Two peninsulas, four lakes
Michigan is a state of contrasts, noted for wide areas of untouched nature and for industry, specifically its car and cereal businesses.  The state is a water wonderland (about 40% water), encompassing 11,037 inland lakes as well as parts of four Great Lakes. Add in the woods and rugged terrain, and Michigan is a natural for all sorts of outdoor activities winter or summer; its bright autumn foliage is frosting on the cake.

On the other hand, Michigan is the historic home to America’s carmaking industry, the cereal business and the famous Motown recording company.

About Michigan
When people mention Michigan, most think of Detroit and the auto industry. It is true the motorcar and the modern highway, in more than one sense, made Michigan's tourist industry what it is today. Automobile plants provided good wages and leisure time and autos offered swift transportation, helping people take advantage of Michigan's fish, game, scenery and solitude — while underwriting jobs in tourism.

The state’s wild, rugged, less-developed Upper Peninsula draws raves from all types of travelers. By definition, it should appeal more to venturers, but even authentics enjoy the natural qualities that they often describe as “desolate,” and they find camping out in the Upper Peninsula’s Whitefish Bay, Huron or Porcupine Mountains offers the level of adventure that they enjoy.

Going north doesn’t necessarily signal roughing it: Visitors of all types like the pleasant summer weather and the fresh foods and friendly people. On the other hand, venturers can test their mettle in the wild north of Michigan. They also laud the remoteness from crowds and unspoiled environment.  Waters of the Great Lakes surround the two Michigan peninsulas, providing unmatched water-oriented recreation — and a quite different atmosphere from the languid tropical-water areas in southern parts of the U.S. Also, whether in the northern wilderness or at resorts farther south, visitors can sample lakeside beaches, boating, rivers and lakes full of fish and game hunting.

Centrics and authentics fall in love with Mackinac Island, just off the shore in a dogleg of Lake Huron. Sometimes called the Bermuda of the North, the island recalls the atmosphere of the 19th century, when life was simpler and slower, and wealthy barons from the South and later Chicago established summer residences.  No cars allowed! And this is Michigan!  Visitors can walk, bicycle or take a horse-drawn carriage to see the sights, which include interesting rock formations, lovely parks and hiking trails, and charming shops and craft displays.

• Take a biking trip. The state has more than 1,300 miles of bike trails that take riders from shorelines and beach towns to national forests and state parks.
Make that trip a leaf-peeper tour in September, October or early November.

• Really get away from it all in the Isle Royale National Park on an island in Lake Superior. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, it offers hiking, boating and opportunities to scout shipwrecks. The boat transfer starts in Houghton and is a six-hour, 73-mile journey aboard the National Park Service’s Ranger III, which is also an icebreaker!

• Go snowmobiling. Michigan boasts more than 6,100 miles of designated snowmobile trails in six state forests, three national forests plus privately owned lands.

• At Muskegon, charter a boat with family or friends for sportfishing on Lake Michigan. Or, charter that boat for river fishing on the Muskegon, Manistee or Pere Marquette rivers. In either case, you are after salmon, steelhead and trout. A fishing license is required.

• The West can’t claim all dude ranches. You can visit some here and take trail rides — for an hour, a day, overnight.

• Visit the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso for some hands-on fun. Join the Engineer for an Hour program, which lets you drive the Pere Marquette No. 1225 (the largest operating steam locomotive of its kind) or the Flagg Coal Co. 75 (which resembles Thomas the Tank Engine!).

• Go hunting (with a license and in season, of course) for the likes of bear, deer, elk—and turkeys. The state uses the hunting season as a wildlife management tool.

• Bring your diving or snorkeling gear and go trolling for old shipwrecks. The floors of the Huron, Michigan and Superior lakes are strewn with the remains of ships that were casualties of sudden storms. You can explore these treasures at 11 underwater preserves along Michigan’s 3,200 miles of Great Lakes coastline.

• If you like that theme, visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on the shores of Lake Superior. The only museum devoted to the perils of maritime travel on the Great Lakes, it is located at Whitefish Point, site of the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior (www.shipwreckmuseum.com).

• Take canoes, kayaks, rafts, rowboats or tubes on the Au Sable River. If your trip is long enough, you will overnight in a cabin. The vendor is Alcona Canoe Rental and Campground.

• Attend any of the riverfront festivals in Detroit held on weekends during warm-weather months.
Other alternatives are the Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival, the world’s largest free jazz festival, and the weeklong Freedom Festival, held with Windsor, Ontario, and celebrating Canada’s July 1 Dominion Day with America’s July 4 Independence Day.

• Visit Greenfield Village, which is part of a larger complex in Dearborn. More than 90 historic buildings have been preserved in the village. You can explore them as well as ride a steam locomotive, a steamboat or even a Model T. Period presenters and artisans demonstrate time-honored crafts. The Henry Ford Museum is part of this complex, too.

• Or, from the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, take a scenic passenger ride into the countryside; one option is an overnight excursion to Cadillac.

• In addition, if you travel in late October, go to Bridgeport for its Halloween Spook Train Ride aboard the Junction Valley Railroad. The nighttime adventure lasts two and a half hours or, on weekends, three and a half hours.

• Rent a cottage in the woods.

• Go hiking or biking on Mackinac Island.

• Explore some of the state’s 45 wineries. They take advantage of soil left behind by the glacier that formed Lake Michigan 10,000 years ago. The wineries are clustered along the Lower Peninsula’s west coast, within 25 miles of the lake.

• Go boating, sailing or canoeing. The state boasts 1,300 public-access sites for boaters.

• At the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, join the daily Ford Rouge Factory Tour and go behind the scenes inside the world's largest automotive complex.

• Go skiing or snowmobiling. Michigan’s lake-effect snow yields more than 45 alpine ski resorts, 5,700 miles of snowmobile trails and more than 2,200 miles of cross-country trails. Consider using an RV as a mobile ski lodge.

• For a modest-sized place, Battle Creek offers plenty to do. Start with the factory tour at Kellogg’s Cereal City USA. Then, look in at the W.K. Kellogg House.
Time it right, and you can attend the June Cereal Festival in the city known as the “cereal bowl of America” (Post and Ralston are here, too).

• Visit Battle Creek’s Historic Adventist Village, a recreated village recalling — with reenactments and restored/reconstructed buildings — the lives of 19th century Adventist settlers here. Sojourner Truth’s grave is in Battle Creek, as well.

• In Detroit, visit the Motown Museum, the Detroit Institute of the Arts, the Museum of African-American History and Fox Theater, magnificently refurbished in the late ’90s.

• Visit the DeKlomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory in Holland. Watch artists hand-paint and glaze delftware in the traditional fashion, and see wooden shoes take shape as they are carved on machines imported from the Netherlands. This is the only blue-and-white delftware factory in the U.S.

• Attend pro sports games featuring any of these: the Detroit Lions (football), Pistons (basketball), Red Wings (hockey), Tigers (baseball).

• Spend your vacation on Mackinac Island and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of a place where no cars are allowed. See the sights in a horse-drawn carriage.

• Cruise on one of the Great Lakes.

• Visit the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids. Take a seat in the Oval Office there.

• Attend any of a number of fall harvest festivals. Take a hayride. Find your way into, and out of, a corn maze. Go to Marshall to see 1,000 scarecrows.

• In season, pick fresh fruit, as well as wild asparagus, black walnuts and hazelnuts.