Michigan Looking to plan an overland trip to the Upper Peninsula

Noslo65

Noslo65

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Looking to plan a UP trip with my stock
TJ. Does anyone have any input on trails or places to camp? I have spent a little time up there around Crystal Falls but I’m not educated on off-road routes.
 
A lot of guys go to Drummond Island. Guess there’s an off road park there of some kind. Some of my buddies back home in the UP have gone and said it was pretty good. Not sure if it’s open this time of year except for snowmobiles though.
 
Looking to go with my son at the end of May or beginning of June, I should have clarified. We might go up the east side of Lake Michigan to Silver Lake, camp, spend some time at the OVR park at Silver Lake. We may head to Ludington to fish on a charter, then take the SS Badger across to the Wisconsin. After that we would head up to the UP for some overlanding or just finding some nice campgrounds along the way. We explored some areas around Crystal Falls last time we were there, but only went as far as our Honda Odyssey would allow. We identified some good areas but I’m not sure what the full routes would be.
 
drummond island is a excellent place, totally worth the trip. this time of year though i wouldnt expect to see anyone out and about. i was up a month or so ago and only seen 1 other person on the off road trails on the island. earlier in the warmer session of the season i seen several others out and about. drummond ferry is cheap too, $16 covers you to and from the island for you, passenger and the jeep. just park in the line and wait to load up. you can also get your jeep badge of honor too while visiting the island if you check in with the app.

overall the vast majority of the trails on the island seem to be totally passable in a stock jeep and is very beautiful but i did take a trail and got off into some nasty stuff i didnt feel comfortable on and had to turn around. majority of the island is silty dirt and solid rock bottom a few inches below surface. you can easily spend the whole day on the island and not see everything you want.
the fossil ledges on the northern half of the island are pretty neat to walk along and examine all the shards of stone with fossilized remains of corral and other things im not aware of what exactly they are and the eastern side of the island has the "marble head" i wouldn't want to drive down myself.

as for camping on the island, i dont think its permitted unless at a campground which if i remember correctly they are privately owned and you pay via the honor system in a coffee can or something. i did a day trip twice now and haven't needed to camp out.

the off road park on the island is called turtle ridge but i know nothing about it. seen some rough youtube videos filmed there though, i dont think id be interested unless i had a highly modified build.

photos from drummond island
IMG_20190824_162601.jpg IMG_20190908_142912.jpg -2734202179683896504.gif IMG_20191123_115725.jpg IMG_20191123_115639.jpg IMG_20190829_124242.jpg

ive not ventured onto trails yet this year as time has been kinda short due to my purchase towards the end of summer. but if in michigan, vvmapping does seem to do a pretty good job at keeping orv trail maps accessible as well as downloadable and even for purchase to install on a pretty standard car gps to get turn by turn directions for trails. just be sure to stay on 72" orv routes in the jeep and not venture off into the side by side trails.
 
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My parents had a cabin south of Munising for years and it was surrounded with ORV trails. I had a stock TJ back then and it did fine on a lot of the trails in that area, though I will admit I haven't been up there in like 5 years so things could have changed.

Check out the youtube channel "bold overlanding", they had a few episodes of overlanding in the UP. And take the post's advice above, pack a lot of bug spray lol
 
I am from Marquette originally, still have family up there and take several trips there every year. There is a nice campground in Big Bay, and tons of two tracks in the area. You can take them West to Houghton, and venture to Copper Harbor where US 41 starts!
 
03coloradowrangler said:
drummond island is a excellent place, totally worth the trip. this time of year though i wouldnt expect to see anyone out and about. i was up a month or so ago and only seen 1 other person on the off road trails on the island. earlier in the warmer session of the season i seen several others out and about. drummond ferry is cheap too, $16 covers you to and from the island for you, passenger and the jeep. just park in the line and wait to load up. you can also get your jeep badge of honor too while visiting the island if you check in with the app.

overall the vast majority of the trails on the island seem to be totally passable in a stock jeep and is very beautiful but i did take a trail and got off into some nasty stuff i didnt feel comfortable on and had to turn around. majority of the island is silty dirt and solid rock bottom a few inches below surface. you can easily spend the whole day on the island and not see everything you want.
the fossil ledges on the northern half of the island are pretty neat to walk along and examine all the shards of stone with fossilized remains of corral and other things im not aware of what exactly they are and the eastern side of the island has the "marble head" i wouldn't want to drive down myself.

as for camping on the island, i dont think its permitted unless at a campground which if i remember correctly they are privately owned and you pay via the honor system in a coffee can or something. i did a day trip twice now and haven't needed to camp out.

