Marquette Off The Beaten Path

Take a trip out to the Painted Rocks in Munsing, MI. It's quite amazing. These rocks are full of color. There are lots of hiking trails to explore. In fact, many of the sites require you to venture a little way on these trails.

There is a boat tour of the rocks from Lake Superior. I didn't go on it, but I'm sure it'd be quite beautiful. I know there was a lot I was missing by being up above these rocks rather then looking at them from that water.

Harlow Lake is one of my favorite places in the fall to catch the all-too-fleeting change of colors. From Marquette, take County Road 550 (the Big Bay Road) north. Continue past the Sugarloaf Mountain parking lot about 2 1/2 miles. There will be a small directional sign pointing off to the left, to the Harlow Lake Cabins. This is a well-maintained hard dirt road under a canopy of trees. About 1/2 mile into the woods there is a small parking area to the left - Harlow Lake.

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The Father Marquette Statue is in the Chamber of Commerce Park, which you could easily overlook as you are driving into town. If you are coming up Front Street (Business Route 41) it will be on the lake side of the road. The statue is back aways, overlooking the town.

Notice that they have anglicized his name. Pere Jacques Marquette was a French Jesuit, and I would be surprised if he spoke a word of English in his life.

On a nice summer's day, you can walk all the way out to the Lower Harbor Light - though of course it's not a good idea in any kind of stormy weather. The rocks are often covered with bright orange lichen.

Parking is available at the Maritime Museum off Lakeshore Drive.

I have done some cross-country skiing in years past, but I have never taken to alpine skiing, so I have not visited this museum, but if you are an avid alpine skier you may be interested in the “U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum” located in Ishpeming. Ishpeming is the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States, and the National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum pays tribute to Olympic skiers and offers a historical perspective of the sport including an early ski lift and snow-grooming machine. This museum, open year-round every day except Sunday, is the only national sports hall of fame in the state of Michigan. Visit their web site for a nice HTML or FLASH "tour" of the museum.

Address: 610 Palms Ave., Ishpeming, Michigan.