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary on the shores of Lake Huron at Alpena, Michigan. Today, nearly 80 million tons of cargo pass through the Soo Locks each year, making it the third busiest man-made waterway after the Panama and Suez canals.

Even the mightiest feats of engineering, however, are no match for the sudden storms that lash Lake Superior. The Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, a 75-mile drive northwest from Sault Ste. Marie, documents the final 1975 voyage of the doomed ore carrier the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, in its day the largest and fastest vessel on the lake.

On November 9, the 729-foot ship and its 29-man crew departed from the port of Superior, Wisconsin. Fully loaded with 29,000 tons of taconite iron-ore pellets, the Fitzgerald headed in calm seas for the Great Lakes Steel Company near Detroit. Some 28 hours later, the worst storm in more than three decades—waves 30 feet high and wind gusts close to 100 miles per hour—swept over Lake Superior. The Whitefish Point lighthouse was out as the vessel approached.

“We have not far to go,” the Fitzgerald’s captain, Ernest McSorley, said on the radio. “We will soon have it made. Yes, we will....It’s a hell of a night for the Whitefish beacon not to be operating.”

“It sure is,” replied Bernie Cooper, captain of the nearby Arthur M. Anderson, another ore carrier. “By the way, how are you making out with your problems?”

“We are holding our own,” McSorley answered.

Those were the last words heard from the Fitzgerald. On November 15, 1975, the ship’s twisted remains, broken into two large sections, were located 17 miles off Whitefish Point at a depth of 530 feet. No one knows just what happened. One theory holds that the force of the waves opened the vessel’s hatches and filled the hold with water. But historian Stonehouse, author of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, believes the ship probably “struck a rocky shoal, didn’t realize it, staggered off and sunk in deep water.” Because of the danger in sending divers into water that deep, the crew’s bodies have yet to be brought to the surface.

Tahquamenon Falls State Park lies 23 miles southwest of Whitefish Point. It’s the site of two cascades that disgorge up to 50,000 gallons of water per second, putting them behind only Niagara in volume among waterfalls east of the Mississippi. The Upper Falls, surrounded by one of Michigan’s last remaining old-growth forests, features a 50-foot drop. The falls might have saved the forests by making logging there untenable. The drop over the falls would have broken logs floating downriver. Today, majestic eastern hemlocks, four centuries old, stand 80 feet high in the 1,200-acre park.

The movement of glaciers shaped Lake Superior 10,000 years ago. Today, wind and water continue to mold its shoreline. Nowhere is this more dramatic than at Pictured Rocks, a 15-mile-long expanse of cliffs northeast of the small port of Munising (pop. 2,539). I board a tour boat that makes its way into a narrow bay created by Grand Island on the west and the lakeshore to the east. As we head toward the open lake, the cliffs become less densely forested; fierce winds have sheared off treetops and branches. Some cliffs are shaped like ship hulls jutting into Superior, and crashing waves have carved caverns into others.

After a few minutes, the Pictured Rocks come into view, looking like giant, freshly painted abstract works of art. “There are a few cliff formations elsewhere along Superior, but nothing this size or with these colors,” says Gregg Bruff, who conducts education programs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Hundreds of large and small waterfalls and springs splash down the cliffs, reacting with minerals in the sandstone to create a palette of colors, including browns and reds from iron, blues and greens from copper, and black from manganese. The fragility of this natural wonder is apparent: large fragments from recently collapsed cliffs lie at the base of rock faces. In some places, the cliffs may retreat several feet in a single year. Eaten away by pounding waves, the lower portions are the first to go. “On top, there will be overhangs protruding above the water,” says Bruff. “Right now, there is one spot with an overhanging boulder the size of a four-bedroom house.” As we head back to the harbor, flocks of hungry gulls emerge from nesting holes in the cliffs, flying parallel to our boat.

Some 150 miles west, on the northwest shore of the scenic Keweenaw (KEE-wuh-naw) Peninsula, 1,328-foot Brockway Mountain offers a breathtaking prospect of Lake Superior. This is copper mining country. At Keweenaw’s tip, the tiny hamlet of Copper Harbor is Michigan’s northernmost point. During the Civil War, the port was a major loading dock for copper ore. In the century that followed, the peninsula drew vacationing families to holiday houses, many along the southeastern coast of Keweenaw Bay. Some of the beaches were created from massive amounts of gravel and sand excavated during removal of copper ore from underground mines.

Established in 1848 midway up the Keweenaw Peninsula, the Quincy mine grew into one of the largest and most profitable underground copper mines in the country, earning the nickname Old Reliable—until its lodes declined in purity in the early 1940s. By then, Quincy’s main shaft had reached a depth of 6,400 feet—well over a mile. Today, guided tours transport visitors on a cart pulled by tractor to a depth of only 370 feet. Below, the mine has filled with water.

Tour guide Jordan Huffman describes the work routine in the mine’s heyday. “You had a three-man team, with one man holding a steel rod and two men pounding away at it with sledgehammers,” says Huffman. After each blow, the miner grasping the rod rotated it 90 degrees. At the end of a ten-hour workday, four holes would have been driven into the rock. Sixteen holes filled with dynamite formed a blast pattern that loosened a chunk of copper ore to be transported to the surface. The backbreaking work was done by the light of a single candle.

