Unpopular opinion: Michigan's Lower Peninsula is better than the Upper Peninsula
Even though we checked off Michigan as a state RVed in 2022, it came with a disclaimer: We had hit it during our RV travels, but we hadn't actually brought our RV up there. How did this happen? We dropped our RV off for repairs in Indiana and ended up renting an Airbnb in Eau Claire, MI. Even though we mostly saw this as a place to rest and regroup, we loved the vibe of Michigan right away. Our lakefront cottage certainly didn't hurt matters, either!
Then this year, when we needed to get more repairs in Indiana, we decided once again to venture north and find an Airbnb in Michigan. This time, we found a bungalow in South Haven, within walking distance to Lake Michigan. We were able to explore more, venturing up and down parts of the coast, and spending time in downtown South Haven and a few surrounding towns.
Both of these stays were so peaceful and enjoyable that we put Michigan on our list of places we want to camp. We may have loved living the sticks 'n bricks life, but would we love RVing there, too?
This year, we left our Airbnb at the beginning of June and picked up our RV. We wouldn't be away from Michigan for long. We had plans to venture up through Wisconsin and then into Michigan's Upper Peninsula, before crossing the Mackinac Bridge back into the Lower Peninsula. Strangely, this means we RVed the UP before the LP, despite having already visited the LP twice in two years!
We had heard so much high praise for the UP in the RV community, with many recommendations to make it a summer destination. The temperatures are mild, the scenery is gorgeous, and opportunities for outdoor recreation abound. We couldn't wait to check it out ourselves.
We stayed at Bay Furnace Campground in Hiawatha National Forest, right along Lake Superior. Before this, we had seen 3 of the 5 Great Lakes. Lake Superior became number 4, only leaving Lake Huron, which we would catch up with on the eastern side of the UP. Lake Superior is stunning, with its waters that seem to go on forever and its cliffsides on Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We immediately saw the appeal of the area.
Recommended Post:
Nicole Anderson
So then why did we feel let down? We need to factor in the weather, because much of our time at Bay Furnace was humid with thunderstorms and heavy rains. The humidity also brought the mosquitoes. We should also factor in our general mood. We had just come from Door County, WI and had a phenomenal stay. Could it be that any place to follow would pale in comparison?
We sat with our feelings as we made our way to the western part of the Peninsula. We were introduced to Lake Huron, cementing our milestone of seeing all five Great Lakes. We were enthralled by the Mackinac Bridge, which is a spectacle to behold. We stayed in the town of St. Ignace, which was lined with little shops and docks along the lake – an aesthetic we typically love. But the feeling still plagued us.
Then we had our day trip over to Mackinac Island, which was not quite the morale-boosting experience we needed at that point.
Recommended Post:
Nicole Anderson
We've dealt with on-and-off bad weather before. We've dealt with bugs before. They don't hinder our ability to judge whether or not we like a place. Except here. We don't like it here. All we could figure was that we didn't jive with the vibe. We read it as being a bit overstated. The beauty is there, but many people have told us it's one of the most beautiful places they've ever been, and we can't say the same. The people are nice, but not the "Midwest nice" we've come to embrace over the past few months. The towns had shops, but we expected lots of cute gift shops, or at least a place to get our collective wooden ornament in the village of Christmas! But we found nothing of the sort. We felt that the area had an essence of being both classy and also completely down to earth, but it didn't really know which side of the fence to lean on. For the record, we like both. We just don't like a place that is both and neither at the same time.
We suppose that's the bottom line. We didn't know what to make of the Upper Peninsula. It left us wanting more but not knowing where to get it. We wondered about the LP and whether or not two Airbnb stays actually gave us an accurate sense of what we'd encounter when RVing. There was only one way to find out.
We crossed the Mackinac Bridge and officially set our trailer wheels down in the Mitten. We stopped at a rest area for a quick break on our way to Kingsley, a small town outside of Traverse City. Reviewers had noted that this rest stop has a hiking trail, and we were intrigued. Not only are we attempting 100 hiking miles this summer, but we love a little nature trail to stretch our legs on a drive day! Sure enough, we found the trail, a short quarter-mile climb to a "scenic overview" that remained a mystery to us. We weren't close enough to see a lake, so perhaps a meadow? A forest? Wrong on both counts.
One might say that this nature trail was also overstated and underdelivered, but we actually think it delivered in the best way: Totally unpretentious, and very fitting for a rest area scenic view!
