At roughly 60,000 acres, the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is Michigan’s largest state park. It is home to 35,000 acre old-growth forest, roaring waterfalls, miles of rivers and streams, more than 90 miles of hiking trails, the Lake Superior shoreline and vistas unrivaled anywhere in the Midwest.
This park boasts many popular natural attractions, including Lake of the Clouds (ADA accessible viewing area), the Summit Peak observation tower and the scenic Presque Isle River corridor. Other attractions include an 18-hole disc golf course, the Porcupine Mountains Ski Area and more. In addition, the Wilderness Visitor Center ( three miles west of Silver City on M-107) offers interpretive programs, exhibit hall, information on trail conditions, pet-friendly shoreline, wifi, a gift shop and more.
Ryan and I scheduled two big hiking trips in Michigan back in January, pre-virus. Our first trip in May was cancelled which is why we began to hike locally on a regular basis. When Illinois opened state parks for camping, we jumped at the opportunity and thus began our weekly camping.
Porcupine Mountains was not cancelled due to Covid and became the first multi-day trip Hike 360 took in 2020. The first and last night we stayed at Lake Gogebic, check out our post.
Lake Superior Trail from the Lake in the Clouds Lookout to Campsite 10, about 10 miles. This was the best Lake Superior overlook we had on the trip, most of our time was spent at the shoreline.
Most of our videos are filmed in a full 360 arc, this means you should be able to use your device to move the video around and up and down. If you are having issues or if you are watching with VR goggles, click over and watch our Hike360vr playlist directly on YouTube.
A pretty great view of Lake Superior from the Lake Superior Trail. This was taken near the beginning of the trail while still on the mountain ridge near the Lake in the Clouds.
Ryan loses his hat, does a quick run and lives to talk about it.
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There are some campsite which outshine the others. Campsites LS13 and LS14 are located on the Lake Superior right at Lone Rock. Simply beautiful.
Our first and almost last underwater film. The swimming was fantastic and having a waterproof camera would be fun.
A quick talk about the virus while sitting in Lake Superior on a perfect day.
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This is when we test drive the GoPro and discover that, “waterproof up to 10 feet” really means “water resistant – do not submerge.” You can hear the water leaking into the camera.
This is a wonder use of 360 technology with the lake side path in front and back, the sun high in the sky and beautiful Lake Superior on our right.
Porcupine Mountain Campsite LS10 is where we stayed for 2 evenings. A great site and well maintained with several natural upgrades and a beach front. The clouds mentioned in the video were the front for a huge summer storm of Lake Superior. Lightning every minute, deep and rolling thunder, and a strong rain. Both nights it stormed and both nights our tent held tight.
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You can see how calm Lake Superior was before the night storm. Approaching clouds took the sunset away but delivered a robust evening of lights and sounds.
The Big Carp Trail goes from the Lake Shore Trail on Lake Superior to the Lake in the Clouds lookout point.
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The Big Carp Trail has two river crossings. The nightly rains provided a stronger but still safe river to practice crossing.
The Lake in the Clouds Lookout is a primary visitor attraction. Arriving early helps with parking and crowds. If you make it this far, pack a lunch and take a hike down the Escarpment Trail. This is a good video for using the 360 video features.
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This is a great trail and well worth your time. We extended our trip to some back into the park just for the this trail.
The far west side of the park is were the waterfalls are located. An attraction to be sure, but take some time to hike a portion of the North Country Trail, which passes exactly through this area.
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