Michigan's Upper Peninsula Travel Blog

Many folks have heard about the spectacular Pictured Rocks Lakeshore but Munising has another gem – Grand Island! This 13,000-acre island sits only 1/2 mile from the mainland and features some very impressive scenery of its own. New for 2010, the (very cool) Glass Bottom Boat Shipwreck Tours is now offering an evening cruise around the island. This 2 1/2 hour, narrated boat tour features some pretty awesome sites including towering cliffs, picturesque Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse and the Grand Island North Lighthouse. For the lighthouse enthusiasts, this is one of the only ways to see the North Light because it can’t be viewed from land (privately owned). The North Light sits on a 175-foot cliff, which makes it the highest lighthouse above sea level in North America. (That’s pretty impressive!) The evening cruise will only be running in July and August and it’s the same price as the standard shipwreck tour cruise. Come to Munising and check it out this summer! There’s nothing like enjoying the scenery and a sunset on Lake Superior!

Beautiful Grand Island rock formation. Shipwreck Tours photo.

The Grand Island shoreline is pretty spectacular. Shipwreck Tours photo

In other news, the Upper Peninsula saw snow over the weekend! Some areas received over 6 inches of the white stuff. Since then, the weather has turned around and we’re back to more normal temperatures. The weather for the walleye/pike season opener on Saturday (May 15th) also looks good. Have a great weekend!

It’s definitely been wintry around here and it’s perfect timing as Munising’s Winterfest kicks off today. Over the last few days, we’ve received 10-12″ of new snow. This is good news for the upcoming dog sled races and Winterfest happening through weekend. The weekend forecast also looks good and we hope you can make it for a great family weekend.

The main feature of Winterfest is the finish of the Midnight Run dog sled race. This 89-mile, 8-dog race begins on Friday evening in Gwinn, MI and finishes Saturday morning (approx. 7am-2pm) in downtown Munising. It’s pretty exciting to see the dogs and mushers making their final charge to the finish line. Come out and cheer them on! Beside this race, there’s also the U.P. 200 dog sled race happening at the same time. This 12-dog race begins in Marquette, MI, on Friday night, and travels through the Munising area up to Grand Marais, MI. From there, they turn around, travel back to Marquette and finish on Sunday. Along the way, there are designated checkpoints and rest areas for the racers. Spectators can also visit those spots to see the race teams taking a break from the action. A dog sled race is a must-see event!

Last year's pet parade

Besides the dog sled race, Winterfest features winter games, food, music and other events throughout the entire weekend. Check out the Winterfest page to view a schedule of all the events. A new event to this year’s Winterfest is the Cardboard Classic Sled Race at Bayshore Park on Friday night. This free event is a competition to build your own cardboard sled and race it down a hill. During the sled race, there will be food, beverages and music in the Bayshore Park Pavilion. The fun begins at 5pm and pre-registration to compete is requested. Even if you don’t want race, this should be a pretty fun event to watch!

Throughout Saturday and Sunday there’s a whole list of activities planned. From snow games to snowshoeing and dog sled rides, everyone will be having a great time. Other events include a waterfall/ice hikes by U.P. Overland, a snowshoe demo/hike by Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and an evening campfire gathering put on by the Boy Scouts. The pet parade, kiddie mutt races and the human dog sled races are also fun events to participate in or just watch from the sideline.

2009's human dog sled race

On Saturday night, the Snowball Dance will take place at the Munising Moose Lodge from 8pm-midnight. The popular band Evergreen Seven will jam the night away and get you on the dance floor. There will be food and beverages available.

To get the complete details on the events, including an event map, visit www.munisingwinterfest.com!

Wow, next Monday is already February and it looks like it’s going to be a fun month! Every weekend there is a great event happening in the Munising area. So if you haven’t made it up to the Upper Peninsula, this is definitely a good time to visit the area. Many of the events are unique to the U.P. and you’ll definitely not be disappointed. From an ice climbing festival to a dog sled race and Winterfest–it’s going to be a good month! Below is an overview of what’s happening in February. Over the next few weeks, I’ll post a more complete write-up of the upcoming events. Make sure to visit our Winter Events page for the complete details.