We spent a few days on farmland in Kingsley before making our way to Vista Green RV Resort, one of the nicest RV resorts we've stayed at. These two campsites were on opposite ends of the spectrum, but they were exactly what we'd want from each. Quiet farm fields at one, tall pine trees with birds at the other. Privacy at one, lots of open space at the other. While we enjoyed these campsites, we spent a lot of our time in Traverse City at the Cherry Festival. Even though not every event we attended was our cup of tea, we came away with positive memories. We also didn't have the best weather every day, but this didn't tarnish our experience.
We left Traverse City feeling refreshed. We were right; the LP is more our vibe. We told our Wheels on Rails guide this during our ride, and he said we're the first people who have ever said that they like the LP better. "Or the first to admit it out loud," we responded.
Recommended Post:
Nicole Anderson
For the rest of our trip through the LP, we pulled excerpts from this Pure Michigan guide, which we had pinned to Pinterest years ago, back when we were planning road trips that we may or may not ever take. We didn't have the time or stamina to do the entire east coast, but we were able to hit a few memorable stops as we made our way south through the state.
We lucked out with a campsite that backed up to Lake Huron, with private access to the lake. The weather was hot and humid while we were there, but we did our best to enjoy our surroundings, taking walks through the campground and along the lake, and getting our ebikes out one afternoon.
We tried our best to follow the Heritage Route Trail from the state park, but we were disappointed that it mostly seemed like roads and not actual bike trails. We didn't want to spend too much time on Route 23 because it's a main road, so instead we rode the back roads and got a few nice views of Lake Huron. Otherwise, we just admired the houses on all the residential streets.
We initially didn't have plans to camp at Tawas Point, but we rearranged a couple of our nights because we needed cell service for work meetings, and our next site wouldn't suffice. We're glad we visited Tawas Point. We had a huge site that backed up to the recreation field. The campground has a walking trail that leads to the lighthouse, as well as a preserve. Tawas Point is a peninsula with Lake Huron on one side and Tawas Bay on the other. People boast that it's the "Cape Cod of the LP," and while we don't think we'd go that far, we did see some similarities with the sand, dunes, and nature trails right by the water.
After staying at 3 Michigan State Parks, we saw a few patterns. First, these parks are hopping in the summertime! The locals don't seem to mind the humidity and bugs as much as we do, so they flock to the state parks and spend most of their time outside. Second, the campsites are kind of a free-for-all. They're designated, but people pull in at all different angles, and lots of groups book multiple adjacent sites and try to make a communal area with them. At Straits State Park, according to the map, both our neighbors and we invaded a site that was supposed to be behind us. No one claimed it, so we wonder if maybe it's no longer bookable on the website. Third, the sites are a lot less private than many other state parks. We tend to like a little more space, which we got at our next campground.
Monument Campground is located in Huron National Forest, and it was the typical, rustic camping that we've grown to love about National Forests. Hardly any cell service or Starlink, which is why we split our time between here and Tawas, but we were happy to be under the tall trees. It was so wonderfully peaceful. Lumberman's Monument is cool. It shows the history of the Michigan logging industry and has a lot of sculptures and exhibits. We ventured over there on our way to hike part of the Highbanks Trail, aptly named for running above the banks of the Au Sable River. We first took a detour down 260 stairs to reach the lake, where sat the Wanigan, a replica of the old cooking shacks that fed the workers along the river. Then we climbed back up and hit the Highbanks Trail. If it weren't for the constant mosquitoes that didn't care how much Deet we dumped on ourselves, we would have really enjoyed this hike. It had a mixture of views of the river, dunes, fields, and forest. After we finished the Highbanks Trail, we looped around the Discovery Trail to add another mile to our hike.
One month traveling through Michigan was fast coming to a close, and weather and bugs aside, we were happy with the milestones we hit and the experiences that have become memories. We concluded that our preference for the LP stems from expectations versus reality. The UP is raved about so often that we had a certain vision of what it would be like. It's beautiful and distinct, but not as much as its proponents boast. The LP often gets the short end of the stick, but it has lots of natural beauty, cute quaint towns, and friendly community vibes. In both regions, we found things we like and things we don't, but if we needed to choose where to return, the LP is our clear answer. What's great about RV travel, though, is that we can visit these places, learn our likes and dislikes, and cater our future travels accordingly. Here in the US, there is something for everyone. We sometimes just need to go out of our way to find it, or in our case, go out of our way to realize that where we started in Michigan was our preferred destination all along.