Fall - Color Tours, Harvest Festivals and Tranquility
All spring and summer the foliage of the Upper Peninsula is saving up its energy for the greatest show in the North. Beginning in the heady days of September autumn ignites with aspen gold and blazes forth into maple crimson all across the U.P.
Follow our winding byways under the intense sunlight of fall as it spills in streams through breaks in the multicolored canopy overhead. Go slow. Savor the season as it ripens through its glory of reds and golds.
Get up high at the Lake of the Clouds scenic overlook in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park or Brockway Mountain Drive on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Take in the sweep of the land. Listen for the rustling of falling leaves as the season falls away into winter. Marvel at the power of a storm front rolling in across Lake Superior, and see how the gunmetal clouds sharpen the sun’s rays, spotlighting a stand of ochre tamaracks as they burn hot against dark spruces in the bog below.
Autumn is also a time for adventure. The cool days lend themselves to aerobic activity. Jog our leaf-strewn trails. Pedal down a rocky singletrack pulling swirling leaves along your path. Push yourself to the limits with a surf session in Lake Superior’s crashing breakers.
Great rafts of waterfowl are headed south now. Their honks can be heard on crisp October nights as they form giant V-formations against a harvest moon. All our wildlife is on the move now, often more active and visible as they ready for winter or migration.
This is a time of harvest. Wagons of pumpkins and bushels of apples appear at our stores. Hunters prepare for upland bird hunting and our nearly-sacred whitetail deer season. Hunter orange is the fashion color of the season. Join us for community harvest festivals and venison dinners
All are welcome in this time of plenty.