With a twinge of guilt, I return to my comfortable lodgings, the Laurium Manor Inn, a restored Victorian mansion that once belonged to mine owner Thomas H. Hoatson Jr. From my balcony I can see small-town Americana. Girls play hopscotch on the sidewalk. Young men hunch over the open hood of a Chevy Camaro, scrub the tires and wax the exterior. A songbird chorus rises from the stately oaks, hemlocks and maples shading large houses, many dating back more than a century. David and Julie Sprenger graduated from the UP’s Michigan Tech, in the town of Houghton. They abandoned careers in Silicon Valley in 1991 to transform this once-derelict mansion into an upscale bed-and-breakfast in tiny Laurium (pop. 2,126), about ten miles northeast of the Quincy mine. “We gave ourselves two years to get it up and running—and then we just couldn’t stop,” says Julie. Work on the stained glass, reupholstered furniture, carpentry, original plumbing and lighting fixtures has stretched out for 20 years. “And we still aren’t through,” she says.

Some 100 miles to the east, the town of Marquette offers a remarkable inventory of historical architecture, linked to another 19th-century mining boom—in iron ore. The single most striking structure is the now abandoned Lower Harbor Ore Dock, jutting 969 feet into Lake Superior from downtown Marquette. The Presque Isle Harbor Dock, at the town’s northern end, remains in operation. Here, loads of iron pellets are transferred from ore trains to cargo vessels.

From about 1870, iron-mining wealth funded many handsome buildings built of locally quarried red sandstone. Landmarks include the neo-Gothic First United Methodist Church (1873), with square buttressed towers and two asymmetrical spires; the Beaux-Arts-style Peter White Public Library (1904), constructed of white Bedford (Indiana) limestone; and the former First National Bank and Trust Company headquarters (1927), built by Louis G. Kaufman.

The Marquette County Courthouse, built in 1904, is where many of the scenes in the 1959 courthouse cliffhanger, Anatomy of a Murder, were filmed. The movie, starring James Stewart, Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara, was adapted from the 1958 novel of the same title by Robert Traver, the pseudonym of John Voelker, who was the defense attorney in the rape and vengeance murder case on which the book was based. “After watching an endless succession of courtroom melodramas that have more or less transgressed the bounds of human reason and the rules of advocacy,” wrote New York Times movie critic Bosley Crowther, “it is cheering and fascinating to see one that hews magnificently to a line of dramatic but reasonable behavior and proper procedure in a court.”

On my final day in the upper peninsula, I drive 58 miles from Marquette to the village of Alberta, built in the 1930s by Henry Ford, who conceived of a utopian community for his workers. In 1935, he founded such a settlement, centered around a lumber mill, at the southern end of the Keweenaw Peninsula. There the men worked in a mill that supplied lumber for components for Detroit car bodies; Alberta’s women grew fruits and vegetables on two-acre plots. The community included a dozen households, two schools and a reservoir that supplied water to the mill and offered recreation for residents.

Ford claimed he had been motivated to create Alberta—named after the daughter of one of his executives—by nostalgic memories of his own village childhood. But some are skeptical. The Depression years were a time of ideological struggle, with Fascism and Communism sweeping Europe and increasing tensions between management and labor in the United States. “Ford didn’t like unions, and saw the Alberta experiment as an alternative to keep them at bay a bit longer,” says Kari Price, who oversees the museum established at Alberta after the Ford Motor Company transferred the village to nearby Michigan Tech in 1954. Today Alberta is the location of the university’s forestry research center, and its original dozen Cape Cod-style cottages are rented to vacationers and a handful of permanent residents.

The Alberta experiment lasted only 16 years. Demand for automobile lumber ended in 1951 when Ford stopped producing “woody” station wagons, which featured slats of polished wood on the doors. And farming at Alberta turned out to be impractical: the soil was rocky, sandy and acidic; the growing season was short (90 days at best)—and the deer were voracious.

Ford’s failure, however, was not without its compensations. He envisioned establishing villages throughout the Upper Peninsula, and likely anticipated increased logging to supply the mills in future settlements. Instead, the region’s sprawling wilderness has remained intact. In the late 1950s, when the celebrated American naturalist and writer Edwin Way Teale crisscrossed the Upper Peninsula—as part of an odyssey he would recount in Journey Into Summer (1960)—he was awed by the region’s untrammeled beauty. The UP, he declared, could fairly be described as a “land of wonderful wilderness,” where “sand and pebbles and driftwood” dot the lakeshores, mayflies can be seen “rising and drifting like thistledown,” and forest glens are “filled with the hum of bees and the pink of milkweed flower clusters.” Teale wrote that he and his wife, Nellie, were reluctant even to glance at their map while driving for fear of missing a sight, whether small or spectacular: “Everywhere we felt far away from cities and twentieth-century civilization.” More than a half-century later, that assessment holds true. If you need to look at a map, it’s probably best to pull over.

Jonathan Kandell lives in New York City. Photographer Scott S. Warren travels the world on assignment.


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Comments (77)

I must say, he did portray an accurate cross-section of the "Yooper" population. Having lived in the U.P. all of my life and having gone to school in several "Yooper" schools (Finlandia (AKA Suomi College), Gogebic, and the satellite branch of Bay De Noc Community College) I have to agree this particular news article was quite accurate in the representation of "Yooper" life.

Posted by Jack M. on February 2,2013 | 03:03 AM

@Ryan Michaud - You are so right. Ironically, Cajun comes from the shortened Acacian ( French Canadian province of Acacia )where Cajuns originated. I used to wonder why they seemed to have an accent just as strong as we/us Yoopers. Similar mispronounced words, etc. Makes sense now - alot of Yoopers hold on to their French variations. My favorite Cajun/Yooper speak is multiple contractions i.e. wouldn't've...Shouldn't've'oughto've...

