Headed way up north to Drummond Island at the end of July, anyone been up there?

Tips/Advice/Suggestions always appreciated!

I’m planning to go during the week of July 11-18. There’s the ORP and then there are trails. The park photos look intimidating. I will likely take it easy since it’s 6 hours from home.


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Nice!

We're headed up on the 26th, I'll claim that I'll be cautious, but who knows how that works out...

Been looking at a ton of videos and outside of the water it all seems pretty simple, on video, assuming you dont go out of your way to climb a vertical rock ledge just to prove you can do it.

I'm originally from Michigan.

I have been there during winter on a snowmobile and in the summer in a car.
I have ridden a bicycle around 3 of the Great Lakes. I snowmobiled from St Ignace to Marquette.

IMHO there are alot nicer places to spend your time.
There are so many dirt roads in the UP you could drive for days without being on pavement.

There are a bunch of Casios up there with cheap hotels, food and drinks. You could overland all day, clean up, plop yourself on a stool and play nickel slots all night for $20 if you have any luck. Repeat the next day and the next.

If that not your thing there are several National Forest Campgrounds too.

I love trout fishing for Brook Trout in the cedar forests up there. Best fish ever. LIGHTLY pan fried in butter whole with just the guts removed. So good.

That sounds like a good time. If someone were to want to do that, what town would they go to to look for these roads, casinos and bars?

Kewadin Casinos – St. Ignace Is were I used to go because I parked In St Ignace when we went snowmobiling. When the lake is frozen over we used to take the 5 mile trip over to Mackinac Island. At the 2.5 mile point its hard to see either side. It’s pretty spooky being that far out on the water (ice). There are no cars allowed on the island in the summer but everybody has sleds in the winter there.

Hiawatha National forest is between Manistique and Christmas both have casinos.

The farther west you go and the farther north the fewer people.

You would just have to look on the maps and pick some roads to go. Pick a place where there are not towns and find some roads.

There are huge oil well rigs up there that have roads going to them too.

Snowmobile trails are sometimes on roads so if you can find the maps on line you can sometimes follow them however some are not on roads because they cross private property. Some are flooded in the summer. I took my dirt bike and tried to follow them one trip. That was fun.

Getting to Lake Superior in the summer is very cool. The water is always cold and the shore is beautiful and remote. Grand Marias was sometimes a stop for us.

L’Anse is in the middle of nowhere and there is a casino there and north of that is Copper Harbor. East of that along the lake would be cool if you can find a road.

BTW it used to be that as soon as you crossed the bridge into the UP in the winter everyone crotched a beer because the only Police that were up there were State Police and they didn’t really care. YMMV. The UP always felt like another country.

I would also recommend the correct permits. I think you will need one for off-roading. You can do it by mail.

DNR - Street licensed vehicles on ORV routes and trails

When I was a kid Kincheloe AFB was a SAC base. They had B-52s sitting on the runway, fueled up, ready to go and full of nukes. As a little kid I remember that were very powerful and scary looking. Any one of them could have caused the end of the world in a mater of hours.

While you are up there dont forget to have a bunch of Pasties and stock up on the smoked fish.

Thanks for the tips.
I'd like to go to Drummond, may or may not be possible with a toddler. Working around her nap schedule is challenging because of being in the middle of the day.
We are staying in Cedarville, so not far from St. Ignace. I downloaded the OnX app and there are many trails that pop up within 15 miles of Cedarville. You're right about the ORV permit, but also a secondary permit is required according to MiDNR, specific to trails. Total is $36 for the two permits, good for a year and the money goes into maintaining these trails and forest roads, so worth it to me even if I'm only using for a week. Living less than a mile from the MI border, I could see using it more often, though.
I grew up in PA, trout fishing mountain streams. I would love to find some trout fishing nearby, but we have had a lot of fun Perch and Pike fishing. We have an 24' pontoon that we keep in the harbor of the Les Cheneaux Islands. It works really well, but I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable in the main water of Huron. Water is ICE COLD, damn that was a shock, but also very refreshing on a 85+ day. Last year was the first time I'd been to the UP, and it's a great place to truly disconnect. Verizon did not have cell service at our cottage, huge plus for me to actually have a vacation that didn't involve answering work emails.
I think we will try to take the little one to the sand dunes on Lake Michigan for a day, too. Having been to Lake MI before, the turquoise water is somewhat of a wonder - kind of like Havasu Falls.

Another place you might consider in Bois Blanc Island. You have to catch a ferry from Cheboygan to get there. All dirt roads and lots of water access. There are some limited camping sites, a few homes and that's about it. The last time I was there 3 years ago, the general store/gas station was closed, so you have to bring everything with you. There is a road that goes along the north coast of the island that leads to the lighthouse on the north point of the island, and honestly, I bailed out on it after only a few miles. On a quad it would be fine, but it was narrow and rolling enough that my Frontier P4X struggled. Pretty cool place.

Appreciate the tips thus far!

Camping options are off the table for this trip, our 2yr old isn't quite ready for that yet... Michigan's DNR has some pretty damn good interactive maps now a days if people haven't checked them out:

ArcGIS Web Application

Forest Roads... eh... they were an option, but after checking out videos, guides, photos, etc, Drummond seemed to be the best mix of trails, rental properties, things for the kiddo and something 'new'.

Frankly, I'd much rather be going out west, but given the craziness of this year's events we're gonna stay fairly close to home.

This is our challenge too. Although we have some friends coming up with us that are tagging along for free, so some free babysitting is part of the deal! This lets us sorta mix and match who is going where and who is watching the lil guy.