Is anyone familiar with the Porcupine Mountain wilderness area in Michigan?

[andrewcanoe]

A boy in the troop brought up that his stepfather(An eagle scout)had done high adventure in the Porcupine mountains. It was decieded that this might be a welcome change from the Boundry waters-canoeing/Colorado- mountain hiking rotation the troop seems to be stuck in for High adventure trips.

 

I was wondering if any of my fellow forum members could advise a good troop run program in that neck of the woods.

 

We would be starting from the Iowa,Illinois, Wisconsin tri-state area

[ScoutNut]

The "Porkies" are great! Not exactly the Rockies though, LOL! I don't know about any local troops or BS camps, but Porcupine Mountain State Park is a wonderful place for backpacking. Lake of the Clouds and Mirror Lake are wonderful. There is also downhill and cross country skiing.

 

They do not have winter camping, but you should contact the state park for information. They should know where you could find campgrounds that are open in the area.

 

One thing to keep in mind, there are black bear living in the park so precautions should be taken.

[Eagle69]

It's been over 21 years ago, but I brought a scout troop from Arkansas up there for a week of backpacking. I think I still have the Topo Maps of the area. We camped in the park. From what I recall it was a bit pricey as far as fees went. We had a good time and got a nice backpack trip out of it. It turned out to be harder than we expected, mainly because the maps didn't really give us a true picture of the terrain.

[willysjeep]

If you want to go some place up north, Isel Royal is a great trip. If you take the boat from Houghton you will go right by the porkies. Mabey you could make it a combined trip. I have only been to the porkies a little, even though I'm only a few hours away. The scenery is as beautiful as anywhere in the Upper Peninsula. Isle royal is also a beautiful spot, but don't expect to scale any cliffs or anything. It is some of the most beautiful country I can imagine everywhere around here. There really aren't any scout bases or anything over there. The closest scout camp would be either BearPaw in Wisconsin, or Camp Hiawatha about a days drive to the east (I work there over the summer). If you wanted to check out the Pictured Rocks Nat'l Lakeshore you might be able to cut a deal with Camp Hiawatha for some accomidations. Pictured Rocks is another beautiful place to see. Most of it is close to roads (a few miles) so it isn't exactly the last frontire, but it is an enjoyable and scenic hike. In any event, check out the web for sites about the Porkys, which are a Michigan state park, Isle Royal Nat'l Park, or Pictured Rocks Nat'l Lakeshore. You Could also hike the Grand Island trail if you wanted It goes from a town called Rapid River north to near Munising and the Pictured Rocks. It's sort of a wannabe long trail, I don't know the exact distance but it'd sure get you a 50 miler patch or two, and if you made it a combined trip you could also check out the Pictured rocks. Few of them are perfect stand alone trips if you are driving from a few states away, but if you combined a few diferent activities you could sure have one heck of a time up here. Of course, check them out for yourself! We all could use some more tourisim up here!

 

Not to say that you couldn't spend a week or two at any of the places. There is enough trail at Pictured Rocks or the Grand Island trail to keep a troop occupied for more than a week if you really wanted. It's all beautiful!(This message has been edited by willysjeep)