Touring - Menominee to Escanaba

Hi,

A friend and I are planning a tour through various parts of Michigan's "UP". Thinking of starting out in Menominee and heading up 35 through Escanaba. Has anyone biked along that route? Curious to know whether it is a nice ride with lake views and a nice shoulder. How about traffic?

Thanks

I biked it about two weeks ago. Roads weren't bad. Some nice views of the lake especially at roadside parks and boat launches. I was riding south from Escanaba to Menominee so I can tell you that the paved shoulder is in good condition for the entire route in that direction.

I haven't uploaded the pages for that section of the tour yet but I should have them up in a few days.

http://gltlakemichigan.crazyguyonabike.com

Based on the route profile I have for that day it appears like there was a slight downhill for me from Escanaba for about an hour.

The Upper Penisula is a very beautiful place with lots of great people. Enjoy.

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

This lil' side route (http://shop.store.yahoo.com/trailresources/trail-wisconsin-escanaba-lake-trail.html) might be worth a looksee.

Wouldn't escanaba to Menominee be just a day trip? Can't be that far...

That really comes down to how quickly they want to travel versus spending time really seeing the area and soaking up the countryside.

I was on a tight timeline when I went through the area so I actually went from Escanaba to the south end of Green Bay in a single day. Did I miss stuff? Probably?

I still enjoyed myself through!

~Jamie N
Off on another tour this weekend. Two or three days only this time.

Menominee through Escanaba up to Hiawatha National Forest will be just day one of a six day trip through Munising, Marquette, an undecided destination west of Marquette, and back down to Menominee.

Starting in Menominee is not necessary, but looking at the map, we thought that little jog up Hwy 35 might be worth including, hence my original question. Any other recommendations on great routes between any of the destinations I mentioned above would be appreciated.

when I did a tour around the lakes in '73, I recall all along the stretch up the north side of Green Bay there were campgrounds by lakes dotted every few miles -- all free if I recall
up towards the 'Soo' it gets rather less interesting (except for the people, eh?)
I seem to remember spending a day biking on a road thru old an army shelling range.

Lots of forest plantings and few towns... and lots of rain
s'posed to be swampy in the middle

If I had six days to tour the UP I'd forget about Menominee to Escanaba and tour Munising-Marquette-Houghton-Copper Harbor circuit, riding the Copper Country is absolutely beautiful! and much more historically/culturally interesting as well.

If I had six days to tour the UP I'd forget about Menominee to Escanaba and tour Munising-Marquette-Houghton-Copper Harbor circuit, riding the Copper Country is absolutely beautiful! and much more historically/culturally interesting as well.

Thanks for the advice. The problem we're facing is that days 1 & 6 also include driving from and to the suburbs of Chicago, so the idea was that we could leave early and get to Menominee with almost a full day of riding ahead of us. Driving all the way to Munising would be more driving when we really want to be biking, but maybe it would be worth considering if the trip would be that much nicer along the route you've suggested. Hmmm . . .

By the way, you said "circuit." What route do you take back to Munising from Copper Country? Or do you simply backtrack?

Boy, it's been years since I've biked there, but I think the only part you'd have to backtrack is between maybe Houghton and Marquette. You can definetly loop tour the entire Copper Country. I think of bike tours as circuits as long as they're not completely out and back.

I think biking Menominee to Esky, in fact Menominee all the way to Marquette or Munising, is not the best mileage to put to the tread for a 6 day tour UP there. I'd drive the extra two hours to Marquette, or straight up to Ontanagon... I'm not looking at a map, just going from memory.

35 is ok. There is a shoulder most of the way, but there will also be pretty steady traffic, especially if you are riding on a weekend. The sceenery along the lake is ok, but not spectacular. There are a lot of nice parks to stop at and swim. About the only alternative would be taking 35 north to 571. Then you will have to zig and zag a little until you hit 551, which you can take to 2, then into Escy. I will be forested all the way, but there will be no services for the entire length of this route. If you go this route, stop at the tourist info center in Menominee and get a state map.