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Trip Report 2023 - Fall Foliage - MI, WI, MN
Posted on 9/9/24 at 7:17 pm
Posted on 9/9/24 at 7:17 pm
The wife and I took a fall foliage road trip last October to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota primarily. Since we were that close to North Dakota and neither of us had been there we included that as well.
We left 10/13 and got home 10/25; 5,100 miles. We have been to New England several times in the fall but never seemed to time it right to see the peak fall foliage. We decided to try these states and our timing was better in '23.
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The high lights were:
Mackinac Island
MI Hwy 22 - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area
MN Hwy 61 along Lake Superior from Duluth, MN to Grand Portage, MN
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That's the fort on the hill.
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View from the fort looking west.
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We had spent the night in Gaylord, MI, got up early and got to the ferry terminal about 7:30. Took the short ride to MI, nothing was open so we ate breakfast and waited for the carriage ride to open at 9:00. We were there in mid October and it was the end of the season. Our carriage (it's more of a wagon) driver was from Macon, GA.
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After riding around the island for a while we got off at the fort at the top of the hill.
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This is a UP meat pie called a pastie. This one was not very good.
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Back on the mainland.
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We used the GuideAlong app and had bought the M-22 Lakeshore, Spleeping Bear Dunes tour. As you drive the route the app activates as your car passes a location and the narrator tells you about a sight as you approach it. It's very useful.
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The ranger at the Sleeping Bear Visitor Center in Empire told me about this hike. It was not far but it was a little steep.
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After the day at MI we got up early the next day and headed west across the UP toward MN. We stopped in Munising, WI at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and did a short hike to a waterfall.
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Just west of Muising we made a pit stop at a rest area and they had this board walk to a view point overlooking the lake.
We left 10/13 and got home 10/25; 5,100 miles. We have been to New England several times in the fall but never seemed to time it right to see the peak fall foliage. We decided to try these states and our timing was better in '23.
[/url][/img] The high lights were:
Mackinac Island
MI Hwy 22 - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area
MN Hwy 61 along Lake Superior from Duluth, MN to Grand Portage, MN
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] That's the fort on the hill.
[/url][/img] View from the fort looking west.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] We had spent the night in Gaylord, MI, got up early and got to the ferry terminal about 7:30. Took the short ride to MI, nothing was open so we ate breakfast and waited for the carriage ride to open at 9:00. We were there in mid October and it was the end of the season. Our carriage (it's more of a wagon) driver was from Macon, GA.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] After riding around the island for a while we got off at the fort at the top of the hill.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] This is a UP meat pie called a pastie. This one was not very good.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] Back on the mainland.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] We used the GuideAlong app and had bought the M-22 Lakeshore, Spleeping Bear Dunes tour. As you drive the route the app activates as your car passes a location and the narrator tells you about a sight as you approach it. It's very useful.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] The ranger at the Sleeping Bear Visitor Center in Empire told me about this hike. It was not far but it was a little steep.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] After the day at MI we got up early the next day and headed west across the UP toward MN. We stopped in Munising, WI at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and did a short hike to a waterfall.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] Just west of Muising we made a pit stop at a rest area and they had this board walk to a view point overlooking the lake.
This post was edited on 9/10/24 at 7:17 am
3
Posted on 9/9/24 at 7:18 pm to nctiger71
We stayed two nights in Superior, WI which is next to Duluth, MN. We had the GuideAlong route for Lake Superior North Shore Hwy 61. It goes from Duluth to Grand Portage which is just south of the US-Canadian border.
There are 5 state parks along the route. It's a fantastic drive.
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We stopped by this museum in Two Harbors but it was early and they were closed.
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Next stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park. It was a Friday but it was a teacher workday and a bunch of kids were out of school.
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Lake Superior.
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The leaves are mostly yellow in MN; mostly aspen and other poplars I think.
We stopped in Gran Marais for lunch and then continued on to Grand Portage.
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More views of Lake Superior from Hwy 61. I have panaroma view but it's too large to load.
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There is a Grand Portage Nat. Heritage Center and a Grand Portage State Park. The VC at the NHC was open but the outside exhibit was closed. The state park has some hiking trails and one takes you to the waterfall that is the reason the fur traders had to portage their canoes to the next navigable waterway. IIRC it was about 17 miles.
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I believe that is Canada on the right side of the waterfall.
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This is the Split Rock Light House. It is in Split Rock Light House State Park. We did not go into the park as it was late in the day. We just stopped at a viewpoint and took these pictures. IIRC correctly the light house was built because of numerous ship wrecks at this site.
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Mighty Mississippi.