February Event Highlights:

• Feb. 5-7: Ice Climbing Festival
• Feb. 13: Ice Fishing Derby // Grand Marais Cabin Fever
• Feb. 18-21: U.P. 200 Dog Sled Race // Munising Winterfest
• Feb. 27-28: Trenary Outhouse Races // Munising 300 Snowmobile Race

(And those are just a few of them…)

Yesterday's lake-effect snow blast, E. Superior St. & Elm Ave. intersection

If you’re wondering about the weather, the “Thaw” has ended and we’re in a deep freeze right now. The daily high temperature is reaching, maybe, 10 degrees while the overnight low is around 0 degrees. We’ve also had lake-effect snow bands develop in the last couple days that drop some much needed snow. Yesterday, we received about 6″ of the white stuff here in town. The forecast is showing much of the same except for the temperature rising to the low-20s for the daytime high. (Great U.P. winter weather!)

So, plan your trip, pack your bags and head up north for winter fun!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. It’s hard to believe that we’re only a couple days away from the new year and a new decade! Please be safe and enjoy the start of 2010. We hope it’s a good one for you!

The weather over the holidays has been a bit unusual. On Christmas Day, it rained but then turned to snow the following days. As you can imagine this left everything pretty icy. We’ve had a break for a few days but major lake-effect snow is forecasted during New Years. In town, there’s over a foot of snow on the ground while areas away from Lake Superior have 1-2 feet of snow. The snowmobile trails will probably be especially active this week so ride safe. Also, the crazy Xmas weather has made the ice fishing a little unpredictable. Around the U.P., there’s been few vehicles, snow machines & ORVs falling through the ice. This isn’t happening at all lakes but the conditions can be deceiving so be careful when venturing on the lakes.

Looking for some winter fun? The Munising area is host to many events throughout the winter months and now is the time to make plans to visit! Check out our Munising Events page to see what happening. The first event of the new year is the 4th Annual Ski Bash at Valley Spur Trails on Saturday, January 9th. This cross-country ski race is open to all levels of competition and you can still register by visiting their website (or before the race). I’ll tell you more about it next week.

Continue to enjoy the holidays and we’ll catch ya next year!

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With the recent big snowfall, we were inspired to create a new webpage on Explore Munising so you can keep up-to-date on our weather in Munising. Our new weather page has it all – from the current temperature to an Upper Peninsula weather radar. We’ve heard our visitors also love seeing live pictures of Munising and so we’ve added three different web cams, from the area, so you can see a live view. Some of our helpful links include current road conditions, area snowmobile trail reports and an extended forecast from the National Weather Service.

As for the snowfall, we had a break for a few days and then on Monday we picked up another 6 inches of new snow! Yesterday, a lake-effect band was holding steady over eastern Alger County and it’s still lingering around this morning. Here in town, we picked up another few inches of fresh snow during the night. The snowmobile trails are being groomed on a daily basis and the same goes for the cross-country ski trails at Valley Spur. It’s still early in the season so be on the lookout for rocks, sticks and other debris. As for the inland lakes, many are frozen but they’re not safe for travel, yet.

Here’s some photos from yesterday’s lake-effect snow band over Lake Superior.

Munising Bay, looking towards the northwest.

Munising's City Dock, looking north towards the lake-effect snow.

It’s not too late to make your reservations today to come up to the Munising area for the holidays and enjoy the snow! We have some great hotels & motels plus beautiful lodges, resorts & cabins.

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Well, we’ve finally got it. I’m talking about snow and lots of it! Although a month late or so, Old Man Winter has finally arrived, with a vengeance. The first sign of any snow arrived last week with a few inches sticking on the ground. Then the beginning of this week we received a few more inches until the first big snow storm of the season hit. Over the last couple days we received about 15 inches of snow, in Munising, and it was accompanied with lots of wind and drifting. On the radar, the storm looked like a mini hurricane as swirled through the Great Lakes region and headed east. The entire Upper Peninsula was blanketed with snow, a good start for the winter tourism season.

