With color spreading across the hills, meadows and lakeshores, the urge to get outdoors tugs at us again. The teasing aroma of cider mills, the first bite of autumn on the breeze, the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot and the splendor of nature’s paint brushed across the landscape.
Michigan’s color season stretches from mid-September in the Upper Peninsula’s Keweenaw country to late October along southern Michigan’s Indiana and Ohio borders. Whether your calendar allows for a fun-packed weekend, a Friday-to-Monday escape or a leisurely weeklong getaway, here are some special events, destinations and travel suggestions that will appeal to solo travelers, couples or the entire family. More information for all destinations can be obtained through the local tourism offices at their numbers listed below.
Weekends
Southwest Michigan
About a hundred miles from Chicago is southwest Michigan where the abundant fruit harvest is ripe and ready with u-pick farms, festivals, fall gardens and scenic drives. Fall color lasts through most of October. This is apple country, so watch for cider mills. Along U.S. Highway 12 in Niles, the Four Flags Area Apple Festival Sept. 28-Oct. 1 includes parades, fireworks and arts and crafts booths.
Take Michigan Highway 51 to Dowagiac and Wick’s Apple House for the Oct. 7-8 Cider Fest where you can hop aboard a wagon for rides around the fruit and vegetable farm. Kids can jump off and head for the petting zoo and face painting. There are cider mill presses to watch, and apple pies and pastries to tempt your tastebuds.
From Benton Harbor, take Interstate Highway 94 northeast for 10 miles to Exit 39. Turn left onto Friday Road for two miles to Coloma’s Jollay Orchards for activity-packed weekends through Oct. 29. There are hayrides to go apple and pumpkin picking, a petting zoo, a cornfield maze, a caterpillar crawl, a haunted house and the chance to make your own caramel apples.
Elsewhere, take Exit 46 near Hartford, turn left for one mile to 66th Avenue, then right for one mile to Klug Orchard. Big Dan’s U-Pick’em has free hayrides to pick apples and pumpkins in every weekend through September and October. In Eau Clair, Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm has Harvest Moon hayrides and cookouts Oct. 13 and 14.
Information: Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council, 616-925-6301; www.swmichigan.org (the phone number as published has been corrected in this text).
Irish Hills
The Irish Hills are rolling foothills along U.S. Highway 12 southeast of Jackson that were formed by the last retreating glaciers. They display prime color from early October through the month. Scenic roads wind through hardwood forests, small towns and farm fields.
In 1825, stagecoaches following the Chicago-Detroit turnpike stopped for rest at the farmhouse tavern of Lucy and Sylvester Walker, now the Walker Tavern Historic Complex at Cambridge Junction. From U.S. 12, turn north on Michigan Highway 50 for 1/4 mile. Although buildings are closed after Labor Day, you can drive past or tour the grounds on your own. From 1 to 3 p.m. on Oct. 21, a program in the barn called “Biting into History” will illustrate varieties of apples no longer commonly found in orchards today.
The rolling hills of hardwood along U.S. 12 and Michigan 50 reminded Irish settlers of the forests of the Old Country. Many of the rural roads wind through thick fall foliage down to sparkling lakes–more than 50 of them. On U.S. 12 near the Michigan 50 intersection are the Irish Hills Twin Towers. Stairs lead to the top for a panoramic view.
Two miles west of Tipton on Michigan 50 at Hidden Lake Gardens, Michigan State University has developed a 755-acre arboretum that displays both indoor and outdoor flowers, ornamental shrubs and trees. Of special interest is the collection of dwarf and rare conifers. Five miles of marked hiking trails lead through forest and meadows, or you can take the six-mile wandering drive.
If you board the Southern Michigan Railroad at Clinton or Tecumseh, you’ll chug through farmlands, forests and along the crooked River Raisin. Available for one-way or round-trip rides.
Antique buffs can find shops scattered all through the hills. One of largest is Memory Lane Antiques located on the town square in Brooklyn on Michigan 50 three miles north of U.S. 12. The Antique Alley brochure with map and locations of other shops in Southeastern Michigan can be picked up at any antique shop.
Information: Lenawee County Conference & Visitors Bureau, 517-263-7747; www.visitlenawee.com; Jackson Convention & Tourist Bureau, 800-245-5282; www.jackson-mich.org.
Long weekends
Saugatuck, Holland, Grand Haven and Muskegon
The towns of Saugatuck, Holland, Grand Haven and Muskegon along the western shore of Lake Michigan are within a comfortable driving distance for a long weekend. It’s 150 miles from Chicago to the beginning of the tour at Saugatuck.
Approaching Saugatuck and Holland on Interstate Highway 196, take Michigan Highway 89 east 6 miles to Fennville for the Oct. 13-15 Goose Festival. The country festival with parades, entertainment and concessions is in celebration of the thousands of geese that migrate annually to the nearby 50,000-acre Allegan State Game Area. A 1 1/2-mile viewing area along 118th Avenue that cuts through the preserve offers opportunities to see some of the 40,000 Canada geese, 20,000 ducks and other migrant waterfowl that begin arriving in their winter grounds in early September. Peak season is the end of October. During the festival, a trolley makes a 45-minute tour of the game area with opportunities to view fall color and wildlife.
