Upper Peninsula (Michigan)

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Upper Peninsula (known as "the U.P." to locals) is a region in Michigan.

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Regions

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Cities

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Other destinations

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Understand

Secluded from the rest of the nation (let alone state), the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a real treasure to visit. Plentiful sandy public beaches, breathtaking recreational and fishing lakes, vast state and national parks makes the region an ideal location for a vacation during any season. If you enjoy the outdoors, this natural jewel is a place for you.

Applying the term "cities" to anything in the UP could cause some laughter. Mostly rural, with a few large towns, Marquette tipping the scales at just under 20,000. Due to its rural nature, those downstate sometimes find no reason to visit the region. The population is generally not diverse, though there are certainly exceptions. There is a substantial Native American population. Most towns were formed as mining or logging operations in the nineteenth century, and have not seen much economic success since those days. A good example of the heritage is preserved at Fayette Historic State Park south on 183 from US-2.

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Talk

Say ya to da UP, eh?

Yoopers (inhabitants of Upper Michigan) have a strong accent that is in a Canada-meets-the-Midwest sort of vein. "Ya" and "eh" are the most well-known and often mocked of the colloquial slang. "Eh" (aay) is often appended to statements to turn them into a question or to ask for agreement.

In the Western U.P., the accent is more attributed to Finnish influence rather than Canadian. After all, Detroit is closer to Canada, ey? In Finn, the expression of "ey" means no. Also, if you listen close, a lot of Yoopers tend to drop their prepositions. Finn doesn't use them, it tacks them on to the noun. And, contrary to what you think, we do not sound like people from Minnesota. So, to ask if we are going to Green Bay, for example, it is rendered in the vernacular as "We go Green Bay, ey?"

Many of the town names have a distinctive lilt to them, such as Escanaba (es CA NA ba), Ishpeming (ISH pe ming), or Ontonagon (ON to NAH gan, not like a figure with "onto" sides).

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Get in

The most scenic route from the lower peninsula would be US-31 along the coast of Lake Michigan over the Mackinac (pronounced mack-in-aw) Bridge and through St. Ignace.

Access from Wisconsin is most common through US-45 (central), US-141 (central-eastern), US-41 (far eastern) or US-2 (western). US-41 and US-2 are probably the most scenic choices.

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Get around

You need a car unless you are sailing. If it is winter you need to be prepared to drive on snow and ice. Snow tires and four-wheel drive would be helpful. Driving at night during a snow storm can be dangerous, especially because of the distance between towns with gas stations that stay open late into the night. Be prepared to pull over and wait out storms if you are a cautious driver. On the bright side, motels are cheap, if they haven't been abandoned.

There is very little public transit in the UP.

The pre-eminent scenic east-west route in the upper peninsula would likely be US-2 along the upper shore of Lake Michigan. It follows the coastline very closely for miles and there are several areas in which you can pull off and park on US-2 and access the beach directly. Portions of US-2 with beach access are fairly close to St. Ignace. M-28 along Lake Superior also runs along the shore for long stretches, especially as you get closer to Marquette, and also contains the famed Seney Stretch.

Large tracts of the upper peninsula are devoted to national forests, and are not breathtakingly scenic, although they do have their charm. An example of this would be M-28 through much of the central portion of the UP. However, for camping opportunities and the outdoors, M-28 leads to some extraordinary finds, as it passes through both Hiawatha National Forest and Ottawa National Forest. Another recommendation is going from M-28 to 94 through the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. Sticking to the posted "circle tours" and following roads close to the lakes are probably your best bet for scenic road trips.

During the winter months snowmobiling across much of the UP is possible and trails are maintained.

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See

  • Mountains
  • Lakes
  • Waterfalls, prominent in the Western portion
  • Forests
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Do

  • Ski resorts
  • Hiking
  • Mountain biking
  • Outdoors sports are plentiful
  • Camping
  • Hunting
  • Fishing
  • Canoeing
  • Kayaking
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Eat

The traditional food associated with the Upper Peninsula is the pasty (prounounced "pass-tee"). Brought to the area by Cornish miners, it was a hand-held "no dish" meal for miners who had no time to come above ground for lunch. The standard pasty consists of potatoes, beef, carrots, onions, rutabega, celery in a pastry crust. The miners could heat their pasty back up on their shovel on top of their lantern. The pasty's appeal crossed ethinic barriers and has been adopted as this region's specialty. Many places will sell 10 or 20 frozen pasties so you can take them home. There's lots of smoked fish for sale, too.

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Drink

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Stay safe

Don't make yourself look like a white-tailed deer during hunting season. If you are camping, keep your food outside of your tent, as there are black bears. The UP has little violent crime, even near cities.

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Get out

Trips to Ontario, northern Wisconsin, or northeastern Minnesota are nice complements to a trip to the Upper Peninsula if you would like to continue to explore the Lake Superior coastline.

Eastern Wisconsin, northeastern Illinois, and the lower peninsula of Michigan can make for a good addition to a trip based around Lake Michigan.

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External links

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