Camping 99 Destination Series: Michigan's Magnificent Outdoors!


© Thomas Stephens Sr.
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May 25, 1999


This is the sixth in a series of articles that offer suggestions for your 1999 camping/vacation destinations. The articles share our personal experiences at these great places and provide links to more explicit information on attractions, parks and campgrounds.

There are over 11,000 inland lakes and 36,000 miles of streams and rivers in the state of Michigan. At least half of the land is forested, and no matter where you are, you are never more than an hour from a state park or recreational area! Michigan also has over 150 waterfalls - most located in the Upper Peninsula. Thanks to the loving care of her citizens, Michigan today is blessed with an abundance of wildlife, diverse plant life, unique scenic wonders and natural beauty. She is Outdoors magazine come to life, a state that possesses attributes usually associated only with National Parks. Name any outdoor activity, and the state of Michigan can supply it.

The state is divided into two separate entities, and both are peninsulas. The two peninsulas (Upper and Lower) are surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes. It has more shoreline (over 3,200 miles) than the whole U.S. Atlantic Coast! The five-mile-long Mackinac Bridge (Big Mac) spans the Mackinac Straits and is the only connection between the two peninsulas. It is Michigan's unusual and spectacular physical geography that affords her so many and so varied natural wonders.

The National Park Service

The National Park Service operates two National Lakeshores, a National Park, plus a National Historic Park in the state. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is located some 25 miles west of Traverse City in the northern Lower Peninsula (LP). Its amazing and enormous sand dunes stretch for 35 miles along Lake Michigan and are great fun to climb and hike across. The park also provides beautiful forests and beaches. We enjoyed the views from Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. Just offshore, North and South Manitou Islands can be reached via the Manitou Island Transit ferry. Sleeping Bear provides a primitive campground, D.H. Day, and the Platte River Campground (179 sites) with electrical hookups and a dump station. (Reservations: 1-800-365-CAMP).

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is on Lake Superior in the northern Upper Peninsula (UP) and features brilliantly colored sandstone cliffs, lovely beaches, dunes, waterfalls and lots of wildlife. The park is 40 miles long and offers kayaking, hiking, fishing and many more outdoor activities. Pictured Rocks Cruises operates out of nearby Munising, Michigan. There is rustic camping (no facilities) provided in three park campgrounds - some sites will accommodate large RVs.

   

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Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages
5.   Jul 1, 1999 10:53 PM
Have a great time Dan and be careful out there my friend! Good Camping!!!!!!

-- posted by Tom_Stephens
4.   Jul 1, 1999 1:33 PM
...but related to this topic and this article:

I will be away from my home computer, probably away from the Internet, camping near

-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth
3.   May 25, 1999 7:49 PM
I first heard it of Colorado - that it was like three states, the Great Plains, the increasingly urbanized edge of the mountains, and the mountainous or West Slope area. I think you could do the same ...

-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth
2.   May 25, 1999 3:54 PM
Thanks Dan, I appreciate your comments very much and coming from you, I guess I can say I did the state justice with my article. The wife and I really enjoyed our camping trip through Michigan and wan ...

-- posted by Tom_Stephens
1.   May 25, 1999 6:30 AM
For over 52 years of my life, I've lived in Michigan, and still learned some new things - especially that Keweenaw Historic Park (though I've seen some of its components). The pictures are clear, ple ...

-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth



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