Around the Great Lakes

Has anyone done a trip all the way around the Great Lakes?  If so about how many miles was it and how long would it take?  Thanks

Haven't gone around them all, but if you don't stop much you can make it around Superior in a weekend.  Believe me that isn't much fun tho.

Wow, sounds like an awesome trip idea, never thought about that one.  I grew up about 15mi of Lake Ontario, the lakes are truly a wonder.

Around Lake Superior in 5 days of leisurely driving.  It was beautiful and left time to take in the sites.

Hi Diesel Jay,

We did the Lake Superior Circle Tour and really enjoyed it.  The whole Great Lakes Circle Tour is approximately 6500 miles.  We have been toying with the idea of doing it but haven't made up our minds yet.  I am still looking for ideas.  If you do the whole tour keep a journal to post. 

Although I haven't taken a "Great Lakes Circle Tour", I've driven, towed & camped along the North & South shores of all of them.  I live on the US shore of Lake Ontario, (in fact I'm listening to the crashing waves as I type!) Depending on how many stops you plan to make, starting at Duluth (the drive up MN 61 is great) & hugging the northern lakeshore(s) to Watertown, NY takes anywhere from 5 - 7 days, a bit less if you cross over at Niagara Falls. A journal of my last trip from Duluth to Niagara Falls starts here: 2011 Trip, Day 105.

Another interesting part of the Great Lakes is to take the ferries.  Tobermory to Manitoulin Island ferry crosses Lake Huron at Georgian Bay & is an interesting drive.  You can also avoid Chicago by taking the Manitowoc - Ludington ferry across Lake Michigan.  No matter what side of the lakes you travel along there are great places to see & things to do. 

Interested in this Lake Superior Circle Tour... how many miles was that loop?  If all the way around the Great Lakes is 6500, I'm assuming just Lake Superior is a lot less.  What were the memorable sights on that LS Circle Tour loop?  Trying to fit a trip into a vacation time frame.  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks.

And don't forget that the north side of lake superior is in Canada. So you'll need your passport. Apply now.

Are you planning on driving around all 5 great lakes, or just Superior. And if your planning a family vacation. I would pick one side one year, and the other the next year.

It's about 1,000 mi around Superior more if you take some side trips.  Very nice trip tho.

It is about 1200 miles around Lake Superior.  We took about 2 weeks to go around the lake but we stopped to see different things.  Tried not to miss any lighthouses. We stopped in Bayfield, Duluth and Grand Marais.  Thunder Bay is a big city so we stayed outside of town. KaKabeka Falls is not to be missed.  Fort William Historic Park is very interesting.  You will need a passport.  White River is the birthplace of Winnie the Pooh and the big Goose at WaWa was a good picture stop.  At Saute Ste Marie we took in the Soo Locks Boat Tour.  I enjoyed the Maritime Museum at Marquette also the lighthouse at Whitefish Point has an excellent museum.  It is the closest lighthouse to where the Edmund Fitzgerald went down.  The museum has its bell.  There is so much to see. 

Thanks everyone,  Barb, like your idea of one side par year, so how much time would it take to see doing it this way?  Only thing I can think of is that we would be doing some back tracking when we get to the end?  Yes or other way back?

Boy that's hard. Probably some back tracking around the Indian Resv. It would take me 4 - 6 weeks to do a shoreline again. But I'm a full timer, and I'd  have to do all of the touristy stuff. Stop and smell the roses and do some fishing

If you go in June I would do the south shore of Lake Superior, and if you go in Aug, the north shore . South shore hug the shore and definitely Copper Harbor and Carp Lake. East to West. And come back 28. And if you plan on being on the road during a holiday, start planning fast, and make your state park resv now. Google Michigan State Parks for the resv web site.

If your a AAA member head there for some help and info. If no,t head to the nearest welcome center. Talk to the people at the desk, let them know what you want to do. And they can gather the right info and maps faster than you can.

And don't to forget to pack for all weather conditions. Short and sandals to winter jackets. And plenty for spray for the black flies.

Enjoy your trip, throw a line in for me

DieselJay said:

Thanks everyone,  Barb, like your idea of one side par year, so how much time would it take to see doing it this way?  Only thing I can think of is that we would be doing some back tracking when we get to the end?  Yes or other way back?

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Time is relative.  How much time it takes depends upon how much time you have.  Are you going to drive, flop and then drive again?  Would you rather drive, stay a few days and drive again?
We made the trip in 2003 from the Lansing, MI area up to Mackinaw and Sault St. Marie and then returned S along the East Coast of Lake Michigan with a number of stops.  It took us about 3 weeks to make this trip spending 2-3 nights at most of our stops.

As I research this more I'm starting to think this may not be the best trip for my family.  My kids are 11 and 8(boys) and enjoy hiking very much,  but I'm wondering if at there age this may get a little hard to keep them interested in.  After going out west this past summer, there was plenty to see and do it wasn't all about hiking, so they were just fine.  This Great Lakes trip has many beautiful sites,  but, lakes, waterfalls, rivers, and lighthouses, may get boring for them.  Can save it for a later date for the wife and I.  If I'm wrong  PLEASE tell me if I'm missing something.  I want to make the best of every summer vaca that I can, don't know how many there are left before Dad and Mom are not cool to hang with!

Lots of beaches to walk on.  We took our 9 and 12 year old sons on a circle trip of Lake Superior many years ago.  On the north shore of Lake Superior, there are tons of streams with waterfalls and rapids that enter the lake, and we stopped at a lot of them for the kids to wade in and scramble over the rocks.

