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Forget about going to the swampy and salty southern states this spring. Throw your swimsuits in your luggage and bring your family or friends to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to play Marco Polo in our hotel pools. We’ve got so many fun spring break ideas — you will have reasons left over to return this summer.
If you are ready to try something fun and new this spring, pass on the alligator, palmetto bug and scorpion states and come relax with us in the Upper Peninsula!
If you love snow sports, come see us over spring break. Many areas in this vast outdoor playground will probably have snow on the ground through mid-April. Throughout the U.P., there are good snow bases on most of the snowmobile, cross-country ski and snowshoe trails as well as downhill ski and snowboard slopes. This time of year look for stay & ski packages from the U.P. ski lodges and nearby hotels.
Warmer daytime temps also make this a good time of year to roll and pack snowballs for building snowpeople and forts in our open fields and along our Great Lakes beaches. If you are bringing the kids, Ski Brule and Pine Mountain get top kid-friendly ratings. Ski Brule also has plans for a college spring break special and an Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt.
On April 24, the Soo Locks will reopen for the 2023 shipping season. Watch the first freighter of the season ease through the locks on Opening Day from either the outside observation platform or inside the Visitor Center that will hold its Annual Open House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. (The Visitor Center will then reopen, May 1 through mid-October. Find seasonal hours here.) The Soo Locks Park and Observation Deck, however, are open daily, so make this a stop on your U.P. Spring Break Itinerary. If the weather is warm, rack your bikes and ride the Sault Ste. Marie routes. This is one of the best ways to see the oldest city in Michigan and the third oldest city in the United States!
History and geology are NOT boring in the culturally rich U.P. Visit two museums in one building — the Webster Marble: The Inventing the Outdoors Museum and the U.P. Military Museum. These will open your mind to the life-changing impact the Webster Marble and U.S. veterans and citizens had on American and world history. Both museums are open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more here.
Another place to walk around outdoors — or if there’s snow, snowshoe — is the Fayette Historic State Park and Townsite in Garden. The visitor center and preserved buildings aren’t open until May, but you will see what life was like in this 19th-century iron smelting town. Look out across Snail Shell Harbor; some cedars on the limestone bluffs are 1,400 years old!
Speaking of rocks, another place to visit is one of North America’s premier mineral museums, the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum in Houghton. This nationally and internationally recognized museum houses the largest public exhibit and finest collection of minerals from the Great Lakes region and the world’s best collection of Michigan minerals. It’s a fascinating way to learn how minerals are important in your life today.
Early spring is a great time to go waterfalling. Many of our 300+ waterfalls are frozen, so snowshoe to some, hike to others. On warmer days you can listen to the ice thaw. Later in the spring season, they will roar as all that melted snow pounds over the rocky precipices. When you are visiting waterfalls near the coasts of Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior, take time to see the historic lighthouses, too. This is definitely the time to have your camera ready.
Give your taste buds a treat while spending memory-making time with family and friends this spring. If you are here on a Friday, you can catch a fish fry in just about every town. Our communities are very competitive about who serves the best combination of U.P. freshwater fish and sides. Or eat like a local when you try these delicious, unique-to-the-U.P. foods. Plus, there’s always the traditional spring break pub crawl across the U.P.
From Drummond Island to Ironwood or Copper Harbor to Menominee, we have lodgings that offer waterfront to mountain views, scrumptious foods from sunrise to sunset and all the things you and your traveling companions like to do when you vacation — from indoor pools, fireplaces, saunas and spas to exercise and game rooms. There are lodgings where you can ride your snowmobile right to the lobby door, others with ski slopes, hiking trails and freshwater seas steps away from where you’re staying.
This spring, go where you’ll have more to talk about than mouse ears and princesses when you come home. Once you make the U.P. your spring break destination, it will easily become an annual tradition. See you soon!
We would love to see your favorite spring scenes and adventures! Use our hashtag #uptravel for an opportunity to be featured on our social media, website or in our marketing materials. You can also upload your photos to our Spring Photo Crowdriff Collector below.
