Sylvania Wilderness: Old-Growth Forest and 34 Lakes
A.D. Johnston bought 80 acres at Clark Lake for the pine and decided not to log it. Sylvania is now 18,327 acres and one...
Land, water, weather, and the road there
Outdoors & Travel
Upper Peninsula wild places, practical travel context, outdoor traditions, and the stories behind the view.
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Houghton-Douglass Falls: Michigan's Tallest Waterfall
Houghton-Douglass Falls drops 110 feet, the tallest in Michigan. After years of fatal accidents and a locked gate, the DNR has opened a trail...
Canyon Falls: Michigan’s Grand Canyon
Canyon Falls drops into a box gorge the Sturgeon River cut through slate. The stretch that actually earns the Grand Canyon of Michigan nickname...
Eben Ice Caves: How They Form and Why There Is No Trail
The Eben Ice Caves form every winter when seep water freezes across sandstone overhangs in Rock River Canyon. They are not caves, and the...
Cliffs Shaft Mine: Ishpeming's Egyptian Obelisks
The Cliffs Shaft Mine headframes in Ishpeming are Egyptian Revival obelisks designed by a Chicago architect in 1919, and crews built them around the...
Portage Lake Lift Bridge: The Only Road Onto Copper Island
A ship canal finished in 1874 cut the northern Keweenaw off from the rest of Michigan, and the Portage Lake Lift Bridge is the...
Keweenaw Snow Thermometer: The 390-Inch Winter It Marks
The Keweenaw snow thermometer north of Mohawk marks a 390.4-inch winter. The stranger part is how that number is measured, and why the real...
Miners Castle: The Day a Pictured Rocks Turret Collapsed
Miners Castle is the signature landmark of Pictured Rocks, and on April 13, 2006, its northeast turret collapsed into Lake Superior. The rock it...
Monarch Butterflies at Peninsula Point Lighthouse
From mid-August into September, monarchs funnel down the Stonington Peninsula to the cedars around the 1865 Peninsula Point Lighthouse, roost, and wait for the...
Oswald's Bear Ranch: Newberry's 50 Rescued Bears
Dean Oswald dreamed of having a bear since childhood. Forty years, 240 acres, and one 880-pound legend later, Oswald’s Bear Ranch near Newberry is...
Siphon Bridge, Manistique: The Road Below the River
A paper mill needed water power, a dam would have flooded the town, so Manistique raised the river instead. The Siphon Bridge carried Main...
Michigan's Highest Point: Mount Arvon at 1,979 Feet
Mount Arvon took the crown from Mount Curwood by 11 inches in 1982. A modern resurvey just handed it back by about five, and...
Keweenaw Rocket Range: Michigan's Space Launch Site
From 1964 to 1971, NASA and the University of Michigan fired research rockets off the very tip of the Keweenaw, mostly in winter, over...
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