Posted by J.P. John Perron on December 27,2011 | 06:18 PM

Good article and interesting comments from all the UP expatriates.

I pre-date the invention of "Yooper". In many ways we were legally part of Michigan, but got our radio from Chicago and newspapers from Milwaukee. There was even a secession movement originating in Escanaba in the late 50s. Regional pride nurtured by a feeling of being cutoff from (and neglected by) the Lesser Peninsula was a shaping force in our lives.

But, after living in the LP, Chicago, New York, Alasks, North Carolina and Florida, it is absolutely true that you can get the kid out of the UP, but never the UP out of the kid.

Thanks for the article.

Posted by Dick Gilbert on September 10,2011 | 11:13 AM

How sweet it is! Let Michiganders recognize this rarity an fight to keep it free to be enjoyed by all of posterity, not sold off for water rights.

Posted by slynnj@comcast.net on August 7,2011 | 06:18 PM

Having made several visits to friends that reside in the Calumet area I always have to remark that the UP is not part of America. It is a country unto itself. It is so unique and different in dialect, rituals, vistas and geography that it is stunning in its diversity as opposed to the homogenized cookie cutter experience of the rest of America.

Posted by will hicks on June 27,2011 | 08:27 PM

YEAH GO SOO!!

Posted by Berenika on June 12,2011 | 06:09 PM

There is a palpable piece of the U.P. that those of us who move away will always carry. This is often borne out by keeping hunting camps alive for generations. 100 years is not uncommon!

Posted by J.P. John Perron on May 24,2011 | 10:25 PM

Great article. but the entire western end of the U.P. was left out. I was born in Wakefield, MI, close to Ironwood and the Wisconsin border. I tell everyone I grew up in the woods and fields of the U.P. and I watched the night sky and Auroa Borealis lying on the huge rocks outside our hilltop home.

You also missed Finlandia University, previously Suomi College, a wonderful institution and home to the many Finns of the U.P. I was a member of the Suomi Choir which toured nationally and even internationally to Finland. It is located across the river from Michigan Tech in Hancock. The two towns are separated by a draw bridge! My husband, brother, cousins, and myself all graduated from Michigan Tech and my sister from Northern Michigan University/

Wakefield was home to iron mines, Sunday Lake and Wico (I think). The mines closed in the late 1950's when iron ore in Minnesota was determined to be more profitable to mine. My dad Uno Hill was a logger and he and his friends had many logging camp stories to tell, as well as stories of WPA. We lived on his Finnish family farm. Wakefield is on Sunday Lake, home of annual moor boat races.

Nancy Hill Mtchell, Salt Lake City, UT

Posted by Nancy Mitchell on May 18,2011 | 01:29 AM

I lived in the UP for several years and I still think of it as a second home. Beyond the raw beauty that abounds are the incredible people. Because of the low population density and its relative isolation, Yuppers have retained a distinct and wonderful culture all their own. It's the closest you can get to an international experience without leaving the states.

Posted by Mark Cornillie on May 17,2011 | 10:05 AM

Technically speaking, Isle Royale is not the northernmost point of Michigan. Rather, it is a tiny piece of land jutting out from the intersection of Minnesota and Michigan on the mainland just west of Canada. The little piece is about 200' wide and several piece deep and is the only part of Michigan abutting Minnesota. It is approximately at 43 00'12.07" N 89 28'43.71" W.

Posted by Captain Don Kilpela Dr. on May 14,2011 | 03:05 PM

Lois Cady,
Page 2 mentions pictured rocks and Munising.

Posted by Alvin on May 11,2011 | 04:31 PM

Thank you writing the article about the UP. I attended Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI, which is one of the best engineering schools in the country.

You missed one of the engineering wonders of the world - the Cornish Pump in Iron Mountain, MI! It was built in 1890/91 by E.P. Allis Co. of Milwaukee, heralded as the nation's largest steam-driven pumping engine. This massive engine lifted 200 tons of water per minute at "D" shaft of the Chapin Iron Mine. The pump was listed in the National Register of Historic places in 1981. We go to the UP for my wife's family reunion every other year in Republic (don't miss the Pine Grove!), and we stop at the Cornish Pump whenever we have the time.

Posted by James Doman on May 9,2011 | 08:45 PM

I was raised in Houghton, MI in the 40's and 50's. Went to St. Ignatius Grade School and the old Houghton High School. I married a Tech student and lived the last 30+ years in CT. But, if you ask me where I'm from, without blinking an eye, I'd respond, "I'm a Yooper"

Posted by Nancy Graves Carlson on May 9,2011 | 06:34 PM

I grew up in Munising right on the shores of Lake Superior. I know one short article can't possibly iclude every thing about the U.P. but surely mention could have been made about Pictured Rocks and Lake Superior National Lake Shore.

Posted by Lois Cady on May 8,2011 | 11:55 AM

Great article! The U.P. is one of the last areas of the country where regionalism dominates. Yoopers introduce themselves as such and are proud to be so. Cajuns are the only other group that seem to identify with a region rather than a state. I know I still say I am from the U.P. even though I now live in Wisconsin. Yooper have a unique bond no matter where they encounter each other. Proud to be a Yooper!

Posted by Ryan Michaud on May 8,2011 | 10:06 AM

Sorry, Robert Cope in Australia. The article is right. The region was under ice 10,000 years ago. It was also under earlier glaciations, but most recently, 10,000 years ago. Google Two Creeks Buried Forest for information on a well studied forest in Wisconsin buried by glaciers about 11,000 years ago.

