G6AdventuresWe recently spent 14 days in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, visiting the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area, Mackinaw City, and several areas in the U.P. As part of our adventure, we hit many of the sites you read about in nearly every Upper Peninsula travel blog. You can read about all of our Michigan travels here. But, in addition to all the standard touristy stuff, we always try to seek out the stuff you don’t always read about. We talk to the locals. We look off the beaten path. Here are our favorite sites we found in the Upper Peninsula that are off the beaten path and are great for families!
Bond Falls. Everyone talks about Tahquemenon Falls being a “must-see” in the Upper Peninsula. And, yes, we loved Tahquemenon Falls. We spent nearly half a day exploring the upper and lower falls and hiking around the State Park. So, we agree with everyone that recommends including these falls on your trip plan. However, if you are in the west Upper Peninsula, you really should a side trip to Bond Falls.
While camping at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, we decided to spend a day touring local waterfalls. We started with the Victoria Dam Falls on West Branch Ontonagon River. To our disappointment, there was no overflow from the dam at that time, so no waterfall. We moved on to O-Kun-de-Kun Falls. We had little to no cell service anywhere near the Porcupine Mountains. To avoid getting lost, I took a picture of a map of waterfalls posted at the campground. The map described the hike to O-Kun-de-Kun Falls as a one-mile fairly easy hike. The hike ended up over 1.3 miles…each way. My family was not amused. Also, I can’t say that any of us thought that the falls at the end were worth the hike. At least not on the day we visited anyway.
Next, we drove to Agate Falls. The older two kids mutinied at this point. They refused to attempt to walk to them after being “misinformed” at O-Kun-de-Kun. The rest of us made the short trip to the observation deck. Agate Falls seemed to be pretty impressive. However, given the location and angle of the observation deck, you really can’t see them head-on. Personally, that made them seem a bit underwhelming to me.
At this point, I wasn’t sure I could convince the family to eek out one more waterfall. But, I leveraged the fact that it was only a 15-minute drive and a short few hundred foot walk to the falls. They begrudgingly acquiesced. We parked and made the short, easy walk to Bond Falls. And, in that moment, Bond Falls redeemed my waterfalls tour entirely. They are massive, standing about 50 feet tall and 100 feet across. And, man are they gorgeous. My teens loved how Instagram-able they are. The younger two loved that you could walk right up to them. My husband loved the river flowing from the bottom of them. I loved all of those things and more. They rank very high on my list of all-time favorite waterfalls!
There are observation platforms and walkways that allow you to see them from nearly every side. There are trails all around. You could spent hours soaking in the beauty of the area around the falls and along the Ontonagon River. Keep in mind it is a Michigan state park, so you’ll need a Michigan DNR Parks Vehicle sticker. Unfortunately, by the time we found our way to Bond Falls, it was late in the day, so we did not have the luxury to explore as much as I would have liked. Next time though! Bond Falls is truly a must-do for the family when you’re exploring the Upper Peninsula, even if it is a bit off the beaten path!
White Pine’s Yooper Diner. We found White Pine’s Yooper Diner on our way back to the campground from our waterfall day tour. It had good reviews on Google, and we are always looking for good hole-in-the-wall-type places to try. We decided to give it a try. Given that I had failed more than I had succeeded on that particular day with my waterfall choices, it is not surprising that my family also questioned this choice as we pulled into the lot. The building containing the Yooper Diner sits just across Konteka, which is much more well known. The Diner sits inside an essentially abandoned shopping center. Truthfully, it does not look like much. But we decided to try it regardless.
We walked inside to find it surprisingly busy. The owner, a veteran, unnecessarily apologized for the wait as he quickly pushed a couple tables together for us. We ordered the Yooper Poutine as an appetizer and promptly devoured it. For our meals, we ordered the pizza, a couple burgers, and their fish platter special. There was a little bit of a wait in getting our food. But that was to be expected given how busy they were. Plus, it gave us time to admire the owner’s photography which lined the walls. He had great pictures of local wildlife, landscapes and, of course, the Northern Lights. All of the pictures are available for purchase. We enjoyed admiring them as we waited for our food.
When the food did arrive, it was hot and delicious. We have some incredibly picky eaters in our crew that can be annoyingly hard to please. But everyone loved it! That’s always a tough feat for us, so we definitely take note when it happens! We even ordered the homemade blueberry crisp to go, but it never made it back to the RV! We can’t recommend the White Pine’s Yooper Diner enough. This family-friendly, off the beaten path, hole-in-the-wall diner in the Upper Peninsula should not be skipped.
Crisp Point. While driving back from Whitefish Point to our campground one evening, we saw a sign for Crisp Point Lighthouse. We almost turned down the road right then, but it was getting a little late, we were a little low on gas, and I didn’t have good enough cell service to look up any information about it. So, we decided to wait. That was the right call. After getting back to the campground, I discovered that the trek to the lighthouse includes approximately 18 miles of unpaved, seasonal roads. Plus, it is about 27 miles to the nearest gas station!
