The Tree on Michigan’s Quarter Is Alive Because Its Roots Refuse to Let Go
The lone pine on Chapel Rock at Pictured Rocks lives on a bare sandstone pillar, fed by roots stretched across open air since its...
Land, water, weather, and the road there
Outdoors & Travel
Upper Peninsula wild places, practical travel context, outdoor traditions, and the stories behind the view.
U.P.-wide
12 stories from this part of the U.P.
Meet the Lake Sturgeon: a 150-Million-Year-Old Living Fossil Still Cruising U.P. Rivers and Lake Superior
Seven feet long, older than the ice age, and still gliding along the bottom of the water you grew up on. There's a fish...
These Lake Superior Rocks Look Ordinary by Day, Then Glow Like Lava After Dark
They sat hidden on the beaches for a billion years before a Yooper with a flashlight figured them out Walk a Lake Superior beach...
Michigan’s Latest Published Minimum Estimate Counted 762 Wolves in the U.P.
Michigan's latest published winter estimate counted a minimum of 762 wolves in the U.P. in 2024., hunting in packs out in the cedar swamps...
People Think Lake Superior Is Just a Lake. Then They See It Like This.
The biggest waves ever recorded on the Great Lakes rolled right past the U.P. — nearly three stories tall. Press play. Everyone outside the...
Almost Every Waterfall in Michigan Is in the U.P., and These Five Are Pure Magic
Michigan has over 300 named waterfalls, and the Lower Peninsula has exactly one of them Here is something that surprises a lot of people....
If You Grew Up on a U.P. Lake, This One Sound Will Take You Right Back
The haunting call of the common loon is the sound of home to anyone who ever spent a summer up north Ask anyone who...
Forty Years Ago, Michigan Brought Moose Back to the U.P. by Dangling Them From Helicopters
It took tranquilizer darts, slings, a 600-mile road trip, and 35-below cold, but the western U.P. has had moose ever since Here is a...
A Decade Ago, This Lake Superior Island Was Down to 2 Wolves. Now There Are 37, and the Moose Are Disappearing Fast.
The latest count from Isle Royale, the longest-running wolf and moose study on Earth, is one of the most dramatic in its 68 years...
If You Find a Fawn Curled Up Alone This Month, the Kindest Thing You Can Do Is Walk Away
It happens every June. You're out walking the property, or the kids spot something in the tall grass, and there it is — a...
Pictured Rocks Was America’s Very First National Lakeshore — and This Drone Footage Shows Exactly Why
Every Yooper knows Pictured Rocks. But if you've only ever seen it from a boat deck or the edge of a trail, you've been...
He Hit the Highest Rank in the Military. Then He Came Home to a Tiny U.P. Town to Fix Park Benches.
He spent 29 years away from home and climbed to the highest rank an enlisted person can reach in the entire U.S. military. So what's he doing now? Replacing benches at a Little League...
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