Posted by Steve D on May 8,2011 | 09:15 AM

Having been born and raised in Marquette Michigan, it was a delight to see Jonathan Kandell’s article on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the May 2011 issue of “Smithsonian” magazine. (By The Shores of GitcheGumme) It not only showcased many of my favorite haunts but, bless his heart, he used the correct pronunciations of many words as well. I, too, climbed the rocks, dove off the cliffs into the icy waters of Lake Superior, swam out to and around Picnic Rocks, and in the summers, spent every waking moment possible at and around Presque Isle, called “The Island” by locals. We were blessed to live in a very unique area, smelling of jackpines and huckleberry bushes, hot sandy beaches and that wonderful, icy cold lake. Those of us who lived there will always be Yoopers, and those who did not, well, you really should make that trip.
I may live in Wisconsin now, but I will always be a Yooper!

Posted by Janet Wilson Fassino on May 7,2011 | 10:58 AM

I was very surpised the editors let a factual error slip through to print -- twice. In the article about Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the May issue of Smithsonian (page 70), it was said "At Keweenaw's tip, the tiny hamlet of Copper Harbor is Michigan's northernmost point." That is repeated in the caption for the photo on page 75.

Michigan's northernmost point is across Lake Superior, in Isle Royale.

Copper Harbor, MI is at 47.46°N 87.8°W
Isle Royale, Rock Harbor Lodge, Michigan Keweenaw County, MI Latitude: 48.1457067, Longitude: -88.4836808. There are some smaller islands in the Isle Royale archipelago that would be slightly further north than Rock Harbor.

Copper Harbor may be the northernmost community lived in year-round, but Isle Royale is the northernmost point in Michigan

Posted by Al Boldt on May 5,2011 | 02:11 PM

I just finished reading some of the comments after reading the nice article in the Smithsonian on my "home" the UP. I was born there in Hancock and both parents were from Hancock and Dodgeville. We moved south to Detroit in 1952 so grew up there but every summer headed back up to the family home in Dodgeville. most of my family stayed up there but my family all eventually resettled back in thE UP from california and downstate Michigan. My father loved it until he died and also referred to ti as we do as being "Gods country". The Ottawa and Ojibewa local tribes loved it and still do and they used the Keewanaw as their summer hunting and fishing vacation area. I live in Melbourne but get back almost every year to my place I built in the keewanaw. Can't wait to be able to back for long trips.
Love pasties there, whitefish, river fishing people and the scenery.

Posted by tom forsell on May 4,2011 | 12:24 AM

Wonderful article. I was born and raised in Ishpeming and loved growing up in the UP. After graduate school at the University of Michigan I moved to Toledo, Ohio, but we still love the UP and have a home in the Soo on the St. Mary's River. Our grandsons love it in the Soo, both summer in the St. Mary's River and winter on Minneapolis Hill. I grew up on pasties and still love them. My Father always called the UP God's Country. Thanks to the Toledo War Michigan has the UP. Great.

Posted by Lee Wealton on May 2,2011 | 02:51 PM

I absolutely love it up here, I haven't seen anything under the bridge that compare to the natural beauty that is almost everywhere up here. The relics and ruins of the mining industry add another interesting reason to visit. This article touches on some great places, but if you are planning on coming up, I suggest you give this site ( http://keweenawfreeguide.com/ ) a look, it has quite a bit of information. I will always consider this my home and will be sad if I ever have to leave.

Posted by Colin on May 2,2011 | 09:48 AM

The region was under glaciers about 250,000 years ago...not 10,000. Small matter. Another fact of probable interest: Negaunee, in encyclopedias at the turn into the 20th century, was rated the richest town in the world, based on the value of the iron still un-mined.

Mother and I are graduates of the Negaunee High School. One small world. :-)

Posted by Robert Cope in Australia on April 29,2011 | 08:41 PM

Even from Australia, this former Yooper recalls and sees in the carefully researched and experienced writer the extra-ordinary beauty, history, and current attractiveness of the Upper Peninsula. Thanks too, to the other comments for filling in more detail making for a complete picture, except, I add, the importance to US Highway 41 linking Lake Superior, past Lake Michigan, via Chicago, via Georgia into Florida, past the shores of the great waters containing Cuba, ending at Miami on the Atlantic Ocean. I submit, this is the new, most important north-south highway link in the United States.

Posted by Robert Cope on April 29,2011 | 07:01 PM

I am a life long "Yooper" and can't see living anywhere else. My two kids moved away after college but both came back to raise their kids here in "God's country". Yes, we do get an extraordinary amount of snow in the winter, but it doesn't destroy our homes like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods etc. so we thankk God for the snow instead. We have two state parks here in the Keweenaw that have wonderful camp grounds for folks who like to camp on their vacations.
Fort Wilkins State Park in Copper Harbor and McLean State Park just west of Calumet on M203 (or West of Hancock too).
Isle Royale National Park is a wonderful nature lovers paradise out in Lake Superior. Boats leave from Houghton and Copper Harbor to take folks there. There are camp sites there as well and a lovely resort with cabins and a lodge. The Upper Peninsula had very much to offer nature lovers.

