Iowa to Wisconsin to Michigan

[Norm]

We are heading over to the pig roast this summer and want to do a leisurely stroll up though Wisconsin to the UP and then down to Jeff's place. Has anyone run a similar route they can recommend and any particular places to bed down at night. We're going to stay off the main path when possible.

I'm throwing a couple of fishing poles in also so if there's some great places to fish along the way let me know.

Thanks!

[Burlkraft]

Geez Norm.......

If yer comin' up through Wisco yer gonna have to stay at our house.

I'll start plannin' a menu right now ;D

[Norm]

I was trying to keep it a secret from you.  ;D

We're coming this year unless I get hit by a bus in the meantime.  :D

Don't tell Burl but we're going to stop by his place on the way up.  ;D

Oh and need me to bring anything?

[Yoopersaw]

What dates this summer?

[Norm]

Heading out August 1st, the pig roast is on the 6th.

[Yoopersaw]

Do you want to see some really nice water falls in the U.P?

[Patty]

Waterfalls would be nice if I can fish near them.  ;) 

I really want to relax and to some fishing along the way.....rivers, lakes, large ponds, streams.....anything that has fish in it. We won't be pulling a boat so shore fishing it is, unless we charter out on one of the big lakes.

[Yoopersaw]

Possibly yes, there is fishing near several.  What route do you plan on taking in the U.P.?

[Patty]

No plans yet. Just meander from lake to lake or creek to creek, what ever trips our trigger.

If you have any known fishing spots, just say what they are. Enough with the questions already.  :

[Yoopersaw]

If your going East out of the Marquette area on M-28 toward Munising you have Au Train Lake just south of Au Train that can be fished mostly by small boats.  Rentals are available in that area.  Or if you don't want to rent continue South through Au Train to M-94 and cross over to a dirt road to a state campground called Forest Lake and the basin for some good shore fishing for Northern Pike, Walleye, and some panfish.  It's a nice quiet campground with good fishing right there from the shore.  When and if you go, you can hang a right on M-94 when you get back to the paved road and end up just east of Munising.  When coming out of Marquette, obey the speed limit signs and continue to do so though Munising.  A lot of tickets are written by Chocolay Township in Marquette County, Marquette City, and Munising City Police.  In Munsing, I reccommend stopping to see Munising Falls  near the hospital and than taking H-58 through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to Grand Marais.  Take the road to Miner's Castle and go see Miner's Falls which is a short walk from the parking lot.  Miner's River has some nice fishing, but I wouldn't consider it easily accessable if your not familiar with the area.  PM me if any questions come up.  There is no charge to for the falls or the National Lakeshore.  There are some campgrounds available in the Lakeshore which carries a charge for camping as well as a Federal charge on the camping at Au Train Lake Federal Campground and a state charge for Forest Lake Camground.  Feel free to PM me any questions.

[pineywoods]

Norm if you stop in Oshkosh Wi anytime the last week of July, you will most likely wind up spending the whole week there, and not have any time to do anything else  EAA convention/airshow finishes on sunday before the piggy roast.

[Norm]

Thanks for the tips yoopersaw, much appreciated.

Piney we'd thought about going to the EAA show also and may just make a trip up the first weekend of it. I'd take a couple of weeks off but am hesitant to leave the farm for that many days in a row.

Anyone want to vacation in Iowa for a couple of weeks, you can even bale hay for me.  :D

[Gary_C]

Norm if you are going from Steve's place you have a couple of choices. The more populated route would take you up thru Oshkosh, Appleton, Green Bay, and Escanaba. There is a fair amount of trafic from Oshkosh thru Green Bay but there are some scenic places there too. And the Door County pennisula is nice too though it's a in and out trip without a boat. And the drive from Menominee to Escanaba is nice too.

But if I was to take a scenic drive up thru there, I would head for Shawano and then go up thru the Menominee Indian Reservation and the Nicolet National Forest thru Lakewood and on up towards Iron Mountain and then on to Escanaba. But for time, from Escanaba it's still a ways to the big bridge to cross back to the lower pennisula of Michigan.

I have been thru most of that area other than the Menominee Res and the Nicolet NF and on up to Gladstone, MI. In Aug on the scenic routes you can expect a lot of tourist traffic and some slow going plus there are a lot of miles to travel. So don't expect a lot of leisure time for fishing, etc. And then if you are pressed for time, you could always head for Manitowoc and take the shortcut on the ferry, but that's expensive and you would miss much of the scenic drive part of your journey.

And then there's the return trip. are you going to take the UP route back or the faster busy route thru Chicago?

Just some ideas.  ;D

[Norm]

Thanks Gary, appreciate the help. 

I'm not sure how we'll be coming back but unless it's midnight there's no way I'll go through Chicago. Matter of fact there's no way I'll even go to Illinois unless I have to.  :D

[Gary_C]

Here is the shortcut.   SS Badger

For an Iowa sports fan, riding on a boat with that name might be as bad as going thru Chicago and Illinois.  :D

Plus it looks like about $200 for two people and a vehicle and still four hours.  :

[Reddog]

Or http://www.lake-express.com/
Faster than the old coal burner Badger.

[Yoopersaw]

RedDog,

Is that a Chessie on your lap?

Snowshoe