bike at bar in gladstone

Incipient, uncategorized, rough list, but at least updated links and added a few April 2015.

Don't worry, I'll separate the lists into something manageable soon so this page isn't ten feet long...

But for now:

1. Maps for UP bicycle tourists:
Regional planning authorities and the Michigan DOT have produced a series of bicycle maps for the whole state. I've used the EUP and CUP ones, and they have some useful information and are at a larger scale than the state highway map. I found some information to be incorrect, though (such as showing some roads paved that were not), so use with sense and other materials.

  • The Superior Region - East Road and Trail Bicycling Guide, from the Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning and Development Commission. A good bicycling map, with some errors, which is also available in paper for free at visitor centers et al. (but get a few, since the paper folds tear in light use!). See other resources on their website of interest to bicycle and route planning in the EUP.
  • The Superior Region - Central, Road and Trail Bicycling Guide, from the Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission. Another map in the series, now apparently only available via MDOT (see below). See other resources on the CUPPAD website of interest to bicycle and route planning in the CUP.
  • The Superior Region – West, Road and Trail Bicycling Guide:Front side and Back side, from the Western Upper Peninsula Planning & Development Region office. Another map in the series, and with the same caveats and availability, as above. See other resources on their website of interest to bicycle and route planning in the WUP.
  • The maps above, and others, are also available here, at the MDOT website (try that link then search in case of 404 on the bike maps, as the MI Gov website has an unstable and unwieldy URL 'system' that is constantly being changed). They have other bicycling information of variable utility here, and searching 'bicycling' or variants gets more of potential interest.
  • The Michigan state highway map, by the way, is also useful in the UP since the road density is low enough that all the decent bicycle roads show up well - I usually have that one on my handlebar bag unless I'm looking for some larger-scale geographic features on the route. There are a couple minor errors on it as well (such as the distance from Seney to the hill down into Munising is not 25 miles as it claims - it's 35. They moved the markers, but never changed the distance)!
  • There is a "US Bicycle Route" initiative to designate certain roads across the US. A few of these are (partly) in Michigan: Routes 35 and 10. In the UP, these routes aren't great (in my opinion), and seem more like poorly thought-out 'expressways for bicycle' routes than something appropriate to the discovery and pleasure of bicycle touring. Maybe the people planning them haven't bicycled in the UP, or are thinking only of the fast automobile routes. Route 10 is just the busy US-2 the whole way across the UP (there are quieter and more scenic alternatives along much of that route), and Route 35; the Mackinaw Trail (which is a good road to bike on but variations east and west would be more interesting unless you're in a hurry). It looks as though the routes in the LP have 'fancier' routing off the main roads, though. Here's a MDOT website with maps, and info on the Bikecentennial website.
  • The League of Michigan Bicyclists sells some maps that I haven't tried, and has a few small PDF mini-maps on this website.

2. Information on some interesting possible UP bicycle routes:

  • The excellent and indispensable Michigan Highways website, where you can read the history of the roads you ride.
  • The U.P. Hidden Coast Recreation Route, from Menominee to Gladstone; 64 miles along the western shoreline of Lake Michigan in the central UP.
  • The M-123 Scenic Heritage Route, in planning, but read about it in the documents for ideas!
  • The M-134 Heritage Route plan, read about it for ideas!
  • The M-123 Heritage Route plan...
  • The Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway Plan plan...
  • The Roads & Rides page, with descriptions of interesting routes (and roadhouse recommendations), from "U.P. Cruising, a motorcycle rider's road map to cruising Michigan's Upper Peninsula". Motorbikers often look for the same things as velotourists (but they don't care so much about wind and hills...) Other stuff on the site also useful. Remember, good bicycle tourists and motorcycle riders wave to each other as fellow two wheel travelers! it.
  • Info on the 2015 MUP (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) Bicycle Tour, an organized pay to ride event by the League of Michigan Bicyclists. Some route information ... you could ride it yourself and save the $350 fee, spending it lavishly instead at the roadhouses and inexpensive motels!

3. Media articles relating to UP and region touring:

4. Specific tour stories and so forth:

5. General touring information that's good:

6. Useful bicycle touring discussion sites:

x. Uncategorized:

Need more lists of lists of links? be sure to check the all lists on the above listed sites for more ideas!