Route advice - Near Cleveland OH to St. Claire MI (just past Detroit)

[swduns]

2008 Tiffin Phaeton Dp 40' towing Equinox
Will be leaving park - Kenisee Lake RV Campground, 2021 Mill Creek Rd, Jefferson, OH 44047
next week, traveling to
St Clair RV Resort, St Clair, MI just past Detroit near CAN border
I'm not familiar with this area and have hear stories about Detroit roads and traffic
It looks like leaving on 90 and below lake Eire then
280 thru Toledo
75 North traveling thru downtown Detroit
Then I94 North to St Claire
Can anyone provide first hand feedback, advice, watchouts, recommendations, etc regarding this trip?

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by swduns

2008 Tiffin Phaeton Dp 40' towing Equinox
Will be leaving park - Kenisee Lake RV Campground, 2021 Mill Creek Rd, Jefferson, OH 44047
next week, traveling to
St Clair RV Resort, St Clair, MI just past Detroit near CAN border
I'm not familiar with this area and have hear stories about Detroit roads and traffic
It looks like leaving on 90 and below lake Eire then
280 thru Toledo
75 North traveling thru downtown Detroit
Then I94 North to St Claire
Can anyone provide first hand feedback, advice, watchouts, recommendations, etc regarding this trip?

Sorry I can't help with the route request, but I have a question about Kenisee Lake. We are schedule to be in there this coming Wednesday after we get some repairs completed in Goshen, Ind... How is the campground, knowing it is a 1000 Trails Park, it will be our first time there. We used to live in Ohio in Cardington and the Wilmington 1000 Trails Park is our home campground, but we never went there, we know each 1000 Trails Park is different.
Currently we are in Mackinaw City and went to Mackinaw Island yesterday.

[George Schweikle]

There is no need to go through downtown Detroit. Take I 275 to get somewhat North of Detroit, then I 696 to to get east to I95. Maybe a little longer, but it will keep you out of downtown. Should be obvious on a map.

Originally Posted by swduns

2008 Tiffin Phaeton Dp 40' towing Equinox
Will be leaving park - Kenisee Lake RV Campground, 2021 Mill Creek Rd, Jefferson, OH 44047
next week, traveling to
St Clair RV Resort, St Clair, MI just past Detroit near CAN border
I'm not familiar with this area and have hear stories about Detroit roads and traffic
It looks like leaving on 90 and below lake Eire then
280 thru Toledo
75 North traveling thru downtown Detroit
Then I94 North to St Claire
Can anyone provide first hand feedback, advice, watchouts, recommendations, etc regarding this trip?

[dsattler]

2X on taking I275. We went this way in 2019 (better than going downtown).

[dsattler]

Originally Posted by hamm2018

Sorry I can't help with the route request, but I have a question about Kenisee Lake. We are schedule to be in there this coming Wednesday after we get some repairs completed in Goshen, Ind... How is the campground, knowing it is a 1000 Trails Park, it will be our first time there. We used to live in Ohio in Cardington and the Wilmington 1000 Trails Park is our home campground, but we never went there, we know each 1000 Trails Park is different.

Currently we are in Mackinaw City and went to Mackinaw Island yesterday.

Hamm2018 - park was nice when we were there in Sept 2020. Look out for the low bridge coming to the park. TT staff assigned us our site based on size of rv and escorted us to our site. Parked right on the lake for 21 days. Nice and quiet

[ArtJoyce]

I would do the i275 north to i696 to i94. You will be around 10 mile road when you meet up with i94.
You will some distance to a border crossing into Canada.

[tcg]

I live in the St. Clair area and travel Detroit freeways. 275 to 696 is out of the way but not a bad way to avoid Detroit but...

Avoiding any large city local streets with a rig as big as yours is probably a good idea but passing through Detroit on the freeway is no big deal.

If fuel and time isn't an issue go the 275 route. Check your GPS for times and distance. 696 is an 80+ mph freeway so be careful.

Also get in the left lane at least a couple miles before the 94 exit, it can be hard to get over depending what time you go through.

There's also weird lane shift on 94 at 59 but the lanes are wide enough.

Also, get in the center lane after 21 mile because the 23 mile exit is exit only in the right lane. The middle lane becomes the right lane after that exit.

Have fun and enjoy the Blue Water area.

[swduns]

Originally Posted by hamm2018

Sorry I can't help with the route request, but I have a question about Kenisee Lake. We are schedule to be in there this coming Wednesday after we get some repairs completed in Goshen, Ind... How is the campground, knowing it is a 1000 Trails Park, it will be our first time there. We used to live in Ohio in Cardington and the Wilmington 1000 Trails Park is our home campground, but we never went there, we know each 1000 Trails Park is different.
Currently we are in Mackinaw City and went to Mackinaw Island yesterday.

