Michigan's up - Need Suggestions!

The Traverse City area is a great place to stay with the family. We rented a house with my siblings and their kids and had a blast with kids ages 9months to 8yrs old. Have a wonderful time!!!

We went there last summer. We stayed in Macinaw City, it's just a ferry ride away from Macinac Island. There are plenty of motels for every budget. We stayed at Starlight Budget Inn (it has a pool and a playground) in Macinaw City. There are many places to visit around there. Some of the ones we visited are Bear Ranch (where they keep rescued bears; you can actually hold a baby bear), big and small waterfalls, Michillimacinac Fort, Mystery Spot, and of course Macinac Island. For evening entertainment, Macinaw City has a beautiful "downtown" called "The Crossings" - lots of things to do there for the kids and grown-ups - mazes, laser shows, movies, gift shops, restaurants. We easily filled a week with trips and things to do. Have fun!

last summer we did a round lake Michigan trip with our girls who were 10 and almost 7 yrs old. We had a BLAST, if you want to see pics and hear the whole thing, email me at ____@____.com - our goal is to see all 50 states by the time the girls are 18, so we really do them well since we won't be going back.

Hi,
My children are 10 and 8 and there are many fun things to do around Marquette.
I read the other posts and there are some great suggestions about the festivals, I personally love Art on the Rocks, there is also a Blues Fest on Labor Day weekend.
I do not agree with the person that said the food was horrible in the UP. I can see where that could be the case in some restaurants in smaller towns but in Marquette they have AWESOME restaurants. There is a lot variety and we love to frequent the downtown restaurants.
They do have many, many miles of beautiful sand beaches like another poster mentioned. I recommend trying a few different areas if your family likes the beach. If you plan to hike Sugarloaf(which I highly recommend) Little Presque beach is nearby and very scenic with an island you can walk to.
We love to spend time out at Presque Isle. We love to walk or bike around it. A favorite spot there is the "black rocks" a great spot to throw rocks in the water and watch the college kids dive off some high rocks. There are many places to picnic there and a great little spot for ice cream. They also have band concerts on some Thursday evenings and music every Friday night all free of course.
If you plan to go to Munising you can stop at Lakenland on the way. It is a spot where you can walk around and look at large sculptures made of metal. A great spot for kids, you can even fish there. Also on the way to Munising you can rent canoes and kayaks and go down the Autrain river. This is a favorite with my kids. It takes about 3 hours and is a ton of fun to stop and swim and picnic along the way.
Our family loves going to Mackinaw Island every summer. We love to take our bikes but you can also rent them on the island. I highly recommend staying over night on the island, we stay a couple nights. It is very busy on the island during the day with people coming over but in the evening it really clears out and is so nice to enjoy the island without a ton of people. There is also a nice waterpark in Mackinaw City.

I LOVE Michigan!! I’ve been going to the “upper lower peninsula” every summer for the past 30+ years. Here in info on a great drive in the UP http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/drives/lake-superi...

Also if you are going to Mackinac Island, you may want to consider a pit stop at Sleepy Bear Sand Dunes (I loved this place as a child) - http://www.nps.gov/slbe/index.htm
It’s ~2 ½ hour drive along the coast (and you get to pass through Petoskey and Traverse City).

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

DH and I went to Copper Harbor and stayed at the Bella Vista Motel a few years back. It sounds like they've fancied it up a bit too, without jacking the price. Very friendly ownership and guests. If you're looking for excitement it's probably not the hottest spot on the UP, but the BV has rowboats and canoes you can borrow. Nearby is quaint shopping, and an Edmund Fitzgerald boat ride. I hope you have as lovely of a time as I did when I stayed there. The BV doesn't have a website but their contact info and pricing can be found at http://hunts-upguide.com/lodgings.html (scroll down to Bella Vista).

(One word of caution - the food in the UP restaurants was kinda icky. DH will pretty much eat anything and even he didn't want what they were serving. We ended up going to the grocery store and keeping food in a cooler in our room. This BTW has nothing at all to do with the BV Motel.)

The UP, one of my favorite lifetime vacation destinations, though it's been a number of years now. Some of my favorite destinations were Big Spring, Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Pictured Rocks National Seashore (a must), the Upper and Lower Taquamenon Falls, Manistique (there's some historical sites around there), Sault Ste Marie (used to be easy to jump back and forth into Canada, perhaps not anymore), and of course my favorite - Mackinac Island. I always moteled in St Ignace, then you take a boat to the island, spend the day, and come back. Unless you are wealthy, you do not stay on the island. Make sure you rent bicycles (probably need a trailer too) and circle the island. Much too big to walk. You have to get beyond the touristy downtown part of the island. Awesome time! Have fun, make sure you give yourself 4-5 days in the UP.

I'm assuming if you are thinking about going to the UP that you like to be outside.

I'm from Marquette MI and when we go back to visit family with my 7 and 4 year old, here are some of the things we do:

There are many beaches. Beware - Lake Superior is COLD! You can climb Sugarloaf Mountain (not really a mountain). It's about a 20-30 minute climb up a path and stairs with a great view at the top. You can rent bikes by the hour or day. There are bike paths all around the lake shore. There is a children's museum with hands-on type activities (UP Children's Museum). There's a fish hatchery where you can look at fish in their pens as well as a small learning center. There are several parks and playgrounds. Campgrounds, hotels.

About 40 minutes from Marquette is Munising. There are several easy hikes to waterfalls. More beaches. And Pictured Rocks - you can take a boat tour to view from the water. A couple of hours further east is Tahquamenon Falls which is a cool waterfall, and a fairly easy hike for that age. www.exploringthenorth.com/tahqua/tahqua.html I think the Mystery Spot is near there - I've seen lots of brochures but have never been there myself. If you head this direction you are getting closer to Mackinac Island and could do a day trip from there.

Generally folks in the UP are friendly and easy going and happy to help you with ideas and directions, so I'm sure you can get a lot more suggestions. Have fun!

I love the UP! Mackinaw island is amazing and they have bikes you can rent and horse and buggies tours. Sault Ste. Marie has the Soo Locks boat tour and as someone mentioned, the falls are fantastic! Water sports are everywhere. It's beautiful UP...enjoy your vacation!

I second a few of the suggestions: Copper harbor and Tahquamenon Falls. Depending on what your other interests are, I have good friends who live near the falls that are professional sled dog racers. Ed & Tasha Stielstra-- Natures Kennel: http://www.natureskennel.com/
They invite visitors for tours and to run with the dogs/puppies! They are super sweet people and just had a human baby this spring :)
It's so beautiful up there, and exploring around will give your kids a lot of entertainment. Enjoy!

We go to Marquette, MI every summer to visit family. There is a folk music festival (Hiawatha Music Festival, July 16-19) that is in a park with camping facilities. Also there is a big arts and crafts fair called Art on the Rocks (July30-Aug1). We also went to Munising on a Pictured Rocks boat tour (lasts a few hours) one year. I think there is a large park with camping there too. These are just things we have done on vacations (my husband grew up there, not me). I am sure there are many others.