On our road trip around the Great Lakes from Philly, we made a stop at this incredible spot -- and…read moredon't ask me to pronounce the name! Located inside Palms Book State Park, this natural spring was one of the most unique and beautiful places we visited. The water is crystal clear all the way to the bottom, and you can easily see fish swimming below. You hop onto a self-operated raft that you pull across the water to the middle of the spring, where there's an opening in the center to look straight down. It gives you a perfect view of the vibrant underwater world -- it's honestly mesmerizing. It's a quick stop, but totally worth it. And the best part? It's dog-friendly! Definitely add this to your list if you're exploring the Upper Peninsula.

This is such a unique place. I'm so glad we stopped. We were on a road trip from Mackinaw City to…read moreMilwaukee and wanted to break up the trip a bit so we saw this diversion and decided to check it out. Clear blue water, bubbling sand, never ending springs, a tow boat, and lots of trout are the wonders to see. Everyone gets on the boat and someone (well a few people over the course of the trip) step up to the wheel to tow the boat across the water. The water is mesmerizing. I couldn't take my eyes off the water. Many people can fit on the boat so the wait is not too long. A day pass is $11. Definitely make this stop if you are in the area.

Beautiful views from Cave Point! Free parking & no admission required. Stroll…read morethrough the paths or walk to the lake's edge. Worth seeing the rocks & waves. There were a group of artists painting from the lookout points. So cool to see their work.

I never knew there was such a beautiful place in Northern Wisconsin that felt like the ocean…read more Turquoise blue waters and beautiful trails. Definitely worth visiting! The water was a little cold, but it is fall in northern Wisconsin.

Beautiful place!! Highly suggest to anybody looking to sightsee! Cute little gift store as well.read more

Located right on Indian Lake and home to Kitch-iti-Kipi is Palms Book State Park. This state park's…read moremain attraction is Kitch-iti-Kipi and I find it to be a relatively small park outside of that freshwater spring. I can imagine that most people come here just to check out the spring as there is a separate entrance directly to the parking lot for Kitch-iti-Kipi. Granted, I didn't take the time to explore the rest of the park, but just looking at the map, I could tell there were one or two more trailers, but other than that not much else. We were camping at Indian Lake State Park, so after visiting Kitch-iti-Kipi, going out on the raft and back, we headed back to our campground to hike the trailers at Indian Lake State Park.

So beautiful! It was snow covered today but still worth a…read moredrive through and stop at the gorgeous beach! We will certainly return in the summer.

Newport State Park is located toward the topmost point of the Door County peninsula…read more We stopped by on a day when we decided to drive the length of the peninsula. It actually had somehow escaped my attention that there are multiple state parks in Door County. I knew of and have visited and camped in Peninsula State Park but hadn't heard of Newport State Park. It's a beautiful state park with both beachy and woodsy areas. The coolest thing that i wished I'd known sooner on our recent trip to Door County is that it's been designated an International Dark Sky Park. Star gazing in the rich splendor of Door County? This is your spot.

Camped at Indian Lake State Park at the start of July and had a great time! This campground is…read morelovely and our specific campsite was incredible! We had our picnic table and fire pit up on the hill at the back half of our site, overlooking the water, and flat ground at the front where we could set up our tent. Absolutely loved it and would definitely book this same exact site probably again if I could in the future. There are a ton with a view overlooking the lake as well, but regardless of which campsite you get, you'll need to take the public access stairs down to the lake, stationed every few campsites throughout the campground. Great entry points for swimming, but not much of any beach space at these spots. The proximity of Indian Lake to Palms Book State Park was also a big reason why we reserved a campground here. Indian Lake SP is on the south side of the lake, while Palms Book SP is on the west side. Palms Book SP also is where Kitch-iti-kipi is, which is a Michigan gem that I have never visited...until now! The two state parks are under 15 minutes away from one another! Indian Lake SP also has a ton of access to the shoreline. The days we were camping didn't have the best weather, but there is plenty of access to the water to swim. There is not a lot of beach area, most areas we saw that were within the state park were 2-3 feet of beach max, so it isn't ideal for laying out. Plenty of boat launch sites as well! Other things to note: - The speed limit within the campground is 5 mph and strictly enforced. - Nearby town of Manistique for restaurants/stores/downtown shopping. - Also nearby, but more of a 30-45 minute drive is Fayette Historic State Park, which is a very unique state park to check out if your schedule allows. I wasn't able to make it out there, but it came highly recommended by a lot of UP friends!

This is one of my most favorite campgrounds. The view of Indian lake is quite beautiful. The water…read moreis amazingly clean, clear, and beautiful. The park is super clean, and it is very close to Kitch-iti-kipi, which is an amazing thing to check out. Very close to Lake Michigan as well if you want to jog over there. Love it!!!

