Mammoth Cave NP to Michigan Upper peninsula

OK Now, Ready???

Northern Indiana is a hot bed of Amish activity. The K-mart in Goshen actually has a 10 horse stall for them. There is even more in Shipshewana.

If you route this way, you may go through the cities you choose, but you are well east of the Chicago mess....

If you are a car or history person, hang on....
In Auburn is the Auburn Cord Duesenburg museum and the National Truck museum shares the parking lot.

Then go north into the Amish country.

Just north of Elkhart is the RV Hall of Fame. When you are looking at southern Michigan, watch for the Kalamazoo Air Zoo if that doesn't hold you up for the whole day, you can go north and east to Hickory Corners and the Gilmore Collection. Gilmore is an amazing collection of automotive history, and you can dry camp on their lot if you choose.

If you go north west from there to the Lake Michigan shore, you will hit Saugatuck/Douglas which is an artist community (leave your wallet in the car). But you have to walk the streets for at least a little while.

Now you are set to up the state through Holland, Muskegon, and all the "Dunes" parks all the way to the Strait. Oh, and almost countless wineries.

When you get near the Strait decide if you want to see the reproduction saw mill at Mill Creek. Then you can cross the bridge to St. Ignace. If you want to go to Mackinac Island, it is a shorter boat ride from there. See the Fort, buy some fudge and leave before it gets too late. The Island is almost all tourist trap other than a few items.

Once you are that close, you really should go to the locks and see them flush a ship or two.

I'll quit here.

Matt

Matt_Colie wrote:
OK Now, Ready???

Northern Indiana is a hot bed of Amish activity. The K-mart in Goshen actually has a 10 horse stall for them. There is even more in Shipshewana.

If you route this way, you may go through the cities you choose, but you are well east of the Chicago mess....

If you are a car or history person, hang on....
In Auburn is the Auburn Cord Duesenburg museum and the National Truck museum shares the parking lot.

Then go north into the Amish country.

Just north of Elkhart is the RV Hall of Fame. When you are looking at southern Michigan, watch for the Kalamazoo Air Zoo if that doesn't hold you up for the whole day, you can go north and east to Hickory Corners and the Gilmore Collection. Gilmore is an amazing collection of automotive history, and you can dry camp on their lot if you choose.

If you go north west from there to the Lake Michigan shore, you will hit Saugatuck/Douglas which is an artist community (leave your wallet in the car). But you have to walk the streets for at least a little while.

Now you are set to up the state through Holland, Muskegon, and all the "Dunes" parks all the way to the Strait. Oh, and almost countless wineries.

When you get near the Strait decide if you want to see the reproduction saw mill at Mill Creek. Then you can cross the bridge to St. Ignace. If you want to go to Mackinac Island, it is a shorter boat ride from there. See the Fort, buy some fudge and leave before it gets too late. The Island is almost all tourist trap other than a few items.

Once you are that close, you really should go to the locks and see them flush a ship or two.

I'll quit here.

Matt

Where is the strait?
Thanks!
Pat

In Texas we have George Strait!

But in Michigan, where I was born and raised, they have the Straits of Mackinac

Thanks George,

Matt

Matt offered some very good Michigan sights as well as northern Indiana. Shipshewana is definitely a center for Amish activities, but there are a lot of crafty type places there too with the usual tourist stuff. For camping in Shipshewana check out the link below. There is a huge flea market there every Tuesday & Wednesday 8-5. It's lot of the same stuff, but there are some interesting things. Wednesdays at 9 a.m. is an auction that brings in many Amish.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Indiana/Shipshewana.html

If on your way back south you stray into Ohio you may want to visit Holmes County. There is a nice campground in Berlin that we stayed at while visiting, Scenic Hills. This area of Ohio has the largest population of Amish in the U.S. Do some research before going so you can see as much as possible while there.

http://www.scenichillsrvpark.com/

or you might like this one.

http://www.berlinrvpark.com/

In Michigan I also suggest sticking to the Lake Michigan shoreline. The state parks are usually quite full during the summer though, but check them out anyway as you may find a day or two during the mid-week. State park reservation site below. There are also plenty of private parks along the way too. I'll offer a couple of suggestions below.

https://www.midnrreservations.com/

Silver Lake dunes area.

http://www.silvercreekrv.com/

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Michigan/Empire.html

In the U.P. we have stayed at Brimley State Park several times and will be there again in July. It has a nice beach and grassy campsites. It's also not far from Sault Ste Marie (called "The Soo" by Yoopers).

Another area worth visiting in the U.P. is Grand Marais/Munising. There's a nice little campground in Grand Marais called Woodland Park where you can walk into the small downtown area. It's right on Lake Superior with a very nice beach loaded with agates. They do not take reservations and when we were there a couple of July's ago we had no problem getting a site. Weekend can be more difficult.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Michigan/Grand_Marais.html


For Munising (take county road H-58 from Grand Marais) and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore check out this link for camping. There are lots of waterfalls in the Munising area and the Pictured Rocks boat tour is a must if you want to see the rock formations.

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Michigan/Munising.html

Thanks everyone. Excellent suggestions. We arrived in Shipshewana today. We decided to camp at Shipshewana Campground South. This is a very nice small town with a lot to see and do. DW and I are enjoying the Amish culture as well. Excellent suggestion. Again, thank you.