In August 2021, we visited Michigan for the first time. I had heard that Michigan was a beautiful state, but I didn’t really understand what all the hype was about until we visited. The trip wasn’t without its problems. This was our rainiest vacation yet. We’ve generally lucked out with good weather on our trips, but this was by far the wettest. It rained (and/or stormed) all but two days of a 7-day trip. We also had some camper issues that needed to be addressed on the road. Despite these problems, I look back on it as a great trip and I’d like to visit many of these locations again.
Indiana Dunes National/State Parks
Our first stop wasn’t in Michigan at all, but in its neighbor to the south: Indiana. We camped at Indiana Dunes State Park our first night on the road. The next morning, we woke up early and did the 3 Dune Challenge, which climbs to the top of the three highest points in the park. Later that morning, we hiked the Dune Succession Trail in Indiana Dunes National Park. This is a shorter 0.9-mile hike, which was perfect for us at the time because we were dodging rain showers. To read more about our time at Indiana Dunes National/State Parks, click here.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Rain was moving in, so we set out for our next stop: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City, MI. We set up camp in D.H. Day Campground (inside the park), and then headed out to the Dune Climb between rain showers. The Dune Climb trail requires climbing up a huge sand dune and then following posts in the sand all the way out to Lake Michigan. The hike is 3.5 miles round trip. We did get caught in the rain on this one, which wasn’t ideal. However, we enjoyed mostly having the trail to ourselves due to the unfavorable weather. We also enjoyed watching the sun sink lower and lower over Lake Michigan on the beach at the end of the trail.
When we returned to the camper after the Dune Climb, we discovered an issue: our pump wasn’t running. We weren’t sure if there was an issue with the pump or the camper battery. We were relying on the battery at the time because we were dry camping. Because it was fairly late in the evening and due to lack of cell service in the campground, we decided to wait until morning to try to contact someone. We were planning on leaving for our next destination mid-morning.
Before heading out in the morning, we took the bikes out for a ride on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. This was a scenic (but very hilly) ride! We were able to ride right out of our campsite onto the trail. After the bike ride, we did a quick tour of Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in the truck. To read more about our time in Sleeping Bear Dunes, click here.
Mackinac Island
We headed out to our next destination, hoping to be able to stop and get our camper fixed along the way. We called several RV dealers and eventually found one that was willing to take a look at the camper that day. As it turns out, the problem wasn’t with either the pump or the battery. There was a build-up in the faucet, and it just needed to be cleaned out. Now we know that this is an issue to keep an eye on, but we had no idea at the time.
Even with this stop, we were able to make it to our next destination at a reasonable time. We camped at the Mackinaw City/Mackinac Island KOA Journey, which was convenient because we could bike from the campground to the ferry terminal for the ride to Mackinac Island. One of the things that makes Mackinac Island unique is that it does not have any cars. People primary get around on bikes and horse-drawn carriages. We had a great time exploring the island on our bikes. There are state parks to visit, shops for souvenir-shopping, and many different types of restaurants. Click here to visit the Mackinac Island post and read more about our time there.
Sault Ste. Marie
Our next stop was in the Upper Peninsula. We crossed the mighty Mackinac Bridge and headed toward Sault Ste. Marie on the Michigan/Canadian border. Our main objective here was to visit the Soo Locks. These locks raise and lower ships 21 ft from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes. We were fortunate enough to see a smaller ship and a large freighter pass through the locks. This was a very cool stop and, although it was a bit out of the way, I’m glad we took the time to do it. Check out the blog post here to read more about our visit to Sault Ste. Marie.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
We spent a few hours at Sault Ste. Marie and then headed on to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We were camping here for two nights. Our first night was at Hurricane River Campground. The campground was right off of Lake Superior. The North Country Scenic Trail also passed through the campground, so we hopped on the trail and hiked to Au Sable Lighthouse after setting up camp. Later in the evening, we enjoyed a Superior sunset on the beach.
We woke early the next morning and drove to a couple of short hiking trails. Then it was time to check out of this campground and move to our second campground (Twelvemile Beach) just a few miles down the road. After setting up camp, we headed toward Munising, MI. We brought our kayaks and were hoping to use them on Lake Superior, but we determined we just weren’t comfortable with the wind and the waves at the time. We have previous experience kayaking on Lake Superior, which is known for its unpredictability. Even after going over our gear and the weather with a park ranger and receiving an all-clear, we decided to play it safe and take a professional boat tour of Pictured Rocks instead.
At first, we were bummed, but we’re so glad we did the boat tour! We were able to see much more than we would have been able to see from the kayaks. We did deal with a little rain toward the end of the tour, but it was so worth it to have a spot on the open top deck and to see the rocky cliffs up close!
After the cruise, we squeezed in a few more short hikes to scenic overlooks and waterfalls before heading back to camp. Twelvemile Beach was our favorite campground of the whole trip. The sites were well-spaced and tucked into the trees, and we could hear the waves of Lake Superior from our campsite. Pictured Rocks was definitely a highlight of this trip. To read the blog post about this destination, click here.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
You read that right. We went back to Sleeping Bear Dunes on the way home. Originally, we planned to go home through Wisconsin, making a full loop around Lake Michigan. However, because our time at Sleeping Bear Dunes was cut short due to rain and camper issues, we decided to change plans and drop back by on the way home. We were able to take our kayaks out on Lake Michigan during our second stop at Sleeping Bear Dunes. This time we camped at Platte River Campground. The next morning, it was time to head back home. We drove back in one day without any issues.