Although the storm has moved on, the lake-effect snow is now taking over. Through Saturday, they are forecasting 17-32 inches of additional snow for the Munising region! For snowmobilers, the first groomer has headed out on the snowmobile trails to start packing down all this beautiful fluffy snow. This also goes for the cross-country ski trails at Valley Spur. They are  running their groomer and rolling some of the trails in preparation for the ski season.

So it’s official, winter has finally come to Munising! Start planning your winter vacation by browsing the rest of Explore Munising. Our Munising area travel website covers everything from great lodging options to places to catch a bite to eat (and/or drink). Come up and enjoy the U.P. winter!

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First signs of winter. 12/03/09

The big storm hits Munising. 12/09/09

Lake-effect snow kicks into full gear. 12/10/09

Yesterday, the weather was quite interesting in the Munising area. We had our first day of actual measurable snowfall! Although it wasn’t much, it was still enough to get you in the mood and starting thinking about all the winter fun (or misery) we have around here. In town, it was mostly little ice pellets that piled up to a half-inch or so. A half mile to the south and few miles to the west, it was a different story. There was a good 2-3 inches of a snowy mix that collected on the ground and stayed overnight. Closer to Chatham, the trees and ground were really pretty with the snow sticking to everything. There were also a few car accidents in the area but everyone seems to be okay. The first snowfall is always interesting and a good reminder to slow down and brake early.

The colder weather is supposed to continue for the next few days before a warm-up over the weekend. They’re currently predicting temperatures reaching the 50-degree range. It sounds like it’s going to be a good weekend to rake those leaves and get set for Old Man Winter.

For the most part, it looks like winter is finally over. The weather has been comfortable for the last several days and yesterday we had our first major thunderstorm of the season, complete with hail. Tomorrow looks to be a different story, though, with highs predicted only to be in the 40s with a chance of snow! I don’t think (or hope) there will be any accumulation. My snowblower is in hibernation for the year!

In review, the 2008-2009 winter was a great one compared to years past. We had snow on the ground before deer season (Nov. 15th) and it lasted well into April. A majority of the snow fell during the early part of season and was pretty much done by March. It was colder than normal which contributed to Lake Superior being 95% froze over. When the lake freezes over, it puts a stop to our lake-effect snow. Also, many of the major snow storms stayed south of the U.P.  and prevented a record snowfall. Listed below is the total snowfall amount for the city of Munising. For the areas outside of town, and to the east of Munising, they received well over 300 inches of snow for the year! Unless we get a freak May storm, this should be it.

City of Munising
2008-2009: 230.9″
last year: 161.1″
National Weather Service data

With the beautiful sunshine today, I took a drive to the scenic overlook just off M28 on the west side of town. Below is what I saw. You’ll notice we’re still waiting for the leaves to appear.

(Click to enlarge) Grand Island on the left, Sand Point on the right and Pictured Rocks straight ahead.

Wildflowers are starting to appear in the woods.

Happy Mother’s Day!

It looks like spring has officially arrived in Munising and the rest of the U.P. This entire week has been sunny and gradually warming as the week goes on. Around town, most of the snow has melted except for piles from snowplowing. Outside of town, and to east, there’s still quite a bit of snow on the ground and it will probably be in to May before it’s gone. On Munising Bay, there’s still ice but it’s highly unstable. Some people are still ice fishing but from the luxury of a flat-bottom boat. You know the ice is bad when they’re resorting to that. Another sign of spring is the wildlife sightings. This past week, I’ve seen a few sandhill cranes, variety of ducks and even a fox chasing a coyote across the highway.

With the warm weather today, I decided to go for a walk and bring the camera along. Here’s a few shots from around town.

Spring flowers are starting to bloom

Still snow in the woods around Munising

Munising Bay still ice covered. Grand Island straight ahead.

View of the Munising hills with their snow cover.

Has spring sprung where you live? Leave a comment and let us know!