Castle Rock St. Ignace: 170 Steps, $1, Hours and Season
A 195-foot pillar of Mackinac Breccia north of St. Ignace, run by the Eby family since 1929. It costs $1 to climb, and it...
Land, water, weather, and the road there
Outdoors & Travel
Upper Peninsula wild places, practical travel context, outdoor traditions, and the stories behind the view.
Everything in this lane
Newest first. Narrow it to the part of the U.P. you care about.
Pictured Rocks Cliffs: Why They're Striped Orange and Black
The stripes on the Pictured Rocks cliffs are mineral stain, still being laid down by groundwater leaking out of the sandstone. Iron makes the...
U.P. Bear Season 2026: 5,103 Licenses, Same as 2025
The DNR called the 2026 quotas “similar.” They are identical, unit by unit, because bear quotas are set two years at a time. What...
Great Lakes Piping Plovers Hit 99 Nesting Pairs
99 pairs is the most since listing in 1986 and 66 percent of the recovery bar. What the plan actually requires, why the U.P....
Who Owns the Keweenaw Heartlands, and Who Can Use It
A hedge fund wanted $43.2 million. The state is paying about a thousand an acre. And Commercial Forest access covers hunting, fishing and trapping....
Copper Harbor Trails: 136 Residents, 50+ Miles
IMBA retired its Gold, Silver and Bronze tiers in October 2025, and Copper Harbor's window to reapply closes next month. The club built 50-plus...
Munising Shipwrecks: See Them Through Lake Superior's Clear Water
Lake Superior off Munising is so clear you can see century-old wrecks from the surface. Press play. Most of Lake Superior's shipwrecks are hidden...
Lakenenland: Free Sculpture Park Near Marquette
Tom Lakenen has built more than 100 sculptures out of scrap iron on 37 acres along M-28. There is no gate, no admission, and...
U.P. Fall Color Timing: When Each County Peaks
Fall color is triggered by night length, not by frost, and the Upper Peninsula does not peak on one date. Here is the west...
Bewabic State Park: Built by a Road Man and the CCC
Herbert Larson bought wide rights of way for Iron County around 1918 and dedicated them to public use. In 1923 he bought a farmstead...
Black Rocks Marquette: Lake Superior's Cliff Jump
The cold water, the long drop, the dare from your buddies. If you're from Marquette, you already know the spot. You know the exact...
Whitefish Point: Michigan's Raptor Migration Funnel
Most people know Whitefish Point for what happened offshore. The Edmund Fitzgerald went down not far from here, the shipwreck museum is on the...
Redridge Steel Dam: One of Three Ever Built in the U.S.
The Redridge Steel Dam is one of only three steel dams ever built in the United States. In 1979 crews cut holes in it,...
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