The Porcupine Mountains are a hidden gem in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With miles of hiking trails, beautiful mountains, rushing waterfalls and spanning old-growth forests, this pristine state wilderness will allow you to fully immerse yourself into the wonderful nature that is pure Michigan. With this guide, we’ll give you the perfect one-day Porcupine Mountain itinerary to explore the state park.
About The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
The Porcupine Mountains are located in the northwest corner of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Porcupine Mountains are home to one of the oldest old-growth forests in the west. However, when this forest was in danger of being logged, the state park was formed to protect them.
The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is just under 60,000 acres – so this forest is big and beautiful. While they aren’t the tallest mountains you’ll see, at just about 2,000 feet high, the rolling mountain ranges with the shores of Lake Superior in the distance are absolutely beautiful. In the park, you’ll find miles of hiking trails, sandy beaches, a ski hill and more. With all these activities to choose from, you’ll have plenty of fun in the “Porkys”.
When To Visit the Porcupine Mountains
The Porcupine Mountains are one of the best destinations for fall colors in the United States. With the Lake of the Clouds and all of the high viewpoints, you’ll have the beautiful views of the color change if you can get there at the exact right time. So the absolute best time to visit the Porkys is for these few weeks of the year when the hills light up with a rainbow of colors. End of September-early October is typically when the color change happens.
Bonus: If you do visit in the fall, the Porcupine Mountain ski lift is open on select days, mainly the weekends, to take you to the top of the ski hill for views of the falls colors.
The summer is great for hiking and winter is great for snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and skiing.
The only real bad time to visit the Porcupine Mountains is in the spring. Trails get muddy and the cool breeze coming off of Lake Superior is chilly, roads may be closed and the trees aren’t pretty yet. By late spring, the snow has melted the trees have budded and the waterfalls start roaring – this is also the time of year where all the roads open up.
Getting There And Around
The Porcupine Mountains are a WILDERNESS. And as such, they are remote. While all of the U.P. is different variations of remote, the Porcupine Mountains make the rest of the U.P. look bustling. So the best way to visit the Porkys is on a road trip of the U.P. or as a road trip around Lake Superior combined with other stops like the North Shore, Keweenaw Peninsula and the Apostle Islands.
You will need a car to explore the Porcupine Mountains.
We’re just going to assume that you are visiting on a road trip and not even give you information on flights because airports are hours away. However, here are some driving times to nearby popular destinations if you want to connect this to other Great Lakes adventures:
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin: 100 miles, 2 hours and 10 minutes
- Copper Falls, Wisconsin: 80 miles, 1 hour and 40 minutes
- Door County, Wisconsin: 280 miles, 5 hours
- Duluth, Minnesota: 180 miles, 3 hours and 45 minutes
- Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan: 75 miles, 1 hour and 30 minutes
- Pictured Rocks, Michigan: 186 miles, 3 hours and 20 minutes
- Mackinac Island, Michigan: 300 mies, 5 hours
How Long To Spend In The Porcupine Mountains?
You can see all of the most popular sights and do a bit of hiking in one full day. However, if you want to do any longer hikes, you’ll need two days.
We stayed overnight the night before so we could get started really early, spent one day in the park and then drove home at night.
Porcupine Mountains Itinerary
Morning – Lake of the Clouds
Start your day at the Lake of the Clouds overlook. This is the most popular spot in the park and has the most iconic views. This is massively busy in the fall and on weekends. But it is popular for a reason. From the overlook, you have expansive views of the Lake of the Clouds. Getting to the overlook is just a short walk from the parking lot, though you will need to walk over uneven terrain.
Next, hike the short Beaver Creek Trail down to the Lake of the Clouds. This will take you into the forest and to the very edge of the lake. This loop is just under 2 miles.
Next, hike some of the Escarpment Trail. This trail takes you along the ridge line along the edge of the Lake of the Clouds. This trail is 8 miles long, out and back. However, the best views are in the first half of the trail. So you can cut down your hiking time and still get all the best views by doing just the first 2 miles, and then the returning 2 miles.