Gorgeous views, breathtaking shoreline, perfect place for a picnic. So many spots to pull off and…read moresee a different type of view. From the cliff-like edges to the dark lava-like rock structures near Blackrocks, it's all a must-see. You could spend a whole day here in the summer no problem. Go hunting for beach glass along the rocky beaches, grab a bench and watch the waves, build a sandcastle on the beach, take a drive around the loop, there's endless ways to enjoy the park and all it has to offer. No hammocking, no dogs (from what I saw on the signage), and be prepared for wind while on the shorelines. Still a 10/10 and the best "park" I've been to.

What a great Urban Park! Presque Isle Park is a large public park that is a peninsula overlooking…read moreLake Superior. The park is easily accessible by car, bike or foot. My dad and I walked around the whole thing and according to my fitbit I had 3.5 miles but we did a lot of side walking too. We parked in the front near the lighthouse alongside of an ore dock. The iron ore docks were cool to see as they are unique to this part of the country. From there we walked out to the lighthouse and checked it out before starting off on the trail. The cliffs over looking Lake Superior and black rocks along the route were really cool to take in. Be careful though as these cliff rocks are known to go crashing in to Lake Superior. I'd say it's almost 3 miles to walk all the way around. There were tons of picnic tables and pavilions but not sure for getting the pavilions work in terms of renting them or if it's 1st come 1st serve. I also saw 2 kayak/canoe vans with trailers but didn't anyone kayaking or canoeing so not sure if that's an option near by.

Miners Falls is another great, relatively easy hike that can be done by all skill levels and I…read morewould highly recommend it as well during your Pictured Rocks trip, either before or after you make a stop at Miners Castle as well. Clocking it at 1.2 miles, it takes about half an hour to complete out and back. Miners Falls is way bigger and grander than Munising Falls, so it's definitely impressive and worth the hike out. You aren't able to get as close to it as you do to Munising Falls, you view it from 2 different viewing platforms across a wide river, but it's still impressive just the same. The hike is more intensive. It's mostly shallow, sometimes steeper in areas decline through forest on the way there, but that just means that you know the way back is going to be a constant uphill, which is a bit killer. Total elevation gain here is about 150 feet. Great part about this hike is that the trail is so WIDE, tons of space to walk and be distant from other people, not that this trail was even all that heavily trafficked by any means. When you get to the falls, the first viewpoint you get to really doesn't give you a good view. For both viewpoints, you are already looking down at the falls, and the first viewpoint, which is much higher up, is blocked by trees and at too high of an angle for you to appreciate much of anything. So it's imperative that you head to viewpoint #2, which is down one final series of steep stairs. From this viewing platform, you get a great, impressive view of the falls, get a moment to take pictures, catch your breath, before you embark on the not-so-long-but-sort-of-feels-long-because-it's-all-uphill journey back up to the parking lot. I was definitely breathing hard by the time I got to the parking lot, but it was a great, short hike to do! It really didn't hurt either that there was gorgeous fall foliage all along the road leading into the Miners Falls parking lot and spots of color along the entire hike as well. Can't be anything but happy when looking at fall rolling in! :)