Continue south on Michigan Highway 89 for 18 miles to Allegan where Oct. 8-16 are the dates for West Michigan’s biggest and one of the best fairs, the Allegan County Fair. It is known for the many displays and nationally known entertainers.
Back on the lakeshore at Saugatuck, shops, boutiques and art galleries attract visitors. Through September and on weekends through October, the Saugatuck sternwheeler cruises from Fish Dock along the Kalamazoo River. For a tour along the Saugatuck dunes, there’s the Dune Schooner through September and on weekends in October.
At Holland, fall flowers are in bloom at Windmill Island. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Holland’s Farmers Market features home-grown fruits, pumpkins and vegetables, flowers and plants through mid-November.
Seven miles west on Michigan Highway 21 the town of Zeeland goes zany on Oct. 2-7 with the Great Pumpkin Festival. Spotlight is on the romance of Gert Gourd and Pete Pumpkin, two local characters dressed for the parts. The themed festival that includes Monday’s Doo Dah parade, daily games and food also throws a bridal shower for the couple. One of the star events is the Oct. 5 “Match in the Patch” wedding performed by Justice of the Patch Sam Squash.
Go east for 13 miles on Michigan Highway 21 to Hudsonville, where you can stop at Redberry Farm and pick your own pumpkins, apples or raspberries. Cider is also available.
A draw for athletic types is the paved bicycle and hiking path that runs for 20 miles along Lakeshore Drive and follows the shore of Lake Michigan between Holland and Grand Haven.
More than 175 miles of bike paths cut throughout northwest Ottawa County around the port city of Grand Haven. (Bicycle and in-line skates that are also allowed on the paths can be rented in shops in Grand Haven.) The 2 1/2-mile Boardwalk follows the Grand River from the heart of downtown to the pier and two red 1839 lighthouses at the harbor mouth, with benches along the way where you can sit and watch the boats go by.
For a bird’s-eye view of fall colors, board the open cockpit Waco biplane at Skydance Air Tours in Muskegon. Tours operate through October. Muskegon will host the Michigan Irish Music Festival on Sept. 15-17. And, Heritage Landing will be transformed into a bit of Ireland, with markets and pubs serving traditional Irish food and drink. Spotlight is on the musicians performing Irish music.
Information: West Michigan Tourist Association, 800-442-2084; www.wmta.org.
I-94, the Chicago Road
Take I-94 east for 280 miles on Michigan’s second Chicago stagecoach road. Like the pioneers, you can stop along the way in towns that began as rest stops for stage horses and passengers.
One stop is Kalamazoo, 150 miles from Chicago, where the Historical Home Tour on Sept. 16 will be an opportunity to see some of the homes built soon after settlement. The town’s Oktoberfest will take place Sept. 17-18 at the Annen Sports and Recreation Complex.
Marshall is 36 miles east and home to dozens of historic public and private structures, including the 1835 National House Inn, oldest operating inn in Michigan, which began as a stagecoach stop.
If you’re interested in Amish crafts, plan a trip Sept. 30-Oct. 1 to Ann Arbor and the Shipshewana on the Road fair at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds.
A reason to stop in Ypsilanti is the Country Fair Oct. 1-29 at Wiard’s Farm, 5565 Merritt Rd. Beside tours of the farm, attractions include a cider mill, petting zoo, pony rides, live music and old-fashioned crafts like candle dipping. A hay wagon will take visitors to the orchards for picking apples and pumpkins. From Ann Arbor, head six miles east on I-94. At Ypsilanti take Exit 183 south for four miles, then follow the signs to the farm.
About 20 miles east is Dearborn, home of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, the result of an obsession that drove automobile manufacturer Henry Ford to collect memorabilia of the past. Ford said he collected the simple things of daily living, the tools and crafts of the common people from hay forks to farm wagons and his first horseless carriage, the Quadricycle.
Covering more than 80 acres, the museum and village document history back 350 years, but the outdoor Greenfield Village is especially nice in the fall, with the smells of autumn in the air, harvests under way on the farms, and interpreters re-enacting early American crafts.
You can visit homes of such American greats as Daniel Webster and the Wright brothers. A must-stop is Thomas Edison’s workshop where he returned for its dedication to demonstrate his discovery of the light bulb.
Upcoming events: Evenings at the Firestone Farm, which begin Sept. 22 and continue on Fridays and Saturdays through October and include hay rides, a campfire and dancing. Railroad Days Sept. 23-24 offer a display of vintage cars and a chance to see the newly opened Detroit, Toledo & Milwaukee Roundhouse. Fall Harvest Days at the Farm (Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 and Oct. 4-8) means visitors are invited to help with other fall harvest chores.
Through Saturdays and Sundays in October, there are multiple events throughout the village, from a dance at the Town Hall at 2:30, featuring music by the New Old Stock String Band, to pickle making in Edison’s workshop, and hay rides.
Information: Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, 800-835-5237 or 313-271-1620; www.hfmgv.org
Travel Michigan, 888-78-GREAT; www.michigan.org.
