Driving 9.5 hours to Michigan’s upper peninsula (UP) is about the same drive time as getting to Ashville, NC from the metro Detroit area!
With a population of about 102, rural is an understatement! Copper Harbor is located at the northern most tip of the UP. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this small town.
I was pleasantly surprised to find it’s a great little town with a few restaurants and a nice small brewery. The towns main industry is recreational tourism, both summer and winter.
From my understand most of the trails here have been created with the help of the local trail club and the Keweenaw Adventure Company. I recommend stopping there and getting the lowdown on the trails, and also get a map! They offer a shuttle service, which I’d recommend unless you don’t mind a 25-30 minute ride up a steep, and I do mean steep, road to the top of the mountain. On the days I was there the shuttle didn’t start until noon so we took a ride up the steep road and did a run to warm up. Then later did the shuttle.
Stopping in the town brewery, you can really get some good tips on the various trails and everyone here was very cool and down to earth, and always willing to talk biking!
If you want a real challenge try the Red Trail, its got some minor climbs and lots of roots, rocks(small and large), and twisty tight trails. There is an area that even crossed a lake delta over a wooden platform and some slippery rocks! This trail is no joke, so be ready. It’s an advanced trail for sure!
On many of the trails you’ll find these wooden bridges, some are flat and there are others that are elevated and banked. Some people find the elevated ones freaky but if you keep your speed controlled you will do fine.
The Flow was probably my favorite trail along with Stairway to Heaven.
Stairway to Heaven was amazing! Lots and lots of wooden features on this trail, nothing with much height but if you take it the right way you get some nice downhill.
Some rough shots from Pauls Plunge, doesnt look like that trail gets used much.
This trip I bought a new Gimbal for the GoPro camera. It failed miserably and I got some really bad footage. Here is something that was somewhat viewable. Needlesss to say I returned the Gimbal, may try another EVO.