I’m planning a trip with the wife the first week of October. We want to take a circuituous trip basically from Chicago, to Door county in Wisconsin…through the U.P. of Michigan; down into Ontario, to Niagara falls. We plan on driving back from Niagara falls, south through Indiana to Chicago.
We will probably spend two nights in Sturgeon Bay WI, and two nights in Niagara falls. We don’t really like the excitment of big cities, but will tolerate them. We had a very nice time on our last trip around Lake Superior staying in small towns, looking for agates and amythysts along the lake; enjoying the water falls and looking at the lake.
Question 1: Anything special along this trip that we might consider that I don’t know about.
Question 2: (probably more importantly) I want to stay out one night on the return trip between Niagara falls and Chicago. What are some suggestions for a nice little place to stay and visit for a few hours during the afternoon and evening. (Its about a 9-10 hour drive) were, in the middle(ish) would be a cool place to spend the night and visit?
Here’s a google maps view of approximately where I think we will stay. Google Maps
Any suggestions for alternative places to stay or things to do along the route would be appreciated.
If you’re driving back of the southern side of Lake Erie, about halfway are Sandusky and Port Clinton. I’ve only visited these towns briefly (in my my quest to photograph every county courthouse in Ohio), but they are attractive small towns on the shores of Lake Erie, and (more importantly) they avoid the rustbelt exemplified by Cleveland and Toledo.
In my opinion, the best museum on a more-or-less direct route between Niagara Falls and Chicago is a pair of museums: the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. However, the best routes to go through Dearborn would involve driving through southwest Ontario, not through northern Ohio, partially taking a route already followed in the suggested itinerary.
What about the northern Michigan/north shore of Erie?
It just seems that we will be driving with nothing particularly interesting to stop and see. Is there something along that leg we can stop and look at/experience?
I’d recommend the Sleeping Bear Dunes and Mackinac Island. If you’ll be crossing the Mackinac Bridge, take the time to stop at Fort Michilimackinac (neat the southern end of the bridge). If you’re driving US-2 west from Mackinac, take the time about 25 miles west of the straits to stop at the Cut River bridge.
If you’re into Christmas decorations, by all means stop at Bronner’s in Frankenmuth.
Go a bit further north, and hit Pictured Rocks national seashore just east of Munising. Some very cool hiking trails along high cliffs at the lake’s edge- very unlike anything you’ve seen in the great lakes.
Instead of turning south through Michigan, continue east via Sault St Marie and then turn south following the east side of Lake Huron. Lots of neat provincial parks with a very northwoods “isolated feel” to them- certainly different than the farmland you’d be going through in Michigan.
Sault St Marie has some interesting things to see- the locks, rapids and nature preserve island between Lake Superior and Michigan; a nice museum dedicated to bushplanes (sounds dopey, I know, but we were pleasantly amused and made for a great 2-3 hour “out of the car” diversion).
On the way back, stop at Sandusky and go to Cedar Point. Best rollercoaster park in the US!
Oh- One other thing that you may already know: the wait time to cross the bridge back in to the US from Canada can be an ugly 2-3 HOURS depending on when you try and get across (frankly, this is the same for all border crossings). There are a couple of websites that have historical wait times for all the bording crossings so you can plan the best time for you…
Not ALL Border Crossings. I’ve never seen any wait at all at the Sault crossing. You just drive over, stopping briefly to talk to the border guy in the booth, then head on over. No wait whatsoever most of the time.
Very true- should’ve said “most” and not “all”. But the border crossing at Rainbow bridge can be bad as well as the crossings at Detroit and Port Huron/Sarnia. Really depends when you hit it…
Here’s a good website to look at the historical wait times for each day of the week:
Re Niagara: The Niagara Falls Adventure Pass activities are all very touristy, but there’s not one that I wouldn’t recommend. If you buy it online, I believe you can save some money.
If you’re really not into big cities, consider staying in Niagara-on-the-lake instead. It’s a darling little town about 20 minutes or so from the falls. The parkway to Niagara-on-the-lake runs along the Niagara River, and it’s a beautiful drive. They have nice parks, wineries, and bike trails, plus shops and restaurants. There are lots of B&Bs to choose from.
Also, the state park that the falls are in has a really nice brewpub that we always eat at when we’re up there. Best restaurant fare in the UP, I think.
Boy, you’ve had a different experience than I have. Every time I’ve been there, the beer has been next to undrinkable and the food is nothing to write home about. I always tell people to stay away from that place.
Definitely not “Best restaurant fare in the UP”, not by a longshot.
The falls are very nice, but one warning: make sure it isn’t mosquito season when you visit. Mosquito season in the UP is quite brief, but my wife and I had the misfortune to visit Tahquamenon Falls right at the height of it. They weren’t a nuicance. They were a biblical plague, and even with bug spray we were obliged to cut our visit short.
