Northern Michigan relies on the tourism dollars that come in each year to support its economy. The travel season to northern Michigan is heavy from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with a spurt around the fall color season. The biggest areas of tourism for the north are the historical sites, the city festivals, the Upper Peninsula destinations, Mackinac Island and the fall color season.
Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island are among the biggest draws for visitors in Michigan. Mackinaw City is the city at the very tip of the lower peninsula, where the Mackinac Bridge begins. About five miles to the northeast is Mackinac Island, which can only be reached by a ferry.
Mackinaw City has a historic fort and museum, and the Island also has a fort, reenactments and more museums to browse through. The city has many artisan shops, including those selling the area's specialty fudge. Mackinac Island uses horses and bikes to travel, since there are no private cars on the island.
The Grand Hotel, built in 1887, sits atop a hill in the middle of the island where it has views of the Straits of Mackinaw and Lake Huron. The hotel has luxury amenities, such as a spa, romantic baskets, honeymoon suites and golf getaways. As of 2010, the rooms ranged in price from $400 to $1,200 per night.
The northern section of Michigan is rich in historical sites. The maritime museum in Rogers City has displays of old vessels and artifacts from the lifestyle of the sailors. The most interesting part is interacting with the staff, who walk, talk and dress like characters from that era.
A shipwreck museum in Paradise has artifacts from 13 different shipwrecks which occurred in the Great Lakes. There is a large tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in Lake Superior during a storm in the 1970s.
The Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum in Northport is 150 years old. There are exhibits of maritime history and artifacts from the era. This is the only lighthouse in Michigan which has a school-type museum, where you can sit in an old classroom to learn about the area, the lifestyle and the lighthouse.
Not only does spring kick off the road construction season, it's the beginning of the spring and summer festivals in Michigan. Many small communities and even the larger cities have a specialty they produce and highlight it during a weekend or a week-long festival. There is the Mackinac Island Lilac Festival, which is celebrated in mid to late June. The Traverse City Cherry festival is a 10-day long affair that begins in the first part of July. Other festivals in northern Michigan celebrate bluegill, lumberjacks, art, Bigfoot, bass, mushrooms and blossoms.
Fall colors are vivid in Michigan during an ideal season. An ideal season means there weren't any torrential rains in August, and no hurricane strength winds or drought leading up to early September and October. Fall colors typically begin in the Upper Peninsula in early to mid-September. Sometimes they even begin as late as the end of September. The color gradually eases south, covering the Lower Peninsula in September and October.
There are self-guided color tours that travel the different two-lane highways across the state. Highway 2 thorugh the Upper Peninsula is full of birch, aspen and maples trees, making a red and yellow display for dozens of miles. Highway 23 along the Lake Huron coast in lower Michigan offers oaks, elms, birch and maple trees in reds, oranges, yellows and golds. If you don't want to drive, there are different bus trips that travel north, stopping in different towns such as Frankenmuth, Grayling and Swartz Creek.
The Upper Peninsula, or the UP as Michiganders call it, is still a wilderness of sorts. Over 90 percent of the land is still forest. The UP has ski resorts, a mountain range, water falls and the Soo Locks.
The Soo Locks in Sault Saint Marie is where the big ships come in. The ships are in the higher water of Lake Superior and are lowered so they can continue traveling in the shallower waters of Lake Huron. The Soo allows visitors year round. Each June, Engineering Day allows visitors to walk out and explore the locks.
Hundreds of people travel to see Tahquamenon Falls each year. The Upper Falls are the larger of the two, and have one giant drop of 50 feet in the Tahquamenon River. Farther down are the Lower Falls, which are a much smaller series of falls. Camping can be done in the Tahquamenon Falls State Park, which houses the falls in the city of Tahquamenon Falls.