Though we were grateful we didn’t risk an impulsive side trip, we immediately decided we wanted to take this adventure. The next day, we gassed up the Jeep, packed plenty of snacks and water, and headed out. After spending the morning at Tahquemenon Falls State Park, we braved the trek to Crisp Point. The unpaved road to Crisp Point is no joke. It is bumpy, sandy, and long. We rarely drove faster than 20 mph the entire length of it. It took us well over an hour to get there from our campground in Newberry. Despite the slow drive and bumps, the drive was gorgeous! The land is so untouched and simply beautiful. Plus, it felt as though the landscape changed constantly. The kids commented a few times that it felt like we were on a movie set, because it almost didn’t look real.
Once we arrived at Crisp Point, we immediately fell in love. The Crisp Point Lighthouse with Lake Superior in the backdrop and the long, empty beach alongside it, looked straight out of a magazine. We toured the lighthouse. Inside, you can learn about the lighthouse’s history and construction. You can climb to the top, which the entire family enjoyed. We spent an hour or more walking the beach, enjoying the sheer beauty of the sand, the rocks, and the lake. Then, we visited the on-site store. We laughed when we saw the shirts and stickers that read “I Survived the Drive to Crisp Point” and immediately bought a sticker! Then, we spent a little time talking to the volunteers who worked there. Crisp Point is literally the most off the beaten path site we visited in the Upper Peninsula, and our family highly recommends it!
Wheelhouse Diner & Goatlocker Saloon. The evening we explored Whitefish Point, we passed through Paradise, Michigan. At this point, it was getting late, we hadn’t eaten dinner, and we had a 45 minute drive back to the campground. Maybe it was the hunger talking. But when we saw a restaurant named Wheelhouse Diner & Goatlocker Saloon, we knew we had to stop. As we turned in, we noted the overflowing parking lot. Eric dropped me off at the door as he circled trying to find an empty spot. Fortunately, they seated us at the last available table in the restaurant. The had live music in the back prompting a larger crowd.
Since we were in Paradise, Michigan, we HAD to order cheeseburgers. Eric had his with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes. Ha – just kidding! He, Mayson and Olivia really did get cheeseburgers and fries, and we did feel like Jimmy Buffett should’ve been playing in the background. They said the burgers were delicious. I got the Crispy Chicken Grinder, which is basically a chicken parmesan sandwich. It was massive and very good. Sophia and Ellianna ordered the chicken tenders. They didn’t love them, but they generally are the pickiest, so that’s not unexpected. Overall, the food was tasty, we left with our bellies full, and we had fun eating “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.”
Fayette Historic State Park. We stayed in Manistique, Michigan for the last leg of our tour of the Upper Peninsula. While here, we drove to Fayette Historic State Park, approximately a 40-minute drive one way. You do need a Michigan DNR Parks Vehicle sticker to enter. We quickly found a parking spot and checked out the visitor center. The visitor center is quite small but the miniature replica of Fayette as it used to sit was very cool. There is also a store with souvenirs and ice cream. One interesting tidbit is that certain shirts and stickers in the store are payable with cash only. However, you can pay with a card for everything else. The center also has nice, clean bathrooms as well.
Once we left the visitor center, we decided to hike the Fayette Overlook Trail. Not far into the trail, overlooking Snail Shell Harbor, we sat on a rock wall to eat our picnic lunch. Once we ate, we continued on the 2 mile looped trail. Admittedly, the trail didn’t have the best markings, particularly once you reached about 3/4 of a mile in. And it was fairly overgrown. We actually ended up turning around and coming back out the way we came, but it was a gorgeous hike nonetheless.
Fayette’s history as a town from the 1860s to the 1890s is fascinating. It was built by an iron company as a largely self-contained industrial community built to smelt iron. The town featured its own hotel, market, school, blacksmith shop and even printed its own “money” for the residents to use. While some of the original structures no longer stand, many do. You can walk inside most of them and get a sense of what the once-teeming town might have been like. There even stands their community center where traveling shows performed.
We spent a few hours here and still did not explore it in its entirely. It requires a bit of walking, and there are some hills. But, the paths are paved, so that helps in terms of mobility. Whether you are looking for interesting history, fantastic views or peaceful hikes, this gem has it all. Plus, it has ice cream, so even if the kids don’t enjoy the history, the views or the hiking, you can pacify them with ice cream! You should definitely consider including this off-the-beaten-path state park to your family’s Upper Peninsula itinerary!
We loved our time in the U.P. The places we found off the beaten path made our trip even better. Hopefully, the locals don’t get upset that we’re giving away their secrets. But, seriously, if you’re traveling to the U.P., add these sites to your trip plan. Did we miss anywhere? Comment below with any sites off the beaten path in the Upper Peninsula that you’d recommend.
