Forum Discussion

welove2drive's avatar
welove2drive
Explorer
Aug 24, 2013

Michigan - best time to avoid biting flies

I've been researching the UP of Michigan and along the West side of Michigan. I know summer is a short season and August is probably really busy. How is it after Labor Day? We don't mind it being cooler. I like to have fall/spring temps at least 60 High and 40 or warmer for the low. Just wondering what the best month would be to avoid those pesky flies. Are the black flies bad all year?
Marcia

27 Replies

  • 2gypsies wrote:
    May/June/July for flies and mosquitoes. Enjoy!!


    Is that when they are there or when to avoid them? lol
  • Just Came across US 2 one end to the other last week did not have any black flies. ND and MT. are both quite buggy now.
  • Black flies to us seem to be at their worst in early July in the U.P. At least that's what we've noticed and they never have been bad or biting except for a couple days roughly 20 years ago when the breeze was coming from the east for a few days which seldom happens in Michigan. In fact, we're near Mackinaw City (The Straits) presently and have been here for the last week and have only seen 2 flies in all that time. Both died instantly with contact from the flyswatter! Neither were the biting type and were just plain house flies but not allowed in our RV or around us outside. It's called suicide! Had one mosquito so far up here and he bit the dust quickly but never got either of us before his demise.

    We live and have lived on the Lake Michigan shore west of Grand Rapids for nearly 72 years now and seldom see flies and very seldom ever seen any biting flies away from area farms with live stock which naturally attracts black flies and deer flies. This spring we did have one outburst of mosquitos in May due to a record wet spring and haven't had hardly any skeeters or seen any since. If you want to avoid flies and skeeters, stay away from the wetlands or swamps or farms with livestock. Another area to avoid is where somebody cleaned their caught fish and left the remains on the ground or unwrapped in a trash barrel as some people are so inconsiderate! True for about any state or area. Skeeters breed in wet areas with standing water and they need blood for it to happen!

    Please Do Not feed any mosquito's in Michigan as we want to keep them an "endangered specie".
  • Best month to avoid biting flies is January.

    :D

    Actually, mid and late September is usually quite pleasant.

About Campground 101

Recommendations, reviews, and the inside scoop from fellow travelers.14,733 PostsLatest Activity: Aug 09, 2025