Our New Local’s Guide: 75+ Things to Do in the Western UP
Every week a guest asks us some version of the same question: “Okay, we’re here — what should we do?” For years the answer lived in our heads, on a fridge sheet, and in a lot of long text messages. Now it lives in one place.
Meet our new Explore the Western UP guide — more than 75 beaches, waterfalls, trails, mine tours, ski hills, pasty shops and local hangouts across Houghton, Keweenaw, Ontonagon and Baraga counties. Every listing has the address (tap it for directions), a tap-to-call phone number, and a link to the place’s own site for current hours.
Start From Where You’re Staying
The guide is organized the way guests actually plan. Start with your base camp — Twin Lakes, South Range, Chassell or Calumet — and see what’s close by. Then pick a day trip:
- Copper Harbor — Brockway Mountain Drive, Fort Wilkins and the Isle Royale ferry
- The Porkies & Ontonagon County — Lake of the Clouds, Presque Isle River falls and a pasty at Syl’s
- Mount Bohemia — the Midwest’s biggest vertical, plus the Nordic Spa
- Baraga & L’Anse — Canyon Falls, Mount Arvon and the Shrine of the Snowshoe Priest
- Bond Falls Country — Bond Falls, Agate Falls and the Watersmeet Trout Hatchery, south of Twin Lakes
Or Start From What You Came to Do
Into waterfalls? There are seven of them on the list, from roadside Jacob’s Falls to Canyon Falls, the Grand Canyon of the UP. Here for history? Ride the cog tram into Quincy Mine, put on a hard hat at Adventure Mine, or walk through Calumet’s national historical park. Here in winter? Mont Ripley, Mount Bohemia and Ski the Porkies are all in reach, plus groomed cross-country trails at Swedetown and Maasto Hiihto.
You’ll also find fishing spots, beaches, snowmobile, ORV and mountain bike trails, events like Winter Carnival, and the practical stuff — groceries, walk-in clinics and ERs — that nobody thinks about until they need it.
Look for the Stars
No paid endorsements here. Anything marked ★ Our pick is a place we personally go back to again and again: Agate Beach and Misery Bay for sunsets, Joey’s, the Ambassador, KBC and 1902 Tap & Grill for dinner and a drink — and Krupp’s Mini-Mart in Twin Lakes, which in our opinion makes the best pasties in the UP. Grab a few on your way in.
Stay Where You Play
Our vacation rentals are spread across the Western UP — lakefront on Sandy Lake, right on the trail in Twin Lakes and South Range, minutes from MTU and Houghton in Chassell, and up the Keweenaw in Calumet. Book direct with us and skip the Airbnb service fees, or call Vern at 906-370-1670 with any questions.
Know a spot we missed? Tell us — this guide will keep growing.