North Lakes Archives - Adventure Cycling Association

North Lakes Map Digital Route Set

Joe LaRiche — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 21:54:08 +0000

This route around northern Lake Michigan features a ferry ride option across the lake, miles of beautiful shoreline, and the great forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. After leaving the Upper Peninsula, the route travels southward through the forests and farms of lower Michigan. It traverses northeast Indiana, home to the Amish, before ending in Monroeville, a town along the Northern Tier Bicycle Route. If used in conjunction with the Northern Tier, the North Lakes Route will be 260 miles longer to cross the country. North Lakes offers an interesting alternative for Northern Tier riders wanting to experience the beauty of the Great Lakes. More information about this route is available here.

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North Lakes Section 1 Digital Route

Joe LaRiche — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 21:54:07 +0000

Beginning in Osceola, Wisconsin, along the St. Croix River, the route is mostly flat as it makes a gradual transition from dairy farms to northern lakes as well as pine and birch forests. The county roads through the northern Wisconsin lakes are narrow, hilly and rough in some places, but traffic is very light, the air is fresh and clear and the scenery is bucolic. This map section includes a spur into the metropolis of Minneapolis/St. Paul. More information about this route is available here.

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North Lakes Section 2 Digital Route

Joe LaRiche — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 21:54:07 +0000

From Escanaba to St. Ignace the route stays mostly on US 2. This highway is very busy with both recreational and commercial traffic, but generally has wide paved shoulders. In general, when US 2 is directly on Lake Michigan shore or well inland it is flat, but in between there are numerous climbs over coastal bluffs which provide spectacular views of the lake. The Mackinac Bridge between St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, which connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, is part of I-75, and bicycles are prohibited. Adventure Cycling recommends riding the ferry to Mackinac Island to cross the Straits of Mackinac. No motorized vehicles are permitted on the island, which is 80% state park, and 20% privately owned. The Manitowoc Alternate can be used as a shortcut between central Wisconsin and the lower Michigan peninsula. It shortens the route by 215 miles by using a ferry across Lake Michigan. More information about this route is available here.

*Note: These tracks include distances on ferries. Total mileage will differ from paper map mileage.

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North Lakes Section 3 Digital Route

Joe LaRiche — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 21:54:06 +0000

From Mackinaw City, Michigan to Cross Village, the route primarily follows two-lane county roads through farms. From the campground at Wilderness State Park, you can see a glorious sunset over Lake Michigan with the distant view of the Mackinaw Bridge. The Tunnel of Trees Scenic Route from Cross Village to Harbor Springs is a narrow road, mostly without a centerline, but traffic is light and slow moving. From just south of Acme through Traverse City and on to Suttons Bay is the TART Trail, an off-road path that leads through the State Park and downtown Traverse City. From Suttons Bay, the route crosses the Leelanau Peninsula to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Then you’ll follow rural roads and state highways through small vacation towns south along the Lake Michigan shore. At New Buffalo, the route leaves the Lake Michigan shoreline on rural roads across Indiana farmland to La Porte. The route follows the residential streets through La Porte before heading out on rural farm roads to Rochester and you’ll finish this section on the Nickel Plate Trail to Denver, Indiana. Click on enlargement for detail. More information about this route is available here.

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North Lakes Map Set

Tim Heuermann — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 19:44:15 +0000

This route around northern Lake Michigan features a ferry ride option across the lake, miles of beautiful shoreline, and the great forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. After leaving the Upper Peninsula, the route travels southward through the forests and farms of lower Michigan. It traverses northeast Indiana, home to the Amish, before ending in Monroeville, a town along the Northern Tier Bicycle Route. If used in conjunction with the Northern Tier, the North Lakes Route will be 260 miles longer to cross the country. North Lakes offers an interesting alternative for Northern Tier riders wanting to experience the beauty of the Great Lakes. For more information on this route or to print out the most up to date addenda for these maps please click here.

The post North Lakes Map Set appeared first on Adventure Cycling Association.

North Lakes Section 1

Tim Heuermann — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 19:44:15 +0000

Beginning in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the route crosses the St. Croix River into Wisconsin at Osceola. It is mostly flat as it makes a gradual transition from dairy farms to northern lakes as well as pine and birch forests. The county roads through the northern Wisconsin lakes are narrow, hilly and rough in some places, but traffic is very light, the air is fresh and clear and the scenery is bucolic. Rolling hills continue into Michigan with few services and little traffic.

The post North Lakes Section 1 appeared first on Adventure Cycling Association.

North Lakes Section 2

Tim Heuermann — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 19:44:15 +0000

From Escanaba to St. Ignace the route stays mostly on US 2. This highway is very busy with both recreational and commercial traffic, but generally has wide paved shoulders. In general, when US 2 is directly on Lake Michigan shore or well inland it is flat, but in between there are numerous climbs over coastal bluffs which provide spectacular views of the lake. The Mackinac Bridge between St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, which connects Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, is part of I-75, and bicycles are prohibited. Adventure Cycling recommends riding the ferry to Mackinac Island to cross the Straits of Mackinac. No motorized vehicles are permitted on the island, which is 80% state park, and 20% privately owned. The Manitowoc Alternate can be used as a shortcut between central Wisconsin and the lower Michigan peninsula. It shortens the route by 209 miles by using a ferry across Lake Michigan.

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North Lakes Section 3

Tim Heuermann — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 19:44:15 +0000

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