I've been happy at Kenisee Lake RV Campground
Access in from 90 is down 45 is a good road, the only trick on the route in, is your GPS may take you down Mill Creek Road off of 45 but there is a 10' overpass at the beginning of Mill Creek Road. You have to go to the next road down & go down to Forman Rd then cut back up to Mill Creek to access the park. Not a big deal if you are aware.

The park is very large. Sites are larger than typical. Roads on the site are ample sized. Most sites are relatively level. They have a pool and mini golf. We dont use the amenities but they seem well used. The management seems reasonable and fair.

We've been to many Thousand Trails parks and like Kenisee just fine.

[swduns]

We're going to Mackinaw right after St Claire. Any advice or insights on seeing Mackinaw or surrounding area?

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by swduns

We're going to Mackinaw right after St Claire. Any advice or insights on seeing Mackinaw or surrounding area?

Just left Mackinaw City yesterday, we stayed at the KOA there. Really only thing we found to do was going to Mackinaw Island or walking around the Mackinaw City after biking over.
You cannot take an E-Bike over to Mackinaw Island, for the ferry ride it is $30/adult plus $16/bike, on Sheplers Ferry. Wife rented a bike, and I took my bike over. Her fee was $42/half-day.
The closes grocery store, Wal-Mart, was down in Cheboygan, Mich., 15 miles away.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by swduns

We're going to Mackinaw right after St Claire. Any advice or insights on seeing Mackinaw or surrounding area?

Surrounding area? The whole Lake Michigan coastline is awesome. Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore is a must do. Take the ferry from Leland for a day trip to South Manitou Island. We gave the lighthouse tours there. The whole Leelanau Peninsula is gorgeous. Charlevoix and Petoskey have lots to do, also.

If you drive across the Mackinac Bridge keep going to Paradise - nice state park and tour the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point.

If heading back to Ohio go via Wisconsin along the lakefront.

[HotelFoMoCo]

Yes, It’s a bit out of the way but I usually take I-75 to I-275 north to I-696 east. Then I-696 E til it ends at I-94. I-94 east (a little confusing here cause you’re going to merge left and actually be traveling north) to 26 Mile Rd (Marine City Hwy). You definitely want to avoid the Detroit area freeways between 4 and 6 PM. (born and raised in Detroit). There is construction on I 275 between I-94 and I-96/I-275 but currently the only slow down on the NB side is in the area of I-96/M 14 where it’s down to two lanes.

[HotelFoMoCo]

The state of Michigan has a reasonably accurate real-time traffic map showing approximate speeds on all Michigan highways that have sensors. Other traffic data is gathered from Google Maps. It’s not perfect but but I use it every day for my drives basically anywhere. I’ll try to attach two pictures showing the map and the website.

[HotelFoMoCo]

Well,… Mackinac Island of course. Mackinaw City for the fort. But I really like the history of the Mackinac area and the building of the Mackinac bridge. Don’t forget to go see the Coast Guard cutter Mackinac at the marina while in Mackinac city. You may see the new Coast Guard cutter Mackinac at the dock if it’s not out on patrol. The decommissioned Mackinac is available for tours but I think you have to book in advance. Its docked at a super sweet marina that makes me wish I had a boat. A really nice park even if you don’t have one. One of my favorite parks in the entire state is Wilderness state park approximately 20 minutes west of Mackinac City. On the way to Wilderness and immediately west of Mackinaw City, is the McGulpin point lighthouse. Its no longer a navigational aid and It’s owned by a nonprofit now. Although I hate to give up my secrets, far as I’m concerned is a must see. Take the short, approximately 20 minute, self guided (with several awesome history kiosks), trail to the water’s edge to see the Mighty Mackinac bridge as you look to the east. Just outside of the McGulpin pointe property, is the right away easement for Enbridge energy’s line 5 pipeline. A current hot political topic in Michigan. You may see a couple of Native American protesters on site. Michigan has a long history of Native American populations who it seems have been in this area for thousands of years, perhaps back to last Ice Age. In the same area is Michigan’s International dark sky park. During the summer season, night and day the park frequently hosts astronomers with their telescopes. Check into the MIDNR site, then click around and find the individual parks that you’re looking for. Go to that page where they’ll be posting events and stuff going on at the parks. While the international dark sky Park and wilderness state park are awesome for its west facing beaches for nightly sunsets, I prefer the couple of lesser-known county parks that are on the lake Michigan shore in Emmet County. Of course a drive across the mighty Mac (in your car, they charge by the axle) to the UP is a must. And a whole post could be written about the UP itself. A stop in the Michigan welcome Center in Saint Ignace, a few questions of the knowledgeable staff there, usually locals, and you’ll get days worth of things to try and do. I’m sure I’m forgetting a ton stuff and I’m sorry if I didn’t mention all The cool places to see and things to do in Michigan