Posted by Diana Hein on April 29,2011 | 03:51 PM

Thank you for the article on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Being almost a life long resident of the peninsula, I am always happy when the natural beauty of the area is highlighted nationally. It was unfortunate that the entire "southern shore" of the peninsula was left out of the article. There are many natural wonders such as Big Springs and man-made wonders like the ghost town of Fayette, the many lighthouses with their stories and resident ghosts, and the wonderful, warm and talented people who abide in the area. As an example of the latter, the art community of Escanba turned an old auditorium and gymnasium from a defunct highschool into a beautiful functioning gallery, studio and theatre for the visual and peforming arts. Additionally the only State Fair for the State of Michigan is now in Escanaba.

Posted by Katherine LeDuc on April 29,2011 | 10:55 AM

Haven't seen the article, but having been born in Marquette in 1934, (Dad born in Negaunee in 1906) graduated from Graveraet High, attended (then Northern Michigan College of Ed.not yet a University) and after marriage, living more than two years in Hancock and in the Coast Guard Quarters at the Keewenaw Lower Entry Lighthouse, Jacobsville, just reading the posts by former residents and visitors bring back many lovely memories of just what a Superior (pardon the pun) place the U.P. is and has always been.

Don't forget Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder which took place in Big Bay, (Thunder Bay in the book) Trial at Marquette Court House. Traver was John Volker's pen name. Actual victim's name was Mike Chenoweth.

Been a few years since last visit to the UP, but hoping we can make our 60th reunion this summer. So much to love and relive! We still, (in Arizona) enjoy pastys which we order online from Pasty.com, shipped out of Calumet. Not meant as a commercial, but just to re-tingle the taste so deeply part of our background.

Posted by JUDIE on April 28,2011 | 09:45 PM

Great article, but the coverage ended too soon. What happened to the western U.P.? Heading west from Houghton, stop in Ontonogan where the mining was the main industry in the past. Follow Lake Superior shore line to the beautiful Lake of the Clouds and the pristine Porcupine Mountains. Head southwest to Ironwood/Bessemer ski area. Now head east on US 2, short detour on Hsy 45 to check out Bond Falls and if the time is right, the Paulding light. Back to Us 2 east and go through the mining towns of Iron River, Iron Mountain and on to Escanaba, Gladstone and eventually arrive back at the Mighty Mac. But don't forget all the senic stops along the way!

Posted by eva on April 28,2011 | 02:24 PM

I live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We do have the beauty that other states can't even achieve. We have miles and miles of forest and shore line. Either its with Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior we have a lot to respect and admire. I loved how you mentioned the Edmund Fitzgerald since I work at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point in Paradise Michigan where the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald is located. I wanted more of the Yooper feeling in the article but i guess you have to know and love the UP to write about how it feels to live here.

Posted by Sheila Merchand on April 28,2011 | 09:23 AM

I was born and raised in Flint, Mi (I'm 63 now), but my family vacationed in Lanse Mi every summer for 2-3 weeks until I was 10 years old. Our neighbor in Flint returned to Lanse in 1956 to build and operate the Lanse Motel. Eddy and Sharon were born and raised in the UP. Eddy near Lanse and Sharon in a Ford Motor Co. village (they made wood sides for "Woody" station wagons). Because of them I learned of the beauty of the natural setting, and the harshness of the realty of living in "God's Country". the author saw a lot of the UP's offerings, but it was just the tip of the iceberg. You could spend months there and still not see half of what it has to offer. I encourage all "city dwellers" to step back in time and experience what Michigan has to offer. You'll be pleasantly surprised!
IE: Kitchitikeepee (Big Spring), Lake Of The Clouds, The Porqupine Mountains, and Isle Royal just to name a few!

Posted by Tom Pierce on April 27,2011 | 08:44 PM

Great article!

As a Michigander I am happy that we received the Upper Peninsula as part of the concessions to resolve the Toledo War. I would have to say, in the end, we won out on that deal.

After spending several years at Michigan Tech I, along with other students I knew, couldn’t wait to get out of town! The winter came in two varieties; cold, with 300+ inches of lake effect snow, or REALLY cold with only 200 inches of snow because the continual sub-zero weather froze over a larger portion of Lake Superior thus significantly reducing the moisture picked up from the north winds.

But as I got older, I realized that I really missed it. I must admit that I would move back to the Keweenaw in a heartbeat. In casual conversations with others who spent time there, I knew I was not alone. The old adage, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” rings true for many who went to school in the UP.

I encourage all your readers to come up for a tour. It's well worth the drive!

Posted by Ed on April 27,2011 | 01:06 PM

I loved this article, though it left a lot out about one of the most beautiful places in North America. But, you would have to write a book to cover half or it. There is much beauty in the place and it's people.
I grew up in Upper Michigan, but left afer graduating from high school. Unfortuantely, work was scarce and the military was calling. I get back as often as I can, and when I do, my soul flies! It was a wonderful place to grow up. i wish I could have raised my children there.

Posted by Sam Gill on April 27,2011 | 10:58 AM

Enjoyed the article greatly but would suggest another part of the UP you missed. If you go east out of Saint Ignace the traveler arrives on the north shore of Lake Huron and the cities of Cedarville and Hessel, two historic centers for the logging industry and later tourist/fishing playgrounds. And your pastie recipe missed an important ingredient: RUTABAGA.