Also, maritime museums in Duluth and Whitefish Point (Edmund Fitzgerald stuff).  Duluth also has a very nice train museum the kids enjoyed. 

Thunder Bay has Fort William which is a fur trading post with guides in period costumes.  We also managed to stumble across a real PowWow at the nearby reservation where native Americans had come from all over the U.S.

At Sault St. Marie (Michigan or Ontario), you can visit the Soo Locks and watch big lake freighters barely fit through.  I also highly recommend the ferry to Tobermory, Ontario.

We spent 3 weeks, but included a few days at Mackinac Island, so two weeks should be more than adequate for just Lake Superior.

Judy

Never traveled the Canada side of Superior, but have done the Michigan side. As for things for the boys to do, if they like the outdoors then I would think they would enjoy it. Stop at the Soo locks, and they can watch the massive lake freighters travel through the locks just steps away. There is also an old laker turned into a museum that they can go on (museum ship Valley Camp). 50 miles south in St. Ignace is the Mackinaw Bridge, light house, Fort Michilamackinac (they have kids programs). They would love Castle Rock, basically a mountain they can climb and see the whole area. Very cool. West of the Soo is Tahquamenon Falls, very cool with hiking to the upper falls, and the surrounding area. Also Whitefish Point, a lighthouse/museum that is pretty interesting. And just 15 miles out lays the Edmund Fitzgerald. Just south of the falls is the Toonerville trolly and ferry ride through the Michigan wilderness, and Oswalds bear ranch. Young boys will love this, they can see up close many black bears. Largest all bear sanctuary in the US. Farther west in Munising they have a glass bottom boat tour where they float over shallow wrecks and you can see them through the bottom of the boat. Plus the beautiful Pictured Rocks shoreline. Traveling farther west through Marquette, L'Anse, Baraga, up in to Houghton/Hancock. Top of the hill (pretty respectable hill mind you) is the Quincy Mine. There are many mines in the Keweenaw Peninsula as this is copper country. A few of the mines give tours. Quincy has a very nice guided tour with tons of stuff around the property to interest young ones. Some mines let you wander on your own. At the tip of the Peninsula is Copper Harbor and Ft. Wilkins State park. the west side (new sites) are huge and you have Lake Superior in the back window and Lake Fanny Hooe in the front window. This state park is an historic site, with tours and demonstrations.

If you haven't noticed yet I do love the U.P.  ;D  So I guess I'm biased. The U.P. is covered in Forest, waterfalls, rivers, and lakes. And there are many, many campgrounds along the Superior coast, both state parks, forest camps, and private parks. Just a beautiful place.

Man, did I get carried away or what.....  ;D

DieselJay,
RVing with kids is all about working with there needs and attitude. My Daughter Katie and AI spent 50 days last summer working our way from Boston to the Yellowstone and back. I being from Duluth wanted to show the grands and Katie and Diane my roots. We spent a wile is on the lake Superior shore. I think Katie and I were the only ones who thought we could enjoy 7 weeks with the three kids. All asked to do some research of the planned route and pick things to do along the way. By the way they came up with some amazing stuff. We did 300 or less miles a day and had lay days every to or three days. The kids took pictures of the light houses and other points of interest. The two girls each wrote stories and with the picks Di made books for each. Nick hiked, fished, paddled the canoe and read history books relative to the area. in short we gave them ownership of parts of the trip, each had a couple of tasks at setup and ship out time. We made sure the campground had swimming or some kid activity and we did tote the bikes so they could burn energy every day.
Go now as they do have a expiration date for adults.
Jim

Getting bored on trip like that!  I don't think so.  There are so many sites to see and things to do, I think it would be a wonderful trip.  If you do go, don't forget the to go thru the Irvin ore ship at Duluth.  You can really see how big they are- it's a good tour. It's a 2 hour drive from Duluth to Grand Marais, but stopping to see the sites, Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, etc will take all of one day.  Can stay at Jay Cooke State park in Duluth and Grand Marais  camp ground the next nite.  Both great spots .

I'll second a stay at the Grand Marais Recreation Area campground.  I had the best pizza I've ever had delivered to my campsite!
2011 Trip, Day 106.

I can't imagine your boys being bored with lighthouses!  The state parks in MI are very family-friendly, at least they were a few years back, and they're really nice.  It's a beautiful area with lots to do.  For example you can take a "big" dune buggy ride on really neat sand dunes on the western side of Michigan's lower peninsula near Pen****er.  Get the song "Edmund B. FitzGerald" by Gordon Lightfoot so the boys can learn about what happened to the lake freighter before visiting the museum.  Knowing the story ahead of time will make the museum visit so much more meaningful.  Also, Duluth has an old lake freighter you can tour and it's absolutely gigantic when you're in the hull.  We took a boat tour of the Duluth harbor and were really lucky to see five boats being loaded.  We learned the importance of the person who is responsible for balancing the load in the hold.  There's a waterfall in the upper peninsula that has brown water because of the tannins in the soil.  There's just so much for kids their age to learn!!  They're at a wonderful age to see, learn, and remember their great adventures.  As an Army brat we traveled a lot when I was their age and I'm still amazed at what I saw, experienced, and remember.  Can they each have their own camera to record their own memories?  I think it would be a fabulous trip for your entire family.

ArdraF