Peteso Loc: Blacks Hills

I am planning a photography trip to the Michigan UP for this fall. I have a planning guide, but I would like photographers' advice and perspective on specific areas, including opinions on how long to stay at each location so I am not rushed and can make advance lodging arrangements. Thank you in advance to my fellow photographers for your input!

jwreed50 Loc: Manassas, VA

I'll start with two suggestions:

1) Painted Rocks (near Munising -- best seen from one of the ferries in Lake Superior)

2) Tahquamenon Falls

Jim Reichel Loc: Georgetown, TX

If you are near Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, go to the Lake of the Clouds Overlook. It is a fantastic, especially if the trees are in peak color. This lake is nestled below the overlook and is breathtaking.

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

A few of my favorites: Keewenaw peninsula, be sure to drive Brockway Mtn rd to copper harbor.
Entire peninsula is beautiful. Lodging available in Houghton/Hancock. Lotsa good ales available here too! Plan on several days and hit Lake of the Clouds in Porcupine mtns. Lodging available in Silver City or Ontanogon.
Try these: https://picturedrocks.com/our-stories/the-best-waterfalls-of-michigans-upper-peninsula/

Marquette area, couple days. Munising as mentioned. Several days
Taquamenon lodging can be found in Paradise, plan on several days and hit upper and lower falls, whole area is beautiful. I always hit Whitefish Point.
St Ignace area for Eppouffete overlook, Cut River Bridge, Straits area, include half a day for Mackinaw Bridge, both sides. McGulpin point just west of Mackinaw.

Colors often start late Sept to early Oct.
If colors are having a great yr get lodging at least a day in advance, though if you’re a bit hardy camping is readily available all over.
Try a pastie at Hunts in Mackinaw City!
Have fun and pls post!

Edit, last week due to roadwork Big Mac was tedious to cross, don’t know how long that will go on.

If you’re into astrophotography, Taquamenon and Brockway have very dark skies.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

You are in for a treat. The U.P. is fairly desolate and empty of large settlements. NOTHING is rushed. The place is very large and the landscape is uncluttered. The Tahquamenon River will keep you as busy as you want to get. Beware, the water is chocolate in color and will offer fantastic shooting opportunities. Locate Thornton Lake and see its potential for landscapes. There are both upper and lower falls. Waterfalls are very everywhere. I found a small river that runs into Lake Superior and has water that is very gold in color and has its own miniature falls right next to a road. The "UPE" is a photographer's delight. Stay until you've seen it and captured it.

Tim Stapp Loc: Mid Mitten

Bond Falls. Into light houses, there are multiple light houses all over.

Regarding Copper Harbor: There is a fantastic Bavarian restaurant (at least there was pre-covid).

The attitude in the UP is this: If it's that important, it'll still be there tomorrow.

Take a day and hit "The Island."

JimBart Loc: Western Michigan

What is your planned travel route. There are a lot of beautiful destinations enroute also if we knew your directions for travel …. South to north, east side or west side of the state or I75 straight up, etc.
lower peninsula also offers great photo opportunities at that time of the year

Basil_O Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Geetting a shot of the Macinac bridge at sunset and then again at dark is well worth the side trip.

ElderJames

My son lives in Marquette, and he has taken me to several beautiful sites mentioned in these responses. When the colors are full strength, they are splendid almost anywhere! I'll try attaching a pic from Lake of the Clouds as a sample (I'll try lo-res to conserve bandwidth.)

JoeLadendorf

I lived in Northwest Indiana most of my life until relocating to middle Tennessee a few years ago. I spent many late September/early October excursions in the U.P. Many great suggestions in this thread. However, I did not see a mention of my favorite area. The Sturgeon River is a wild and scenic River in the northern UP. Sturgeon River Gorge and surrounding areas are incredibly beautiful and off the beaten path. As far as accommodations, I camped in rustic campgrounds as it is pretty desolate up there. Baraga is the nearest decent sized town. It’s located right on Lake Superior. If you need further info/photos feel free to send me an email. joeladendorf@gmail.com

lordblair Loc: Oklahoma

This recommendation is based mainly on sentimental memories but, my dad grew up in Negaunee (quite close to Marquette). This town and nearby Ishpeming were the center of the underground mining of IRON ore, which, by the way, is played out. My grandpa was a miner there. You can see maybe one or two of the hoisting towers still extant, and there is a nice museum devoted to the mines in that area. Of particular interest to me is that quite a bit of the town is fenced off, because the underground tunnels which went everywhere under the town have caved in, creating a dangerous situation. The house where we visited when I was a kid, and all the others around were removed. I think some of these areas have been partially re-opened, but only for hiking perhaps.
Even when my dad was a kid in the 1920’s and ‘30’s, he told me he and his buddies swam in pool (very deep!) created by a cave-in, and poor Mrs. Johnson lost a cow when the land suddenly sank beneath it! If you have a little time, you might enjoy it.

Walt B

I've been going through old photos and improving them with the current software. A couple of weeks ago, I opened photos from Mackinac Island and the Pictured Rocks which I had taken in 2010. So that reminded me how beautiful the U.P. is.

Besides all of those mentioned, go to Mackinac Island. There are no cars on the island, you walk, rent a bike or take a horse and buggy ride. Many interesting photo ops. Make sure you photograph the natural arch from both below and above. I think the circumference of the island is about 3 miles. We walked around it. Mackinac island and surrounding area is the fudge capital of the world. Ryba's fudge is the best known.

You might want to make reservations for the boat ride to see the pictured rocks. Use a polarizer to enhance saturation. Make sure you take a night photo of the Big Mac Bridge. If by some chance you stay in Paradise, the entertainment is to go to the dump at night and watch the bears. The main attractions as mentioned are the Pictured Rocks, the falls and Mackinac island. If you have time all of the others mentioned are great also.

If by chance you are going through Detroit, make sure you spend a day at Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. If you are a Motown fan, see the Motown Museum also.

Walt B

usnret Loc: Woodhull Il

What ideas has your travel guide mentioned? It's still a little early to predict where and when the fall foilage will be at peak. Lots of things to do and see up there. Waterfalls galore, lake trout fishing, pontoon sailplane rides, shops galore with things native to the area (think sugar maple syrup, artisian cheeses etc.). Lots of cozy little inns with meals included. Wife and I spent our first night at just such a place in Land O Lakes Mi. To that end, I'm not sure why you would need a travel guide to explore the Upper Peninsula? Not like its a rain forest in south America.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

UpperP is unique.. or at least when I lived in Flint area and traveled to the UP in the 50-60s the UP was still wilderness. Back then, in the western UP, Kebanaugh area, the old copper mines were guarded by rotted wood fences... a hiking hazard.

Taking photos of copper rocks is something not mentioned. The UP was/is copper country. Take lens addon to get closeups of what you find, or what is displayed in a tourist store.
https://www.miroadtrip.com/rock-hunting
https://www.visitkeweenaw.com/blog/post/become-a-keweenaw-rockhound-your-guide-to-rock-picking-in-the-keweenaw/

Peteso Loc: Blacks Hills

Thanks very much to all respondents!! I don't have a planned travel route...yet, that is. I will gather the responses and then figure out where to go from there, and make reservations once the fall color reports begin to look favorable. The flexibility of being retired (more or less, that is) comes in handy for a trip like this.