Posted by Al Riegel on April 26,2011 | 07:29 PM

My mother was born in the UP. I still have relatives in Negaunee and Ishpeming. As a child our family of 6 drove 8 hrs in the station wagon, from Aurora,Illinois for summer vacation. We went to one of two family camps in the woods. We used outhouses, had steam baths in the saunas, walked in the woods, fished and ate our lunches on the picnic tables, under the tall pines. It was quiet and peaceful.For some excitement,some nights we'd go to the dump to watch for the bears.
You could have mentioned some about the skiing. There's Suicide Hill, the Big ski jump near Ishpeming. Negaunee, which I remember as a quaint small town, is nearly empty of business. The train tracks rumble no more with trains. I rode the last one, from Chicago to Negaunee.
I have great memories of the UP. It's someplace to visit, for sure !

Posted by Wendy Bacues LaMagdeline on April 26,2011 | 07:17 PM

Great article. Lived in Marquette for 10 years and it's hard to believe I moved away 10 years ago now. Still miss it like I did that day I left. I go back to visit close friends several times per year and try to make the dog sled races every February. Every visit rejuvinates my soul and reminds me of what's really important.

There's no way to capture the beauty and peace of the entire UP in one article, but I enjoyed thinking about the places the author visited as I sit here at work in my concrete building on a very cold, rainy day. Thanks for the nice memories and break from work!

Posted by Lisa on April 26,2011 | 12:52 PM

I really enjoyed this article even though the author drove by the national ski museum for the United States twice and didn't stop. The U.S.Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame is located on the main highway US41 in Ishpeming, the birthplace of organized sking in America. The National Ski Association, the predecessor to today's United States Ski and Snowboard Association was founded here in 1905. The link between skiing and the mining industry has been very strong with thousands of Scandanivian immigrants settling here attracted by the prospect of mining work and the great snow.

Posted by Tom West on April 25,2011 | 09:16 AM

I am 65 and for my first 15 years the family did their 2 week vacation to the UP to a town of Fulton. I remember pasties, great trout fishing,white singing sand beaches, going to the town dump to watch bears, old copper mine buildings, and best of all a way of life far removed from the city.

Posted by George on April 24,2011 | 09:03 AM

Delightful article. I have traveled to Marquette a few times for the dog shows held Labor Day weekend, but have not had time to explore as described here. I hope I can manage to do that someday, I really did not realize how much I was missing on those brief visits. In the meantime, I've found I can enjoy the flavor of the UP by reading Henry Kisor's engaging suspense series featuring Porcupine County deputy sheriff Steve Martinez.

Posted by elaine on April 23,2011 | 10:36 PM

Michigan's U.P. is one of our state's greatest assets. My wife & I are native Michiganians, and spent our honeymoon on Isle Royale National Park in 1970. After that experience, we were hooked on the U.P. and all it's natural beauty. For the past 40 years now, no matter where else we might travel for a summer vacation, we always get in at least a week in the St. Ignace area of the U.P. The only thing your article missed was that magnificent bridge the "Mighty Mac", which transports most visitors to the U.P. from down in the "Flatlands" (Where the Fudgies live.) Other than that little oversight, a great article.

Tom Kennedy
Royal Oak, MI.

Posted by Tom Kennedy on April 23,2011 | 08:00 PM

Great article about the Yoop. I was struck when reading the headline, to see the term "coastal villages" used. I've never considered this before, but in a way I think it fits. "Coastal village" is something I would associate with foreign countries where the coastal topography is yet a part of a traditional lifestyle. I picture a unique culture that thrives yet seems so different and removed from society. I guess that's exactly what we have in the UP. Coastal villages. On another note there is a comprehensive listing of every beach on the UP shoreline of Lake Superior, and a dedicated website, located at www.someyooperbeach.com , or if you google "some yooper beach" you should find it.

Posted by Nils on April 23,2011 | 06:50 PM

Tanks, Smit-so-nee-ann, for comin' U.P. ta see us, eh? You could do whole issues on da history, folk and natchurl beauty of all sortsa places here in da Upper. I know dere's some udder places in dis big wirlt ya gotta write about (I heard deres even anudder part a Mitchigin below da Britch where da Trolls live), but dontcha fergit bout us Yoopers, eh? We'll keep a pastie warm in da oven and some KBC in da cooler fer ya.

Posted by Jimmer da Writer on April 23,2011 | 05:27 PM

I was born in the U.P. in Iron River.We lived on Lake Hagerman.We moved to Illinois when I was very young and after my Grandparents past on.We always went back every year for 2-3 weeks because we still had 3 small homes on the lake.My cousins would also be there.I remember being out on the lake fishing with cane poles catching Jumbo Perch,swimming going to town to watch the parade.Sometime around the 1960's my Father's family sold the property.My Brother and Sister and I were devastated.Those memories I will never forget.I may have been raised in Illinois but deep down inside I will always be a Man from Iron River.

Posted by Larry Weber on April 23,2011 | 01:27 PM

I lived in the UP for 8 years, married there. It broke my heart to have to leave the place I call Home, but was laid off and my husband found work downstate Michigan. We still have our 10 acre camp near Marquette, though. And every August we are there with our kids, at least 3 my husband's 5 brothers and their families, usually more and a maybe a sister, cousins, aunts/uncles, whoever is willing to make the trek to paradise. For 20 years we have been doing this. I have pictures of the cousins jumping off the cliff at Presque Isle (in your article), but mostly happy memories of swimming at Wetmore's Landing, hiking Sugarloaf and Pictured Rocks Lakeshore, fishing at numerous lakes, campfires, kids in sleeping bags falling asleep under starry skies and the breeze in the trees. It's a beautiful place, made even more so by the People who took me in and showed me the real beauty. There's no where I would rather be.

