How busy has the MI UP been

I am not a Michigander …haven’t lived in the state in years but this year I will be taking a vacation to the UP.



Just wondering if anyone knows how busy the camp gounds and lakes/rivers have been this year in the UP…especally around Munising/Marquette.



I am hoping maybe high gas prices are keeping people south of the big Mak bridge.



Thanks!

I can’t tell ya about the UP but…
…we were at Wilderness SP (within site of the bridge)a week ago - the campground was full, but hardly anyone else. On a sunny Saturday with 70 degree water, we did a 14 mile paddle and saw 3 people - 2 in one canoe. Not a single power boat, jet ski, or even fishing boat. It does seem that gas prices are keeping the crazies at home.

We went 4th of july
And the campgrounds in the federal forest were almost empty when we left at the end of the week. If you go to reserveusa.com there are a few of them that you can reserve sites at if you are worried about getting a site. We stayed at camp seven lake 3o miles south of Munsing but when we were driving taking in the sights we drove through a few other campgrounds (always on the lookout for a better spot:) Most of the ones we saw were clean and Quiet. the us forest service has a good web site if you do a google search for Hiawatha national forest it will let you have a good campground list up there. The private capgrounds we passed were a little busy but still had sites availabe. Have fun

Not Michigan but
A campground that has sites for RV’s and tents on a prime shoreline spot on Muscongous Bay in Maine told us they were down about 10% for July because of the gas prices. And that’s I think closer to civilization than where you ae talking about in Michigan.

No problem during the week, but on
weekends things can get loud. We like Pretty Lakes, but on the weekend and during school holidays the places is loaded with ORV campers. If you stay away from campgrounds that are on ORV trails you should be ok.



It is ironic that Pretty Lakes is a designated “Quiet Area”, not allowing power boats.

Just got back from a camp ground at
Pike Lake, about 10 miles south of Lake Superior to kayak the Two Hearted River and there were 4 others there out of 10 sites.

The traffic coming back on Sunday was heavy.

I think people are starting to say the heck with it and going

Summer in Marquette
As far as I know, Tourist Park campground here in Marquette hasn’t been packed, save for last weekend due to the Hiawatha Music Festival. Labor Day weekend is the third annual Marquette Summer Blues Festival at Mattson Lower Harbor Park, so I’m sure between the holiday and festival that’ll draw in a few extra visitors. Otherwise, it’s summer in Marquette… school’s out and this place is relatively quiet and empty.



Great time to come up when it’s not busy, AND when we’re getting nice 75-80 degree weather while the rest of the country is frying :slight_smile:

How are the black flies this year?

My persoanl experiences
I am 43 and have lived in MI. all my life with many trips to the U.P. for various hunting fishing camping adventures. My experience has shown that that the eastern U.P. (east of manistique) is usually more crowded at any given time than the western end. (more tourist attractions in E.U.P.?) Munising is usually pretty busy with pictured rocks peepers…but high gas prices seem to have dampened travel this year. I am going to canoe /camp on escanaba river (gwinn to lake MI.) aug 10 to 16. I will drop a report whan I get back…hope it will not be too late to help.



Best regards,



brjeff

They were bad…
… back in June into the beginning of summer the black flies were very bad. One of my friends and I went out to Little Presque Isle to walk across the water to the island and the back of his white shirt must have had over 20 flies on it and swarming around us at all times. It was ridiculous. I haven’t been back there since.



Yesterday I went out to the beach along the east side of Marquette and laid out in the sun for over two hours and didn’t have one fly bother me the entire time.



From my experience up here, the flies tend to be more populous on the beaches near highly wooded areas like Little Presque. The beach behind Sugarloaf Mountain isn’t as bad, though typically I’ll have a few of them pestering me constantly. Go to the beaches around town (anywhere along the east side or Presque Isle Park) and it’s not bad at all.

just there
and the black flys were pretty scarce. had a couple buggin’ us as we sat on the beach outta the wind. Me thinks they were stable flys.



steve