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Made it to western ND and Teddy Roosevelt National Park. TRNP is split into 3 areas, the North and South Units and T. Roosevelt's ranch which is hard to get to. FYI, the North Unit is in the Central Time Zone, the South in the Mountain Time Zone.
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TRNP is like a less colorful version of Badlands Nat. Park in SD.
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There is some wildlife that you can see from your vehicle.
The town of Medora which is where the entrance to the South Unit is located has the Cowboy Hall of Fame. We didn't go in; not sure it was open as the town was pretty much shut down. They did have some artwork outside.
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In Ohio, on the way to Michigan we stopped at Hocking Hills State Park.
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Hocking Hills is not that far from The Plains, Ohio and I saw on the map that they had named the Athens High School football stadium Joe Burrow Stadium. I thought I would get a picture of that if they had a plaque. It was noon on a Saturday and they were about to have a football game. A front had just passed and it had just rained hard but the skies were clearing. It was crowded and wet so this is the only picture I got.
The town of Athens, which is where Ohio University is, is nice. We drove through there on the way to The Plains but it was raining hard at that time.
There are 5 state parks along the route. It's a fantastic drive.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] We stopped by this museum in Two Harbors but it was early and they were closed.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] Next stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park. It was a Friday but it was a teacher workday and a bunch of kids were out of school.
[/url][/img] Lake Superior.
[/url][/img] ; [/url][/img] The leaves are mostly yellow in MN; mostly aspen and other poplars I think.
We stopped in Gran Marais for lunch and then continued on to Grand Portage.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] More views of Lake Superior from Hwy 61. I have panaroma view but it's too large to load.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] There is a Grand Portage Nat. Heritage Center and a Grand Portage State Park. The VC at the NHC was open but the outside exhibit was closed. The state park has some hiking trails and one takes you to the waterfall that is the reason the fur traders had to portage their canoes to the next navigable waterway. IIRC it was about 17 miles.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img] I believe that is Canada on the right side of the waterfall.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] This is the Split Rock Light House. It is in Split Rock Light House State Park. We did not go into the park as it was late in the day. We just stopped at a viewpoint and took these pictures. IIRC correctly the light house was built because of numerous ship wrecks at this site.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] Mighty Mississippi.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] Made it to western ND and Teddy Roosevelt National Park. TRNP is split into 3 areas, the North and South Units and T. Roosevelt's ranch which is hard to get to. FYI, the North Unit is in the Central Time Zone, the South in the Mountain Time Zone.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] TRNP is like a less colorful version of Badlands Nat. Park in SD.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] There is some wildlife that you can see from your vehicle.
The town of Medora which is where the entrance to the South Unit is located has the Cowboy Hall of Fame. We didn't go in; not sure it was open as the town was pretty much shut down. They did have some artwork outside.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] In Ohio, on the way to Michigan we stopped at Hocking Hills State Park.
[/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img]; [/url][/img] [/url][/img] Hocking Hills is not that far from The Plains, Ohio and I saw on the map that they had named the Athens High School football stadium Joe Burrow Stadium. I thought I would get a picture of that if they had a plaque. It was noon on a Saturday and they were about to have a football game. A front had just passed and it had just rained hard but the skies were clearing. It was crowded and wet so this is the only picture I got.
The town of Athens, which is where Ohio University is, is nice. We drove through there on the way to The Plains but it was raining hard at that time.
This post was edited on 9/10/24 at 7:05 am
Posted on 9/10/24 at 8:05 am to nctiger71
Arrowhead region of MN is really pretty.
Posted on 9/10/24 at 8:12 pm to nctiger71
Awesome work dude!
What app do you use that tracks the exact route you drove?
I like that screenshot. I’m obviously not real techy, so if it is a simple answer please pardon my naïve question
What app do you use that tracks the exact route you drove?
I like that screenshot. I’m obviously not real techy, so if it is a simple answer please pardon my naïve question
This post was edited on 9/10/24 at 8:14 pm
Posted on 9/10/24 at 8:48 pm to nctiger71
Foliage is awesome.
I like the little clusters we get here. Must be nice to be that prominent up north.
I like the little clusters we get here. Must be nice to be that prominent up north.
Posted on 9/11/24 at 10:58 am to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
quote:I don't. I just used Google Maps on my PC to plot the route after the fact. It's close to the actual route but probably not perfect, especially for the non-interstate parts through Ohio and Minnesota (other than the Lake Superior drive in MN).
What app do you use that tracks the exact route you drove?
You can turn on Timeline in Google Maps on your phone and that's supposed to plot the route you travel. I think I will try that next trip.
Posted on 9/12/24 at 7:31 am to nctiger71
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