10 Michigan Road Trips to Do Before Summer Ends

The summer travel season is prime time right now in Michigan. Families are hitting the open road in our state to explore and have a lot of fun. Roadtrips are a fun way to do things as a family while exploring. Squeeze that summer roadtrip in while you still can before the end of summer.

My family and I try to take one 5 day vacation every summer, if we can squeeze a 7 day vacation in we will. We've explored the lower penninsula and we have done our fare share of visiting the upper penninsula as well. Hitting some of the favorite spots in the U.P. is always fun for us and breathing in the fresh U.P. air is satisfying. It's crazy how far away I can feel when I am in the U.P., yet I am only a 4 hour drive from home.

You could be into food, adventure, exploring, bears, water or sports. The choices are yours to choose from and the only thing holding you back is you, making it happen. We as humans are really good at finding excuses to not do something. We are also really good at talking ourselves out of doing things too. This summer our family motto is to pursue, execute and talk ourselves into doing some fun stuff in the mitten. There's about 7 weeks left of summer for most families in Michigan. Get out of the house, laugh a lot with your kids, or whoever goes with you, and make the most out of your summer in Michigan.

Ten Michigan Roadtrip Ideas

Redamak's Burgers

Go get an amazing burger and visit Lake Michigan while you visit Redamak's in New Buffalo. Redamak's has been around for decades and it's a staple in southwest Michigan.

Silver Beach In St. Joseph

Hitting Silver Beach in St. Joe for a day is well worth the trip. You can park at the county park and explore the beach, the piers and downtown St. Joe. I grew up in St. Joseph, you will not be disappointed.

Oswald's Bear Ranch

Our family visited Oswald's a couple of years ago during our first trip to the U.P. It was a unique experience and it's not that often that you can hang out with a bear and not get eaten.

MOO-ville Creamery

This place is a short drive from Lansing in Nashville, MI. I took our kids there two years ago and it was a lot of fun. They have a huge playground for the kids, petting zoo, dairy cow farm tours, cow milking demos and ICE CREAM.

Visit Marquette

Marquette is a fun drive over the Mackinac Bridge and into the guts of the U.P. It's only 5 hours and 48 minutes from the radio station in Lansing. The drive is peaceful and once you get to the U.P. you can breathe, deeply. There's a lot to do on the water for the family along with trails to hike, golf and other fun sightseeing things to do. Visit the ore docks.

Say Goodbye To Miggy

Load the fam in the car and drive to Detroit to see a Tigers game. Tickets are reasonably priced and you'll have a chance to see Miguel Cabrera play in his final season in Major League Baseball. Take the sights of downtown Detroit in before or after the game.

Kitch-iti-kipi

Mystery Spot - St. Ignace

Although we've been by the Mystery Spot a dozen times, our family hasn't had time to visit. Atlasobscura tells the story:

The story: According to the St. Ignace Mystery Spot, in the early 1950s a few surveyors were exploring Michigan’s Upper Peninsula one day when they realized that none of their equipment was working properly. The problems, they discovered after some testing, were only apparently in a circle about 300 feet in diameter. Behold: a mystery spot!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Glen Arbor Township, Michigan

Here's some information before you plan your trip from Atlasobscura:

STRETCHING 35 MILES ALONG THE northwest coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakefront encompasses 50,000 acres of unique “Third Coast” terrain, including the evocative dunes after which the park was named. If you spend any time in Northern Michigan, you’ll likely hear about this Great Lakes landmark, as well as “The Legend of Sleeping Bear.”

In the legend, a mother bear and her two cubs are forced to swim across Lake Michigan from Wisconsin after lightning sparks a forest fire. The mother bear encourages her young cubs to keep swimming through the night, but when she finally makes landfall in Michigan, she finds that the cubs have fallen far behind and cannot be seen. She climbs to a high bluff overlooking the water, where she falls asleep waiting for them. As she sleeps, the wind blows many layers of sand over her, forming a large dune atop the lakeside bluffs that looks like a sleeping bear. The Great Spirit then raised two islands within sight of the “mama bear dune” to commemorate the bravery of the cubs and the devotion of their mother.

The Old Gibson Guitar Factory - Kalamazoo, Michigan

If you have guitar lovers in your family this trip is on the bucketlist. Take the trip to Kalamazoo and shred it.