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mo5er · 06-07-2014, 08:19 AM

Hello folks, We are planning a trip to the Great Lakes region for later this fall. Never have been to any of them. Starting in Wisconsin and working our way to New York. Probably take about a month and see them all. Looking for your "must see or do", favorite places to stay, places to avoid. We like the state parks or fed. parks rather than the $$$$ RV Resorts. Oh, and I love a good meal if there is a place that I absolutely must try!
Thanks for sharing your experience,
Keith

Skip426 · 06-07-2014, 09:50 AM

By later this fall, do you have any dates planned ? Many of the RV parks and local recreation areas; around the lakes and up the east coast; start closing in mid Sept. and very few open after mid Oct.

mo5er · 06-07-2014, 11:25 AM

Thanks Skip, we were thinking about leaving Missouri around the end of August. We like to do our long trips when school is in session. We may have to rethink?

Skip426 · 06-07-2014, 04:50 PM

For the most part Sept , won't be the real issue, but (when on a cross continent tour ) four years ago , as the month progressed past the 15 finding a spot for the night did become more difficult. Bennington VT. campground was closing 2 days after we departed, Sept 20th, several others, through NY, were shutting amenities down, pools drained , laundry locked up. Around Elkhart, things did get better, but as we crossed, back towards home , the threat of an early frost had most parks we found winterizing. Rapid City, 3/4 of the park, had the water shut off, Oct 3rd. Owner said he was just staying open through the weekend , we were there Wed.
You, can still do the trip, but be prepared to be Boon Docking for most of the nights.

Edit: Bennington VT. I would go back to in a heart beat, history , covered bridges , beautiful place. Unfortunately ravaged by flood the year after our visit. But still on my Bucket List. Next time I'd plan to hang around for the fall colors then head south instead of west.

mo5er · 06-07-2014, 07:12 PM

Skip426, Thank you for the information

eieioh · 06-07-2014, 07:38 PM

Our experience is that we MUST do Mackinac city, MI and the surrounds, ( Mackinac Island ferry and Grand Hotel and wagon rides), Frankenmuth, MI for the Bavarian town and Bronners Christmas store. Also Maumee Bay State Park at Oregon, Ohio for the beautiful park, plentiful friendly deer, great biking good fishing and access to Cedar Point amusement park, Port Clinton, Kelley's Island the Magee's Marsh, and so forth. Then there is Geneva on the Lake State Park at Geneva on the Lake, Ohio. Again good biking, cute old fashioned vacation town with board walks, wineries, and all kinds of tourist trap stuff. Then there are, just within twenty or so miles, 10 to 15 of Ohio's best wineries. Also one of the largest Amish settlements in the U. S. (Middlefield, OH) is quite close. Check it all out on Google or your favorite search engine.

Best of Luck and maybe we'll meet you at one of these beautiful places.

ed

SeeTheUSA · 06-07-2014, 09:09 PM

Minnesota North Shore - Attractions on North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota
Duluth, MN cool RV park - Welcome to Lakehead Boat Basin Duluth Minnesota Lake Superior
Copper Harbor, MI - Copper Harbor, Michigan - The Official Website
Crisp Point Lighthouse, MI - Crisp Point Light Historical Society
Sault Ste. Marie, MI cool RV park - City of Sault Ste Marie Municipal Website - Aune Osborn Campground

Just to name a few . . .

mo5er · 06-07-2014, 09:13 PM

Ed, thanks so much for the suggestions. This will get me a great start.

mo5er · 06-07-2014, 09:17 PM

Warren and Debbie, thank you for all the great links!!

NRR · 06-08-2014, 08:25 AM

I would suggest a stop at the Apostle Islands. Just north of Bayfield there is a campground next to a casino. I thought it had great views of Lake Superior.
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (U.S. National Park Service)
Campgrounds | Legendary Waters Resort & Casino

LakeKerrGuy · 06-08-2014, 09:00 AM

The Whitefish Point Light House Station - Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (U.S. National Park Service)

Tahquamenon Falls State Park and Campground, Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Munising Tourist Park Camp Ground | Online campsite rentals in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan

All are only a couple of hours apart. We stayed at the falls campground for a couple of days and did Whitefish Point while there.

The Munising Tourist Park is between Munining and Christmas. There is a casino in Christmas that has free sites with electric.

Superslif · 06-08-2014, 10:41 AM

You have East Harbor State Park near Sandusky Ohio. From there you can take a ferry over to Put-in-Bay. Either take your bikes with you or rent a golf car once over there.

At East Harbor you will want to get a site in the "B" section with the pull-thru sites. (picture of pull-thru site) Section "C" does have some full-service back-in sites. ( picture of section "C" Full Service sites ) But the other sites in "C" are tight. ( picture of tight section "C" sites) Near by you have Marblehead Lighthouse.

The first weekend in Oct you have Loudenville Street fair (126th annual) Mohican State park, Ohio's most popular State park is one mile away. (pictures) Need to reserve a site now. That would be located about a hour south of Sandusky.

Another nice quite state park that time of year is Findley State Park an hour SW of Cleveland. ( pictures )

Another nice state park an hour SE. of Cleveland is West Branch State Park. Close to Hartville Flea market.

Possum · 06-08-2014, 10:51 AM

If you want to get up c;lose and personal with huge lake freighters you will have to get up to Soo Michigan and go to the Locks Viewing platform. While there, grab your passports, climb in your toad and head to the Canadian Soo for a Pizza. The best Pizza's in the world are in Soo Ontario. Every trip through there we stop for pizza. Mrs B's is the best of the bunch.

BobThompson · 06-08-2014, 11:19 AM

Make sure to get there early enough to see all the things before the campgrounds close. Previous responders are right about closing. Walk the big Mac bridge on Labor Day, 80000 people or more, and visit the Dark Sky Park (Wilderness State Park) as well as the Soo Locks. Visit Interlochen, MI for the music camp. Attend a fish boil in Door Cty. WI. There's a small roadside pull-off just south of Algoma, WI that's on a bluff overlooking Lake MI. that will provide you with a wonderful, free opportunity to watch the sun come up over the water. There is a race track in Slinger, WI that is completely round and great Sausage available all over the eastern WI area, and an expensive car ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington, MI. Tawas City, MI has a city sponsored RV park on the shore of Lake Huron right Downtown. US 2 across the northern shore of Lake Michigan is a beautiful drive, with the opportunity to pull off the road and goes swimming at endless locations. MI has several Indian operated casinos, some with adjoining RV parks. Further east there is always Niagara falls and the Welland Canal in Ontario which is how ships get from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. The south shore of Lake Ontario is quite lovely and the area between Syracuse, NY and Watertown, NY is like stepping into the past. Keep an eye out for pieces of the Erie Canal. Lockport is a good spot to learn about it. If you go as far as the St. Lawrence Seaway be sure to visit the 1000 Islands region. Go over to the Canadian side at the north end of I 81 and climb the tower for a great view of the area, where the wealthy from NYC built vacation homes on private islands 100 years ago. Many are now open to the public for viewing. Detouring a little south from there will get you to the finger lakes region and to Cooperstown and Seneca Falls, birthplace of the Women's Suffrage movement. All in all there's a lot of history as well as a lot of natural beauty to be seen. You'd better leave tomorrow. Bob T