Weeklong tours
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
A weeklong tour in the crisp air of Indian Summer holds its own form of intoxication. The first hint of autumn color is already creeping among the trees about 390 miles north in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula. Traveling from Chicago north through Wisconsin, take U.S. Highway 41 north from Green Bay and join U.S. Highway 2 at Iron Mountain. Head west through a landscape of rolling hills until you reach Bessemer in the western corner of the peninsula.
From Bessemer, follow Rustic Road 513 for 18 miles north to Black River Harbor on Lake Superior. Paths lead to a series of waterfalls where the Black River empties into Lake Superior.
Or, drive four miles east on U.S. 2, then left onto Michigan Highway 28 for 1 1/2 miles to County Road 519. Then north for 17 miles to the Presque Isle unit of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park where a series of waterfalls cascade over rocky gorges into Lake Superior. Wooden foot paths and steps follow the river down to a swinging bridge and lead to a sandy beach.
A picturesque drive is the park’s 25-mile South Boundary Road. It circles through mixed northern hardwood forests and trail heads that lead to deeper parts of the wilderness park. At the park headquarters one mile southwest of Silver City, stop at the Visitor Center for an orientation video to help choose your next stop, with scenic offerings from waterfalls to towering lookouts. Worth a stop is the escarpment that overlooks the Lake of the Clouds and the Porcupine Mountains, which are stacked as far as the eye can see.
From Silver City, drive east on Michigan Highway 64 for 13 miles to Ontonagon, then Michigan Highway 38 for 14 miles southeast to Michigan Highway 26. Here you will drive through hardwood forests and almost forgotten copper mining towns that still hold reminders of their past, with small two-story homes and steep roofs and quaint shops.
The twin towns of Houghton and Hancock are separated by the Portage Canal. On the Hancock side of the canal, the former site of the successful Quincy copper mine on Quincy Hill is now a copper mining museum. A tram at the top of the hill can take you over the crest and down for a copper mine tour. During autumn, the tram offers a color-soaked view of the twin cities and the forests beyond.
Follow U.S. Highway 41 up the Keweenaw Peninsula through former copper mining villages. The village of Calumet is now Keweenaw National Historic Park, with numerous original buildings, churches, a theater and homes from the copper boom, which began in the late 1800s. At Copper Harbor, drive up Brockway Mountain for a sweeping view of rolling hills and Lake Superior. The aspen below the cliff turn as yellow as a bowl of butter.
Information: Upper Peninsula Travel & Recreation Association, 800-562-7134; www.uptravel.com. (the phone number as published has been corrected in this text)
Northwest Michigan
With a week cleared on the calendar, drive to Manitowoc, Wis., and take the Badger Carferry across Lake Michigan to Ludington (reservations are suggested; call 888-525-3337; note that the carferry stops running Oct. 29). On the return trip, follow U.S. Highway 31 and I-94 back home. It’s about 240 miles from Chicago to where your Michigan adventure begins at Ludington.
Browning dune grasses wave along the lakeshore drive north to Ludington State Park. Fall is a quiet time to wander along the six miles of Lake Michigan beach, or take the winding drives, canoe Hamlin Lake or follow the hiking trails, one leading to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse.
North of Manistee, Onekama throws the Celebrate Fall with Onekama festival on Oct. 14 with food, games, crafts and a scarecrow contest.
The drive through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will take you through hardwood forests, with side roads leading to Lake Michigan beaches. The Visitor Center at Empire has a video highlighting attractions within the Lakeshore. The 7-mile Pierce Stocking Drive winds through hardwood forests to the top of the tall sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan and the islands of North and South Manitou. If you’re feeling energetic, try a climb to the top in the slippery sand of one of the dunes.
Autumn in the Leelanau Peninsula is a tradition for many visitors. The road to take is Michigan Highway 22 as it circles the peninsula and its shops, wineries, herb farms and scenic coves and overlooks. At Traverse City, drive up the spiny ridge of Old Mission Peninsula with more wineries and the bays of Grand Traverse to the east and west.
North on U.S. Highway 31 is Charlevoix, host to the Oct. 13-5 Annual Apple Festival where you can feast on apples, applesauce, apple tarts and apple juice.
Nearby, Petoskey is a good starting point for numerous fall color drives that wind through villages and inland lakes. Scenic vistas include Deadman’s Hill off U.S. Highway 131, with the Jordan River Valley opening up to splashes of color for miles and miles.
Another scenic drive is to follow Michigan Highway 119 north of Petoskey through Harbor Springs and the Tunnel of Trees where tree branches of reds and gold form a tunnel along the narrow road.
If you’re in the neighborhood in mid-September, head north on U.S. 31 to Mackinaw City for the Colonial Harvest Weekend at Colonial Michilimackinac. Dates are Sept. 16-17 when the troops of the King’s 8th Regiment Encampment will pitch in with Colonial Michilimackinac’s British and French soldiers, Native Americans, colonial traders, women and children to prepare the fort village for winter. Volunteer colonists can help dry herbs, dip candles, make apple butter and store vegetables.
Information: West Michigan Tourist Association, 800-442-2084, www.wmta.org (the phone number as published has been corrected in this text).