the off road park on the island is called turtle ridge but i know nothing about it. seen some rough youtube videos filmed there though, i dont think id be interested unless i had a highly modified build.

photos from drummond island
View attachment 132794 View attachment 132796 View attachment 132793 View attachment 132798 View attachment 132797 View attachment 132795

ive not ventured onto trails yet this year as time has been kinda short due to my purchase towards the end of summer. but if in michigan, vvmapping does seem to do a pretty good job at keeping orv trail maps accessible as well as downloadable and even for purchase to install on a pretty standard car gps to get turn by turn directions for trails. just be sure to stay on 72" orv routes in the jeep and not venture off into the side by side trails.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks for the info.
 
THEREALJIM said:
My parents had a cabin south of Munising for years and it was surrounded with ORV trails. I had a stock TJ back then and it did fine on a lot of the trails in that area, though I will admit I haven't been up there in like 5 years so things could have changed.

Check out the youtube channel "bold overlanding", they had a few episodes of overlanding in the UP. And take the post's advice above, pack a lot of bug spray lol
Click to expand...
Perfect, this is all good information. We did some hiking and driving looking for waterfalls that were off the beaten path and noticed a lot of what looked like two track trails around Crystal Falls and Iron River. I wanted to head up to Munising on our last trip but never made it. I think we will plan on heading up that way.
 
PJOJeep said:
I am from Marquette originally, still have family up there and take several trips there every year. There is a nice campground in Big Bay, and tons of two tracks in the area. You can take them West to Houghton, and venture to Copper Harbor where US 41 starts!
Click to expand...
Time to get out a map and plan a route😎
 
I typically travel using the app on my phone, would it be a good idea to get a GPS device? If so, what is recommended?
 
I'm originally from Cedarville, and the wife is from Hessel. And like PJOJeep, we still go back in the summers to visit family. Not sure the age of your son, but there are a lot of neat places across the Yoop. Tahquamenon Falls (nice campground). If you come across southern UP you have Lake Kitch-iti-kipi Link with the Hiawatha National Forest to the north. Soo Locks is a great visit if you come across north UP. If you make it up to Munising, Pictured Rocks is a nice stop.
Make sure you stop for a pasty and a Vernors and meet some of the awesome Yoopers.
Not sure about cell service. Unless things have changed, they are not something to rely on. If you have a GPS I'd def use it. Along with VVmapping.

Here is another link that might help with some trails.
www.fishweb.com

Enjoy and let us know how it goes. The family and I will be back in the UP end of June thru the Fourth.
 
Right now very little will be open to Jeeps. Even roads on maps can be seasonal and illegal to drive in the winter (and if you do you may get gang of angry snowmobiles after you.).

There are lots of enjoyable roads and scenic stops even in the winter so you should have fun! Kitch-iti-Kipi as has already been mentioned is worth the stop. If you make it up to Houghton, Roy's Pasties are a favorite. Jam Pot near Copper Harbor is tasty. It's going to be snowmobile only right now, but the rocket range near Schlatter Lake is cool and there's a rowboat you can barrow to camp on the island and take a look at the weird stuff on the island.


03coloradowrangler said:
the off road park on the island is called turtle ridge but i know nothing about it. seen some rough youtube videos filmed there though, i dont think id be interested unless i had a highly modified build.
Click to expand...

There's a little something for everyone in there. The entry fee is a tough pill to swallow though since the park is so small. An otherwise stock Jeep on 31s can do everything in the park and entire Drummond island with some scrapping and no bypasses. On 33s if you pick the right lines you won't scrape anything. On 35s you can pretty much monster truck the entire island in 10 hours. It's a small island but it's worth doing at least once.
 
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Around the Shingleton area, southeast of Munising on 94, were some nice easy trails for ORVs and ATVs and a really cool large open clearing where you could really open up. There was a mild hill there also. I'll try to see if any of the family remember exactly where it was located at. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of that area😕
FB_IMG_1575418347993.jpg
 
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THEREALJIM said:
Around the Shingleton area, southeast of Munising on 94, were some nice easy trails for ORVs and ATVs and a really cool large open clearing where you could really open up. There was a mild hill there also. I'll try to see if any of the family remember exactly where it was located at. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of that area😕 View attachment 132889
Click to expand...


toximus said:
There's also the Thunderbowl to play in. Again, summer only really.
Click to expand...
 
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That was Thunderbowl?? Well I feel like a dumbass now haha I didn't know that was it's name, think my family and I called it the "pit" or something!
 
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