It’s somewhere Mrs Notgrownup and I have never been and we have been wanting to see it. I am actually really excited to ride the mountain top roads in KY as well. I was considering taking the ferry ride across but $250 and hours… We’ll go around the route 2 way … we thoroughly enjoyed riding around Watkins Glen around the finger lakes. Figured we would enjoy Lake Michigan.

 

The ride over the top is well worth it!

 

The Tunnel of Trees is best experienced in the fall ... Other than that it's ( for me ) a one and done ... A quick tour through Harbor Springs is nice ... Classic old turn of the century homes and sometimes some fabulous yachts are in the harbor ... Lunch at the Leggs Inn at Cross Village good

 

Not sure if I have done it or not. But I think you will find much of UP has trees.

 

I rode across the UP in July this year. I’ve driven across it twice before. For whatever reason, I don’t find it enjoyable or scenic. It’s isolated and has little traffic so it has that going for it - otherwise it is nothing unique for those of us who live in the upper Midwest. Riding over the Mackinac Bridge was cool but the rest of the Mitten was ho-hum except for my stops in Cadillac and Holland. Escanaba was enjoyable. And the Sault too. Overall, I characterize it as a ride for the towns and small cities - not the scenery or landscape. Or it’s a good ride for people from the south to escape summer heat. There’s nothing wrong with that.

 

If what you "experienced" was Holland and Cadillac it is no wonder you weren't impressed ... You didn't even begin to experience Michigan

 

I've been to Michigan plenty enough, thank you very much. My late father loved fishing in Michigan so we spent a lot of time there when I was a kid. He served his Army Reserve days at Camp Grayling. Petosky, Charlevoix, Traverse City, Manistee, Ludington and the western coastline is beautiful. I've ridden the Badger twice. But riding across the Mitten didn't make it any better. With a few exceptions, Pure Michigan = 4/10 for many of us. Sorry if it offends you. If it's any consolation, Wisconsin = 3/10 so it has that going for it... which is nice.

 

I am curious what scores higher for you?

But just riding across, ya it just trees I guess but good enough for me.

I think the stops are what many people like, and being away from cities the good part is things are spread out and remote in places

 

See map posted below of my rides. I tend to ride west because my MIL lives in Utah and that's a good excuse. I'm of that generation raised on the myth of the American West. I lived in Phoenix for fourteen years earlier in life and traveled most of the west by minivan. Kids are adults now so, besides visiting MIL, riding the west is an opportunity to return to places I haven't seen in 30 years or more. I'm originally from Indianapolis so I did a lot of rides there until my mom passed away last month. The UP ride was just an excuse not to ride through Iowa or Wisconsin to see her. My original American ancestors came from North Carolina so that was the excuse to ride southeast.

I have no intentions nor plans to ride everywhere. There will be many states left on my map that are untouched and I'm perfectly good with that. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and the entire Northeast will be untouched by my tires. Been there. Have zero desire to ride there.

I will likely ride the Natchez Trace, the Blues Trail, and the Ozarks at some point. I'm not retired so my vacation time does have its limits but I'm probably more limited by interest/desire and weather patterns that either make it difficult to get out of Minnesota where I live or dodge Gulf storms that spiral up the Mississippi river valley. The yellow loop through Texas was in late April this year and the first two days was literally running from nasty thunderstorms and tornadoes. That's the other thing about the West - it might be hot and it might be windy, but it's fairly easy to avoid storms if you are careful around the Rocky Mountains. My favorite states for riding are Wyoming (if the wind is not blowing 50 mph) and Utah (if it's not 110F). I try to ride old US highways and Scenic Byways as much as possible and keep my interstate riding to a minimum.

 

I agree I like riding out west. While many hate the flat areas they don't bother me, especially on interstate.

I like the Rockies especially northern and Canadian Rockies. Colorado mountains are cool, but not as dramatic.

I might miss the green if I lived out west .

I really like lake Superior and Michigan, probably would like the rest too.