The Upper Peninsula's 'Finest Recreation And Adventure' Thrives In This Endlessly Charming Michigan City

The Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan is home to a vast, unbridled wilderness with lots of opportunity for outdoor adventure. And no place better drives this home than the charming city of Ironwood, Michigan. Whether you prefer summer scenes with majestic waterfalls or snowy landscapes and lakes covered by sparkly ice, Ironwood is a top American destination for year-round fun and adventure. It also could be a great starting point (or stopping point) for this majestic and adventurous road trip around Lake Michigan you definitely want to check out. Whether you're exploring nearby mountains or the Ottawa National Forest a bit to the east or even hiking right through the middle of town, you can't help but feel the call to adventure in and around Ironwood. The town is charming, the wilderness is wild, and there's plenty to do regardless if you're in summer green, autumn gold, or winter white.

Ironwood is located in northern Michigan, almost right on the Wisconsin border, not far from Lake Superior and Minnesota. In fact, it's considerably closer to Green Bay, Wisconsin, than it is to Detroit, Michigan, while the closest large airport is in Duluth, Minnesota, 2 hours and some change away. The U.P.'s distance from the rest of Michigan and its relative seclusion are a big part of its draw and magic. Just 40 minutes north of Ironwood are the Porcupine Mountains, aka the Porkies, one of the most remote areas in North America, and home to the underrated and massive Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.

As you can imagine, as it's just off Lake Superior and surrounded by the most lake-abundant states in the U.S., Ironwood and its environs suffer no shortage of water features. While you could spend a perfect Midwest summer exploring Wisconsin's incredible rivers and lakes, you could also just hang out around Ironwood, with its nearby waterfalls, like the wide and apron-like Presque Isle River waterfalls or the dramatic Superior Falls, which explode out of massive stone walls. 

For some urban exploration, if you'd rather, check out the Red Devil and Upper Ridge Trails at Miners Memorial Heritage Park right in the middle of town. But if you choose to take a down day, there are plenty of other things to do downtown. Check out a movie or a play at the Historic Ironwood Theatre, built in 1928. There's also a spot any bibliophile would love, the Ironwood Carnegie Library, which legendary industrialist Andrew Carnegie helped to build. While you're in town, make sure to try one of the U.P.'s signature dishes: the pastie (pronounced "past-ee").These hearty meat and veggie pies were a favorite among the miners who settled in the area . Rating the best pastie in the U.P. is like rating the best pizza in NYC, but Ironwood's own Rigoni's has been slinging them since 1904.  In 2023 some of the restaurant's owners were featured on "Fox & Friends Weekend," making pasties for National Pastry Day.

In 2024, USA Today crowned the U.P. as the best snow destination in America, and Ironwood is right in the thick of all that snowy action. With its impressive annual snowfall, long list of downhill ski areas, vast cross-country infrastructure, and galaxy of other options that allow you to play however you like in the fluffy white stuff, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better winter haven than Ironwood, Michigan.

Michigan may not be as well known as the Rocky Mountains when it comes to downhill skiing. But the state actually ranks second in the U.S. in terms of the number of ski resorts. There are no fewer than six downhill ski resorts near Ironwood: Big Powderhorn, Mt. Zion, Whitecap Mountains, Snowriver Mountain, Black River Basin, Jackson Creek Summit, and Porcupine Mountains Ski Area (practically one for every day of the week). Besides epic winter sports, these ski resorts offer everything from scenic summer chairlift rides, rugged mountain biking, and epic ATV trails to music festivals. The area also boasts its own ski jumping hill, Copper Peak, which will soon be the biggest in the world, as designated by the International Ski Federation. You don't have to be a ski jumper, though, to ride the elevator to the top of the jump for expansive, 2,500-acre views.

The big draw for winter fun near Ironwood, however, is the cross-country skiing. Ironwood's ski touring center, ABR Ski Trails, was ranked #2 on USA Today's 2024 list of the top cross-country ski areas in the country. Besides ABR, six other sets of trails (Miner's Memorial Heritage Park, Mecca Ski Trails, Montreal Ski Trails, Uller Trails, and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park) are waiting for people who prefer to cruise the flats in classic Nordic style. The trails in the wilderness areas around Ironwood are also great for snowshoeing.