You’re likely ready for lunch by this point. There is no where in the park to stop for food. You’ll need to pack a picnic and eat it at the picnic area at the Lake of the Clouds overlook before heading on to your next stop.
Afternoon – Western Porcupine Mountains
Afterwards, drive the South Boundary Road to the Summit Peak Area.
First, hike to Summit Peak. There is a tall lookout station here where you can see the beautiful forest views all around you. Literally 360 degrees of views with Lake Superior in the background. This trail is 1 mile out and back. Additionally, if you still have energy you can continue on to Mirror Lake and back to the parking area. There are various ways to get to Mirror Lake and back but we made a 6-ish mile loop out of the trek. The forest along the Little Carp river trail was some of the most dense and beautiful that we hiked.
Next, continue on to Presque Isle. Here, there are three waterfalls, Nawadaha, Manido and Manabezho Falls. You can hike both the east and west river trails to see these falls but the views are better from the west river trail.
By this point you will be incredibly tired from all the hiking – we sure were. So make your way home or to your accommodations from here.
Want To Adjust the Itinerary?
If you have less time, you can see all of this in about 6 hours if you don’t do any hikes – including Summit Peak. So if you just have a partial day, you can see Lake of the Clouds and the waterfalls.
If you have even more time, there are a few fun adventures in the area. First, Adventure Mine Tours sound amazing. We’ve never done this but we’ve had it highly recommended to us. There is a tour that everyone raves about where you get to rappel down into the mine before getting a fun mine tour.
If you have a long weekend in the U.P., consider visiting the Keweenaw Peninsula. This is also a great drive to take in the fall so if you’re visiting Lake of the Clouds for the fall colors, you’ll definitely want to add this trip on!
If you have a full week in the U.P. and you’re planning on visiting in the summer, tack on our full week U.P. itinerary which takes you to all the best spots in the Upper Peninsula.
Where To Stay
There are a few hotels in Ontonagon and Ironwood that are “closest” to the park. Hotels in the area generally hover under $200/night.
We think the best option is to stay in a home rental. Lots of homes in the area are vacation homes that rent out when their owners aren’t staying. You can find cute and cheap ($80-120/night) overnight home rentals, though they do book up quickly in the height of summer or the fall color change.
Additionally, you can camp at one of the campgrounds in the park. There are rustic campsites and one in Union Bay with modern amenities (showers, electric hookup). Campsites range from $28-45/night. You can also backcountry camp, which requires hiking and permits or reservations, depending on the site. Lastly, there are some backcountry cabins and yurts which would make for a really neat camping experience!
What To Budget For The Porcupine Mountains
You will need a Michigan state parks pass for entrance into the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. If you are a Michigan resident, the best thing to do is to pay the $12 state park pass fee when you renew your license plate – it will give you access to all Michigan state parks for the year. If you are not from Michigan, you will have to pay for an out-of-state day pass. This fee is $9/day or $36/year.
What To Pack For The Porcupine Mountains
Do not underestimate the cool breeze that comes off of Lake Superior. Anytime you are near the lake, you’ll want to make sure you have layers with you as temperatures can dip 10-15 degrees when you get in the breezy areas of the park.
You’ll also want to bring hiking gear with you as that is one of the top adventures to partake in in the park. You’ll need good hiking shoes as lots of the trails are over uneven rocky surfaces. Also, you’ll want to pack sunscreen and bug spray. Bugs get big in the U.P. and in these woods you will get eaten alive without some strong Deet based bug spray.
If you plan on spending time at the beach, which you should only do on the warmest of mid-summer days, you’ll need to bring a swimsuit and sunscreen.
If you plan on visiting in the winter, you’ll need the appropriate winter gear for the activities you are planning on partaking in. This may include snow suits for snowmobiling, snowshoes of hiking or skis for a trip to the ski hill.
We hope this has helped you to plan your own adventure to the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park. We think it is one of the best autumn destinations in the United States! If you have any questions or comments or need advice for planning your own Upper Peninsula vacation, please leave them below.
