Eastern Upper Peninsula in Michigan: Cedarville, Sault Ste. Marie, Drummond Island

June 2021, Weekdays - weekend

Following is information about some of the places we visited during our stay at DeTour State Forest Campground.

Displayed at Les Cheneaux Distillers

Cedarville

We had a fabulous visit at Les Cheneaux Distillers just south of M-134. Great beers, spirits, food, atmosphere, gift shop, and service. Everything was impressive! We were lucky to find the place mostly empty when we arrived in the afternoon after lunch time, because it was filling up fast before we left. 

Some of the delicious items we had at Les Cheneaux Distillers:
Bloody Mary, beer sampler, pretzel knots

We learned about this location because they are listed in the HopPassport, and they were happy to honor the discounts (unlike Tahquamenon Brewery in another recent post). 

There is a decent grocery store in Cedarville on the corner M-134 and M-129, which met all our needs for a few items we needed to restock. 

Photo taken from Rotary Island Park in Sault Ste. Marie

DeTour Village, Michigan: DeTour State Forest Campground

 June 2021, 3-Nights, Weekdays-weekend

You can find more photos of this campground in the DeTour Facebook album.

Beach behind our campsite at DeTour State Forest Campground

Arrival

Our GPS identified the campground as being on the north side of the road farther east than where it is actually located. We knew it would be on the south side of the road, and the park signs were highly visible, so this did not cause any problems. The dirt road back to the campground, however, is longer and narrower than we had realized. Fortunately, no trailers were leaving when we arrived.  😊

Michigan state forest campgrounds are all first come, first serve, so we planned our trip to arrive on a Wednesday afternoon. There were about five sites taken when we arrived, and the campground was full when we left on Saturday.

Campsite 12 at DeTour State Forest Campground

Campsite 12

My husband wanted this campsite because there is a short path directly out to Lake Huron from the site. I did not initially want it, because it is not very trailer-friendly (there are lots of trees), the ground cover is dirt and pine needles, and you cannot actually see Lake Huron from the campsite. In the end, we both loved it!

Campsite 12 at DeTour State Forest Campground

This campsite is private and spacious. It is also fairly level except where it slopes down to the trail at the edge of the site. We got our camper as close to the trees as possible, because we wanted to be able to use the area in front of our trailer. There is not much room beside the trailer on the door side where the mat is, because that is where the ground slopes down to the trail. The placement of our trailer is the only place on this site for a camper, unless you park farther forward near the road.

View of path to Lake Huron from inside the camper

Paradise, Michigan: Tahquamenon Falls State Park & Brewery

 May - June 2021, Weekdays, 2-nights, Campsite 66

The last time we stayed in this campground was in May 2015 on site 11. That site overlooks the river, and you can find more information and photos by following this link to my previous blog post.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls

Reservations and arrival

When we stayed here in May 2015, there were a few small piles of unmelted snow, so this time, I chose a sunny site. Also, the view of the river from the sites along the bank is not fabulous. You pretty much have to walk to the back of the sites and look down to see the river. My husband did miss that part a little bit though!

Tahquamenon Falls Campsite 66

We arrived just after checkout time, and fortunately, the staff member I spoke with let us check in early. I did not initially think she was going to until I told her we would park in the picnic area (it is spacious enough for trailers), if the site was still occupied. We thought this would be easier than returning to check-in later.

Tahquamenon Falls Campsite 66

Campsite 66 - lower falls portage area

We loved this campsite! It is spacious, grassy, sunny, level, and somewhat private. There are no trees between sites 66 and 68, and site 68 was empty during our stay. 

Tahquamenon Falls Campsite 66

There was a tent on site 65, which was behind our trailer and truck. We enjoyed privacy our entire stay.

Kayaking near island on Tahquamenon River

Recreation: hiking, kayaking

We launched our kayaks in the picnic area and took them out to the island the day we arrived. There is a kayak launch ramp at the left/southeast end of the picnic area.

Lower Tahquamenon Falls from island