Okay so here is another decent/worthwhile waterfall to visit within Pictured Rocks National…read moreLakeshore. This is Miners Falls. And...it's really easy to find and hike to. From the trailhead it's a 0.6 mile walk along a gravel path. And the 0.6-mile stroll to Miners Falls takes you throughout an incredibly pleasant and tranquil forest setting. Even before I arrived at the falls, I was grabbing pictures on the walk being immersed in lush green trees and vegetations of the woodsy outdoors. Miners Falls is about a 50-foot waterfall that's one of the more majestic flowing falls you'll find in the small town of Munising, Michigan...and Munising is sort of the host town of Pictured Rocks NL. In Munising, you'll discover a bunch of other scenic waterfalls like Alger Falls, Chapel Falls, Munising Falls, Mosquito Falls and Horseshoe Falls to name a few. You can plug all these waterfalls into Google Maps on your phone to specifically locate them. Cell phone reception in Munising works just fine. Now, one of my issues with this Miners Falls and I know I'm nitpicking...is that once walk the 0.6 mile...you can only view the falls from an observation deck. And...this overlook platform had guardrails installed as high up as your waste. So...when trying to take optimal photos of Miners Falls for yourself and or family...you're sort of held hostage to these guardrails. It's sort of like you're being photobombed by a stranger but instead it's really the tiny platform and guardrails that taint the experience. Most visitors here at the overlook were taking selfie pics, which for myself...isn't worth the time. So, I gladly took a picture or two of Miners Falls before returning back towards the trailhead. I guess just in the end I'm a narcissistic person and I want myself in every picture to officially claim that I've "been there, done that", lol. Oh well, this miniscule platform vista point and the guardrails were out of my control. Here was another frustrating aspect... I was visiting back at the end of May 2021 and the parking lot and hike to the falls were pretty busy. In fact, it was congested enough to the point that there was a crowded line of people just waiting to step onto the observation area. And because the platform barely allowed tourists to step foot on it together at one time, the wait was about 10 minutes to get that photographic memory. Wow I thought to myself...this is a popular part to the Pictured Rocks NL area. And just a side note...when I was here this past summer, it was free to explore and hike to all the waterfalls. But for the 2022 travel season, starting on March 1, there'll be a $10 fee for visitors which will eventually over time get raised to $25. So, yes...people are coming. National parks, monuments, lakeshores, state parks, hikes and trails are all getting busier each year. Be prepared for maybe eventually losing that true essence for being outside in the heart of nature. Tourists are coming in droves and it's not stopping anytime soon. Anyways...finally, I got my time at the overlook deck for a quick couple of photos before yielding to the people behind me. Miners Falls was pretty impressive when looking down upon it. I just wished that the hiking path continued down towards the base of the falls because in my opinion...there's nothing like looking up at a scenic waterfall as the prime attraction within a scenic backdrop. Welp...lol, sorry for all my venting. From here at Miners Falls, I continued onto Munising Falls, about a 9-mile drive away. And yeah...once again, Munising Falls was simply a 0.5 mile walk each way to and from an observation deck, but at least the platform there allowed more space to accommodate tourists. Lastly, although I never found true fulfillment from the viewing platform looking down at Miners Falls, I still enjoyed the hike through the forest and simply getting a chance to witness another waterfall here at Pictured Rocks Lakeshore in the UP - Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Miner's Castle is a nice gentle hike for folks who aren't big hikers, with an upper viewing (in my…read moreopinion the better of the two), and a lower viewing point. Parking is limited, so we circled until someone left; bathrooms were more plentiful at the Miner's Castle than at National Lakeshore, but they did have some there as well. We loved the beach at the National Lakeshore; clean sand and the beautiful, Caribbean-like waters you expect from Lake Superior. Water is cold, but was so refreshing after a day of hiking and sun! Miner's Castle is a one and done spot for us, but we will definitely be back to the beach at the National Lakeshore!

I didn't visit Miners Beach, but Miners Castle is a must-see! Finally, I got to see in person the…read moreview that the vast majority of Pictured Rocks photos are of and it definitely didn't disappoint! You can view Miners Castle from an upper viewing deck and a lower one. The upper deck is only 250 feet away from the parking lot, the lower deck is about 1000 feet further and all downhill, meaning a pretty extensive uphill trek on your way back up that definitely gets the heart pumping. Both are highly worth it since the lower deck gets you literally a few feet away (you could say...a *stone's* throw away...heh) from the Miners Castle rock formation, which is very cool, but the best view - the classic view - is from the upper deck. Loved it! Very cool-looking bathroom set of buildings as well in the parking lot, alas they were closed so I wasn't able to see how they were inside haha.

On my way to the lighthouse, I stopped to check out this pretty cool park. There is a great view of…read moreLake Superior and Picnic Rocks from here. The park includes a great looking playground, public restrooms and walking trails. It is named after George Shiras III who contributed the land for the park. Shiras was the first to do flash photography of wildlife at night. An entire issue of National Geographic in 1900 featured his work and there is a historical marker with a lot more detail on his life and contributions to conservation and study. There is a large parking lot available. [Review 17919 overall - 325 in Michigan - 1440 of 2022.]

Very fun park. Our 2 year old loves jumping on the tires and digging in the dirt. I suppose the…read moreElise would be pretty hot on a warmer day.

Located at Au Train Bay on Lake Superior and off Michigan Route 28, this woodsy rest stop was…read morewelcome as there really isn't much going on in this part of Michigan. With the onshore breeze, it was a nice spot for a rest and to look out over the lake. It is also pretty with the trees. There is plenty of parking, picnic tables, charcoal grills and a restroom. Take the walk to the actual Falls, though as Scott Z points out, there really isn't very much to it. A historical marker points out the history of Lake Superior and some of the earliest settlement and fur trading that passed through. [Review 17925 overall - 329 in Michigan - 1446 of 2022.]

Possibly the UP's most accessible waterfall. If you know what you're looking for, you can see it…read morefrom your car as you drive past. Look for the "Scott Falls" road sign on the southern side of the road. The waterfall is teeny tiny. About 10 feet tall. It can be easily missed through the trees. But it's maybe 25 feet south of the curb. If you want to walk to the waterfall, it's safest to go in the summer. Park at the rest area on the north side of the road by the lake. This rest stop is seasonal. So it's not only a matter of the building being closed during the winter and early spring, the snow in its parking lot isn't plowed making it inaccessible. The waterfall freezes in the winter. It was a big popsickle as of late March 2018. And the path to it is covered in snow in winter. But in warmer months, you just climb down a ditch, hop across some rocks in a tiny creek, and you're there. The waterfall is cute, and you can walk under / behind it. A fun 5 minute break. And it's family friendly. Just be very careful on this 65 mph road as a pedestrian. Don't expect too much. The waterfall is quite small.