Posted by Sherrie on April 23,2011 | 10:06 AM

Thank you for the amazing article about my home area!! I am hopeful my life will take me back there one day. God's country indeed.

Posted by Staci Martineau on April 22,2011 | 09:03 PM

I had the extraordinary privilege of growing up in Keweenaw County. I have traveled all over the U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii. There is no other place that makes my heart soar like the stretch of lakeshore drive between Eagle River and Copper Harbor, with the obligatory drive up Brockway Mountain. As for you, rsc, we know you are a diehard Yooper trying to keep masses of people from discovering the treasure we know and love. But I have seen those "winter boardwalks" built over the snowbanks from front doors in Laurium.

Posted by Judy Pelkola on April 22,2011 | 08:55 PM

Being a proud native of Negaunee, I find it curious that there is no mention of the mines and the miners or the cities of Negaunee and Ishpeming where of course without them where would Marquette be.

Posted by John Savolainen on April 22,2011 | 08:17 PM

Great article, made me nostalgic to visit. I spent many summers at my grandparent's cabin in Curtis and from there we explored for hundreds of miles. My sister and I camped in the late 70's in the Porcupine Mountains. Glorious natural beauty everywhere you look.

Posted by marla on April 22,2011 | 07:33 PM

I lived in Houghton for over two years in the mid-1980s (finishing a degree at Michigan Tech) and didn't move away from the region until nearly four years ago. Although I found the article entertaining (in a touristy sort of way), it lacked a LOT of the real-ness of the UP. Not enough was mentioned of the ungodly working conditions of the miners (as in they had to buy their own supplies and families were cast-out willy-nilly from mine-owned housing if the miner/husband was hurt and couldn't work or was killed in a mining accident). The labor struggles and deaths--Pinkerton "enforcers" hired by the mine owners, the Italian Hall disaster...and just the plain, hard-scrabble lives most of the Yoopers have lived since Pere Marquette set up his first mission and died with his snowshoes on. I love the UP and miss it mightily. I would love to see an article of the REAL history of the UP in your magazine.

Posted by Leslie Finlayson on April 22,2011 | 05:32 PM

I visit Marquette, Mi at least once a year. Beautiful always regardless of the time of year.

Posted by Kathy on April 22,2011 | 05:16 PM

I'm with rsc....lies, all lies. I'm going to retire there and while I'm looking forward to company, I don't want them to MOVE there...just visit. And go home. I understand mosquitos mate with chickens....when they can't find the eagles! And the black flies, horse flies and the like....well, if you don't believe in vampires now, just wait till you've been there a while!

Posted by Susan Caryl on April 22,2011 | 04:51 PM

The UP is a place that you choose as a destination - it's not a pass-through kind of place. But it is so amazing and beautiful and very different in every season. I am very fortunate to have spent many a vacation exploring the UP.

The Les Cheneaux islands are beautiful and home to an awesome boat show featuring the old wooden runabouts. Fayette State Park is a ghost town. And the most beautiful beaches are along US 2.

Posted by Carol on April 22,2011 | 03:49 PM

What a wonderful article about the U.P. I spent the summer of 1988 working on the railroad from Channing to Ontanogan and stayed in Amasa (which is in Iron County). My daughter, who was 11 yrs. old at the time, spent a month with me and we still have wonderful friends from the experince and very fond memories of the rustic nature of the whole area. We try to get back as often as we can, but it is truly never enough.

Posted by Dan "Dan Railroad Man" Runyan on April 22,2011 | 01:47 PM

The village Alberta may have been a concept meant to avoid unions but it was also consistent with the way he ran the Ford empire. He resisted unions long and hard at his plants in Detroit. He also ran those operations with his village orientation. One of the things he attempted to impose on his employees in the 30's were requirements that they start and maintain family gardens. The notorious Ford Service, Ford's private security force, oversaw the operation to make sure the workers did this. It was more feudalistic than utopian.

Posted by bob baugh on April 22,2011 | 12:04 PM

I love it here! The air is fresh! It's time to put away the snowshoes and skis and get out the kayaks and bicycles. The hiking boots and cameras stay out all year. The deer have made a path through our yard and often lie down in the trees by the edge of the yard. Lake Superior feels as powerful as the ocean and reflects the morning sun as I sip my first cup of coffee. I used to live in a big city. Sure couldn't live in one again after living here. We need to protect this special area.

Posted by Eeva Miller on April 22,2011 | 10:31 AM

Great story that has sparked my interest in visiting this area. I have often wondered what I could find in this wilderness. I don't think I will travel there in the winter, but I can imagine it is a natural wonder. Thanks for all the positive comments from other readers.

Posted by Chris Klingenberg on April 21,2011 | 08:00 PM

I live in the charming little village of Laurium, in another historical house (though not as big as the Manor). We live what this article describes. My husband and I own a computer consulting company with multi-national customers and are able to work from anywhere we wish. We choose the UP. In the winter (where we have, on occasion, gotten more than 300 inches of snow, by the way) we cross-country and downhill ski and go snowshoeing on the many trails and just cross country all around. In the summer, we go to pristine beaches, or hike and camp in unspoiled wilderness. It's beautiful and friendly and an excellent place to be. Thanks for the recognition.

Posted by Mary Peed on April 21,2011 | 02:01 PM

I grew up in the southern part of the Upper Peninsula, near the Wisconsin/Michigan border. I would suggest that the author take a journey through the southern part of the UP from Ironwood at the western end heading east to Sault St. Marie at the eastern end of the UP. The southern route along US2 goes along Lake Michigan and is very picturesque. It also passes by the Mackinac Bridge which is an amazing structure that joins the Upper Peninsula with the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. I hope to see an article that recognizes the beauty of the southern parts of the UP.

