After Ohio we decided to head to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan to visit friends Don & Lynette who were camping there. We had been to the lower portion of the state on a previous trip but had never been far north to see the Yoopers (derived from “UP-ers”). Heading up I-75 you cross the 45th parallel, marking the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole. This northern area is surrounded by the waters of the Great Lakes and offers so much maritime fun and history. An added bonus to this beautiful region was seeing the peak of the fall leaves changing color.
We traveled to the very top of the UP to Sault Sainte Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Mah-Ree), which is the oldest city in Michigan. Be careful if you are booking a stay here, though, as there is a Sault Sainte Marie in Michigan (US) and its twin city of Sault Sainte Marie across the river in Canada! We almost accidentally booked in Canada which would have been a problem since currently Americans can’t cross the border due to Covid-19 restrictions. Getting to Sault Sainte Marie requires crossing the very large Mackinac Bridge which connects Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas.
Soo Locks Boat Tour
One of the most popular attractions in Sault Sainte Marie is the Soo Locks Boat Tours. We really enjoyed the cruise along the St. Mary’s River, which connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The locks were constructed to bypass St. Mary’s Rapids, the result of the 21-foot difference in land elevation between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
The tour boat first goes through an upbound lock and then after cruising on Lake Superior it goes through a downbound lock. On the US side, the MacArthur Lock is 800 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 31 feet deep with 12-foot thick walls. Ten million gallons of water are required to raise a vessel to the Lake Superior level in this lock, which takes about 15 minutes to fill. It used to take 3 days to portage around the rapids before the locks were built!
Interestingly no charges are made to any vessel of any nationality to use the locks which are operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Over 100 million tons of freight pass through the Soo Locks each year carrying cargo of iron ore pellets, coal, wheat and other grains. The Soo Locks have the greatest tonnage moving capacity per day of any lock system on Earth. Ships can go all the way from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, a 1624-mile journey that takes over 6 days and passes through 16 different locks.
Valley Camp Ship Museum
Right next to the Soo Locks dock, the Valley Camp Ship Museum allows you to tour a Great Lakes steamship. Inside the massive cargo hold is a museum with over 100 exhibits, including four 1200-gallon aquariums stocked with fish from the Great Lakes region. Two lifeboats from the stricken Edmund Fitzgerald are also on exhibit, two of the very few artifacts recovered after its tragic sinking. Crew quarters show visitors how the sailors lived and worked aboard the ship.
The Tower of History
Across the street from the waterfront is the Tour of History, a 210 foot tall shrine built by the Catholic Church as a memorial to early French missionaries. A very small museum is in the lower part, but the observation platforms at the top are worth the entry fee. Visitors can get a 360-degree view of the entire area from the Sault Locks and St Mary’s River to the Canadian wilderness. The panoramic view can be up to 25 square miles on a clear day and overlooks one of the world’s busiest inland shipping channels.
Tahquamenon Falls State Park
Tahquamenon Falls State Park is about an hour from Sault Saint Marie. The park has 50,000 acres of woodlands with its centerpiece the Tahquamenon River and its waterfalls. They are nicknamed the Root Beer Falls because of the brown color of the water. The color is caused by tannins from cedar swamps that drain into the river. The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. It has a drop of nearly 50 feet and is more than 200 feet across.
Four miles downstream is the Lower Falls, a series of 5 smaller falls cascading around an island. Although most of the land is undeveloped, there are several good hiking trails in the park.
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
A short drive from the state park is Whitefish Point, home to the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior. The area is known as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast so it is appropriate that the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is here. The museum features exhibits of shipwreck artifacts, models, and maritime history. There is also a restored 1861 Lightkeepers Quarters and 1923 Lifeboat Station Surfboat House. Stories abound of highly trained and dedicated surfmen who often risked their lives to render assistance to those in peril along this menacing coastal area.
We definitely learned a lot about maritime history and this interesting area. We saw all of the Great Lakes, rode on Lake Superior with the Soo Locks Tour, toured a freighter, learned about shipwrecks in the area, and viewed beautiful waterfalls. Seeing the brilliant fall colors and visiting with our friends made it a perfect trip!
Interesting as always. I wondered about the color of the water of the waterfall pic. Now I know. I never thought about how Michigan (upper) must be accessed in unconventional ways. Cool!
I love waterfalls and thought these were beautiful, especially the unusually colored Root Beer Falls. The UP area of Michigan was full of fun and interesting history!
You were there at the perfect time. The fall colors are just beautiful! I wish we’d been able to do the locks tour or visit the shipwreck museum, but we just didn’t have time when we visited. Definitely looks like they’d be worth a return trip at some point. So much interesting stuff up there!
I definitely think it would be worth a return visit! I wished we could have gone across to Canada’s Sault Saint Marie also, but alas the world has been different this year. We loved the fall colors, but I have heard August is a great time to visit too. I think we’ll eventually go back to see more of the area.
Very intriguing area that we don’t know much about. Thanks for providing such detail and great photos for all your travels. Merry Christmas!!
You are so right–we didn’t know anything about this area and just thought Michigan was Michigan. The UP is very different and we enjoyed the beauty there–especially with the fall colors. Merry Christmas to you as well!
What a great place to visit and explore a vast amount of Maritime History. The views from the Tower of History are spectacular. Root Beer Falls is stunning and your pictures are so vibrant. Thanks for sharing, safe travels and Merry Christmas cousin!
We really enjoyed this northern area–so different even from lower Michigan. The waterfalls were my favorite and the color so interesting. We loved seeing the trees change as well, since we don’t get that much color normally in Texas. Merry Christmas to you too, Sandi!
Really enjoy your blog. I remember the “MightyMac”, we were northbound on our motorcycle through the wind and rain, my wife squeezing me so hard I could hardly breathe as we crossed that iron grating at the top of the bridge. Bike got very loose, but made it over. Keep you blog coming.
Hi Tom — I appreciate you following along with us. You were brave to cross the bridge on your motorcycle! I was glad we were in our car and not the motorhome, as I was squeezing the door handle very tightly. I can definitely identify with your wife on that one! Luckily we beat the rain on our trip over. We really enjoyed our time in the UP.
We toured the eastern half of the UP for our honeymoon 11 years ago! The fall colors up there are some of the most vibrant I’ve ever seen. My husband thought they were comparable to the colors he had seen growing up in New England. We also did Whitefish Point and the State Park and falls. This is such an awesome area, I want to go back!
I would have to agree with the vibrant colors of the UP. We loved our visit there–it sounds like you visited many of the same spots that we did. I’ve heard the UP is a great area to visit in the summer too. I’m sure we will be back and hope you are able to visit again too!
I don’t have an RV but I am converting a van (super excited) and have had the UP area on my radar for awhile….maybe this year? Thanks for sharing all the detail about things to do in the area.
Hi Denise! Thanks for checking out my blog post. Converting a van sounds so fun! I hope you get to travel soon and enjoy exploring the UP.
I have visited Mackinac Island but now see that there are many more beautiful things to see in the UP. Hopefully, I will get back there some day.
Hi Sandra! Thanks for checking out my blog post. It’s funny that Mackinac Island is one of the places we didn’t go during out visit. I’ve heard it’s lots of fun there, but our weather was cold and rainy so we opted to save that for another visit. We hope to go back some day too.