The Fall Tour - Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Just back from an awesome 3 days in Northern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is the trip of trips you hope for, when planning to view the countryside, with the fall colors at their peak!


Day One - Waterloo, IA to Baraga, MI
After a night in Iowa City saturday (Oct. 2nd) watching the Hawkeyes take care of the Nittany Lions, I took off at 6am to head north. My route took me thru Dubuque, then Madison, and GREEN BAY. As I approached Green Bay, the traffic suddenly became bumper to bumper... duh, its a home football game for the Packers! Oh well, thought I might as well check it out, so I got off the main highway and headed for Lambeau Field - 30 minutes before kickoff! It was a beautiful day.. about 60 degrees, no wind, and clear blue sky. The smell of brats, and fall were definitely in the air. I took some video of the drive around the stadium... Click here to view.

Next stop was Baraga, MI, on L'Anse Bay, on the Western edge of Lake Superior. A 10-1/2 hour drive to this location, but it set up Day Two to be able to spend more time exploring, rather than driving to the next area. My 1st real access to the beautiful colors was on this portion of the drive into Baraga. Here are a couple of the neat areas I was able to stop and enjoy. This photo was taken at the Wisconsin/Michigan border.



A bit further down the road, in Niagara, MI I came across this river photo, with the bluffs in lining the shoreline with more fall colors.

As I approached L'Anse Bay, I found this cool little "island" that someone had placed a home on. It overlooked the bay, but also had this small pond/wildlife area on the road side.... 


The Best Western in Baraga was my overnite stay. It was right on the Bay, and provided me a beautiful view of the Bay shoreline at sunset (no camera with me then... was lookin' for someplace to eat!)


Day Two - Baraga, MI to Minocqua, WI



Day Two was a bit more relaxing.... Took off about 6:30 for my drive up to Houghton (I was "corrected at a stop for coffee that its pronounced "Hoe-ton") and headed up to Eagle Harbor. When I arrived, the sun wasn't high enough to clear the tree ridges, so I hung out along the harbor getting some shots of the lighthouse in action. About 20 minutes later, the sun's rays appeared on the the lighthouse and shoreline, giving me another beautiful display of shoreline! The roads in town were under major construction, so I couldn't get to the light house to take some up close shots this time.

Next stop was to wander back down to Calumet, MI, and check out some of the great old sandstone buildings in and around town. Calumet was once known as Red Jacket, back in the days it served as the center of mining for the Upper Peninsula. Just outside of town are the remains of copper mines which flourished back in the 1800's (1860-1890). The Great Depression resulted in the mines finally closing down. The two photos show are of the historic architecture in town. The 1st shows an old factory building now used for storage. 

The second building is the St. Paul the Apostle Church, built in 1908. It is virtually unchanged since its construction (which cost $100,000). 

From here I decided to check out the abandoned mining facilities, which are now the site of tours. Rather than take the tour, I wandered around the grounds and came across some relics of the past.... an abandoned rail spur running along the bluff overlooking Houghton and Hancock. 

Not only was the view amazing, but the relics of the old mining days gone by were pretty neat!

Time to start heading back toward Wisconsin, and the Minocqua area... all along the roads heading Southwest, were beautiful scenes of color. One of the best sites was a farmstead in Michigan, with the trees on the hillside full of color, and the hay baled and ready for storage. 

Before leaving the Upper Peninsula, I came upon this lodge.... had to get a photo... it says it all!


A bit further down the road I came upon the town of Watersmeet, Michigan. Home of the "Nimrods"... now I thought having a mascot called a Wahawk was strange, but a NIMROD??? Well come to find out that there is a reason... Nimrod Nation











I arrived in the Woodruff-Minocqua area about 3pm, and headed to the site of my uncle's old cabin, on the edge of Mann Lake, surrounded by Government forest land and nothing else. The normal one mile overgrown forest path I normally drive to get there, had been "traveled"... looking like bulldozers, and other vehicles had been working there.. It was in too bad a condition to drive, so with camera in hand, I headed out by foot to check the abandoned cabin... well, in the last 5 years I have been checking it out, this year, the work on the road had somehow eliminated the road to the cabin! I walked almost to the lakeshore, but no signs of the path. So, starting to worry about being a mile into the woods alone, I gave up, and headed back to the car. Disappointing to see that this legacy of the Titus family may no longer be. I will try again next year... and use my GPS to get me there! 


Day two ended up at the AmericInn in Minocqua. If you ever have the need to stay in that area, this is a great place to stay.. inexpensive, but in excellent condition...

Day Three - Minocqua, WI to Waterloo, IA
The final day, like all my trips, seems to be a bit depressing, knowing its almost over. I took off before sunrise again, driving West... It was cool to see the fog, floating above the lakes, and see the sun begin shining on the colors once more... another beautiful day in Wisconsin!

As I pressed further south, the colors began to disappear, and more and more farmland replaced the acres and acres of forests. A couple more interesting sites along the way included the town of Colby... Yes, home of Colby Cheese! (it was too early to stop and buy any).  

A bit further on, were the remnants of cranberry fields that had been harvested. Since no harvesting was going on, there were no good "photo ops", other than empty cranberry beds. 

No trip would be complete without a stop at a different casino. This trip it was the Rainbow Casino (now called H-chunk Gaming Nekoosa). Nice place... and as usual, a few dollars were invested with NO RETURN!

My Santa Fe now was nearing La Crosse, and except for a stop to pick Sue up some Totally Naked beer for Sue, it was time to put the peddle to the metal and get back to Waterloo. 

The drive back thru NE Iowa, via Waukon, Postville, and West Union is one you should consider taking if ever heading up this way. Nice towns and beautiful countrysides. Although the color hasn't really peaked in this area, its a great place to enjoy the beautiful Iowa landscape!

So ends my travels for 2010. Some great sights, some interesting places, and some wonderful R&R.  I am already thinking about next year, and what to check out for "Rick's Travel Tales". If anyone has some places to recommend, send them my way.

Finally, to see all the photos I took along the way (too many to post here), check out my Picasa Web Album from the trip.

Enjoy!  - Rick