100 Things to Do in the Upper Peninsula Before You Die

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) is sparse in population, and big in National Park-worthy sites. It’s home to Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Keweenaw Historical National Park and the North Country National Scenic Trail, as well as Mackinac Island, a Victorian-era, car-free step back in time. It’s a place of raw scenic beauty, blinker-light towns, and roadside stops for smoked fish and pasties.

With the second edition of 100 Things to Do in the Upper Peninsula Before You Die, discover a land mostly surrounded by the Great Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior, linked to the state’s mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula by a five-mile suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac. Thick with forests, dotted with waterfalls, and graced with 1,700 miles of spectacular shoreline, it is home to about 301,000 hardy Yoopers (UP-ers), just three percent of Michigan’s population across a third of the state’s territory. Cell phone service can be spotty and the top speed along many of its two-lane highways is 55 mph—all the better to slow down and embrace the UP, whether you’re in search of extreme sports experiences, soft adventure, or a slice of solitude.