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A Dilemma: Help Me Plan My Lake Superior Road Trip

Started by Dodgy Loner, May 23, 2012, 10:22:14 AM

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Dodgy Loner

After attending my last Pig Roast in 2009, I brought my soon-to-be-fiancé along with me for a weeklong road trip around the northern shore of Lake Ontario. It was incredible – we made stops in Killarney Provincial Park (our favorite spot), Toronto, and Niagara Falls (where I proposed to her). Three years later, we are ready to do it all over again, but this time we are planning to travel around Lake Superior instead.

Therein lies the dilemma – the planner in me wants to stick to the southern shore. I've come across some beautiful places in my research that I would love to visit – Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Tahquamenon Falls, and then we could swing down to the Lower Peninsula to visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I'm sure the many Great Lakes residents on this forum could suggest other beautiful places to visit as well. The nice thing about this route is that there are tons of pictures and information on the internet about every state park and national monument along the way. But that's also what worries me – the reason there's so much information is that there are so many visitors. Pictured Rocks gets a half million visitors a year. Sleeping Bear Dunes probably gets at least that many.

When I go on vacation, I don't want many other people around. I want to feel alone with nature. I want to share a secluded campsite with my friends and family. I want to explore without a park ranger telling me to get back behind the rail. I want to discover amazing things, without knowing beforehand how amazing they will be.

That's why the adventurous side of me wants to travel around the North Shore. It would add at least 7-8 hours to our drive time, and information about the Provincial Parks around the Ontario shore is hard to come by. But that's part of what makes it so inviting. There aren't many pictures of the North Shore that are as spectacular as, say, Pictured Rocks, but I wonder if that's just because there aren't a half million people snapping pictures and putting them online every year.

So I need you to help me decide which way to go. Am I worrying too much about the crowds on the southern shore? Is it easy to get away from the most popular spots and feel secluded? What other places should I visit if I go this way?

If we take the northern route, will the scenery be as spectacular as the southern? What stops should we make? Am I kidding myself about assuming that it will be fairly unpopulated? (I'm basing that assumption just on looking at a map). Feel free to convince me one way or another :)

By the way, if you are reluctant to share your favorite spot with the world, you can send me a PM. I won't tell :D
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

chet

 

 

Take da north shore!  8)  8)   We've been around it many times, and I never tire of it. And an added plus, you won't see many people.  :D



 
Take time ta check things out, yer on yer own. Dem Canucks ain't to good at markin' da sites.  :D



 



 



 



 
Bring lots of film, and don't pass by any gas stations if yer on a bike.  ;)



 
We spotted these falls from the road. It took almost 2 hours of hiking to get to it, but man was it beautiful. No sign of any human presence, ever.   :) 8)
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

ellmoe

DL, after last year's pig roast, we (my wife and parents) went To The Pictured Rocks (The boat tour right before dark-great) and T-Falls (not crowded-did see other roast attendees there). We spent a night in Paradise (misnamed  ::)  ) and went south through Wisconsin (so much corn! never saw so much green before), and then crossed the Miss. and drove south down the valley cutting back into Wisconsin. It was an enjoyable trip, no crowds anywhere. I'm sure the north shore would be great,too.
Mark
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

Dan_Shade

i went into the UP last year after the pigroast, I started off heading to whitefish point, then stayed in Newbury after visiting Tahquamenon falls.  It then went and checked out Grand Marais, and headed out over state highway 58 (at the recommendation of Corley 5).  there are bunch of parks and waterfalls there.  it's nice country.  I didn't think any of it was too crowded.

My trip's story is captured here:  https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,52171.0.html
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

chet

Dan,
DA Yooper side of da big lake is like da big city, compared ta da Canuke side.   ;)
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

Dodgy Loner

Thanks for the replies! Chet, your pictures just reinforces my desire to travel the North Shore, but it's looking more like we'll be doing the U.P. instead. The extra mileage to go through Canada would mean that we would be driving about 4-5 hours per day between sleeping spots, which Mrs. Loner assures me will be a bad idea with a 9-month old :-\. Of course she is right. But no worries, the North Shore will just be one more unexplored spot to which we shall return for a future Pig Roast :)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

MHineman

  I haven't been to Pictured Rocks, but did make it to Porcupine Mountain State Park.  It is in the far western part of the UP, right on the lake.
  We were there in July and had only one other camper in our small campground for one night.
1999 WM LT40, 40 hp 4WD tractor, homemade forks, grapple, Walenstein FX90 skidding winch, Stihl 460 039 saws,  homebuilt kiln, ......

SwampDonkey

The North Shore is pretty sparse for population. Pretty much nothing between nothing. :D ;) Between Saulte and Thunderbay, your pretty much on your own. Maybe a few moose. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Dodgy Loner

That's the way I like it, SD. If it wasn't for the 9-month winters, I would probably be applying for residence in Canada right now ;D

I think I would need more than a week to do the North Shore justice.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

SwampDonkey

Winter can be fun to if your an outdoors enthusiast. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Raider Bill

If you are a Diver there is some nice wrecks around Thunder Bay area.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

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