Posted by JulieAnn Carr Kniskern on April 21,2011 | 11:06 AM

The U.P. is truly a breath of fresh air. My husband and I travel to the Upper Pennisula each fall. Beautiful, no other word can describe it. We have recently started "hunting" for the many waterfalls in the U.P. Some of them are easily found near roadside parks and others take a bit of hiking to reach. But when you finally get there, the walk was worth it. Great restaurants, fantastic shore line and the most breath-taking sunsets. Come and visit our beautiful state of Michigan, it will be memorable.

Posted by Sharon Bierlein on April 21,2011 | 11:02 AM

I grew up in the U.P. and now live in Florida. I will always go back to visit family and friends. I was blessed to be able to grow up in such a beautiful place.
My memories are wonderful as are the people.

Posted by Kathy M on April 21,2011 | 09:38 AM

This is one of the best stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading about the Upper Peninsula. You not only highlighted the natural beauty that we are surrounded by, but the beauty of the people and our history, which are so significant. Kudos and thank you!

Posted by Joanna Wilbee Amis on April 20,2011 | 09:39 PM

Yes, the U.P. is Paradise. I fear for her, however, as multinational corporations wish to conduct hard-rock (or sulfide) mining here and, potentially down the road, uranium mining. How will our water stay safe and pure, our air fresh and refreshing, our trees strong and grand, our hills soft and serene? That is my fear and that is my mission - to protect this Paradise, unlike any other on Earth. I am blessed to call it "home" and it makes my soul rejoice each day!

Posted by Margaret on April 20,2011 | 09:23 PM

One correction, they did float logs on the Taquamenen River over the falls. There is a book about it. If you love the UP you need to check the website yoopersteez.com

Posted by Byron on April 20,2011 | 07:22 PM

Lies, all lies. The bugs are huge, they carry small kids away in the summer. There are two seasons, winter and the 4th of july. You need a door on the second story of your house because the snow gets so deep. Fish caught from Lake Superior, even in the summer, are frozen. Best to go elsewhere. Visit Illinois instead.

Posted by rsc on April 20,2011 | 06:56 PM

I was born & raised in the U.P of Michigan. Proud to be called a Yooper. I have told all my family & friends the GREAT beauty that The U.P has to offer.Its truly the greatest place to raise children, & discover why they call the U.P "GODS COUNTRY".ITS a MUST SEE.

Posted by Nanette Myers Urling on April 20,2011 | 05:19 PM

Great article. The folks in Philly wonder why I talk funny. I'll be back, eventually.

Posted by Joe on April 20,2011 | 04:30 PM

"as much as 160 inches of snow falls annually in parts of the UP"

WHAT?? I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers from, but on the Keweenaw Peninsula, 160 inches is a light winter. We get closer to 250 inches each winter.

Posted by Nate Carp. on April 20,2011 | 04:14 PM

Gone from my home in the UP thirty years now, when I return I'm a happy tourist. Next trip, don't miss Trout Bay on Munising's Grand Island. And in the western end, past the Porcupine Mountains, the mouth of the Presque Isle river is world class.
Best, perhaps, is to head for a remote spot, easily found, shut off the engine and just listen for an hour or two.

Posted by Mike on April 20,2011 | 02:56 PM

The southern part of the UP is also special, and worthy of a trip. And speaking of Southerners- a trip to the UP is the most refreshing experience I can imagine for July August or September. And the first week of October is the best for leaf peeping between the Keweenaw and Michigamme!

Posted by Linda Hirvonen on April 20,2011 | 02:46 PM

This article made my day! I'm a proud Yooper transplant from Kansas. I love the people, the scenery, the weather (YES, the weather) of the Upper Peninsula.

Posted by Anne Stark on April 20,2011 | 09:52 AM

The U.P. is simply heaven on earth. I love it and so does my family.

Posted by Karen on April 20,2011 | 09:25 AM

I went to Michigan Tech, but didn't know about Alberta and the "woodies". Great article. It is beautiful, wild, country.

Posted by Jenny on April 19,2011 | 12:03 AM

Thanks for the well written article on what we "Yoopers" call God's country.

Posted by Patty Neva on April 19,2011 | 11:37 PM

It is beautiful. I wonder just how much Gov. Snyder will get for selling it to the corporations. As far as I'm concerned it's priceless but..... then again, I'm not rich, just lucky...to live here. God save us all.

Posted by Yooper on April 19,2011 | 10:48 PM

The U.P is a great place to come and visit. Another place not mentioned above would be Drummond Island located in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. There are a few more places that are just as beautiful in that direction also.

Posted by Loree on April 19,2011 | 10:17 PM

Now come back this summer and see the southern half of the U.P. for more amazing stories!

Posted by Mark on April 19,2011 | 09:59 PM

It is a wonderful place to live. The typical April snowfalls simply add to the charm.

Posted by Gregory Zimmerman on April 19,2011 | 09:45 PM

As a native Yooper now transplanted into Florida, I always go back and visit family and a few waterfalls every July. Good article. Nice to see the U.P. get some national recognition.

Posted by Steve Q on April 19,2011 | 07:14 PM

The Upper Peninsula is truly God's Country. There is no more beautiful spot on the earth. Michigan, I miss you.

Posted by Sue on April 19,2011 | 03:29 PM




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