NCT Hiking in Marquette - September 2022
Summary
The North Country Trail runs from North Dakota to Vermont. Over a thousand miles travels through Michigan. This year, I decided to embark on the NCT Hike 100 Challenge, which is a challenge to log 100 miles on the North Country Trail. For this trip, I decided to see how much of the North Country Trail I could experience near Michigan’s biggest city in the Upper Peninsula, Marquette, with a goal of completing the challenge in my favorite city in our state!
This link represents the majority of the hiking I did over this trip, with a few other sections of the NCT being accessible via AllTrails as well.
Where
Marquette is located in the central, northern portion of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. It is a remote location given it’s proximity to Lake Superior. Although being in the Upper Peninsula, it is the largest city in this half of the state and is a busy college town with many amenities for visitors.
Logistics
I ended up taking my dog with me on this hike and therefore decided the best approach logistically was to base camp at Marquette Tourist Park and self shuttle each hike that we did over a 4 day period. This resulted in a lot of out-and-back style hikes and also many shorter hikes so I could monitor my dog, but given we were by ourselves, we had plenty of time. The majority of the NCT outside of Marquette can be accessed easily. Forestville Rd trailhead and various trailheads along 550 make logistic planning pretty easy. We had no issues with parking or trail logistics given the ample resources available to us.
Hiking
Day 1
On our first day, we hiked along the Little Garlic River on the north side of the river for a few miles and separated from the river near Little Garlic Falls. The remainder of the hike was forest road walks which was not very noteworthy. The section along the river was beautiful and offered plenty of views as we climbed up and back to the base of the river. This hike had many options for shorter variations and had we not already hiked to the falls earlier that month, would have created an option for a great side hike as well. This section was 8 miles of hiking.
With my dog, I like to keep the hiking around 10 miles as I have noticed that is a repeatable distance for her without problem. The second hike, we drove to the Forestville Rd trailhead and started exploring a bit heading back towards Marquette (Dead River Basin). This offered a strong contrast in terrain compared to Little Garlic River. What was traditional forestry in the morning turned into many rock formations and bright green mossy features in the afternoon. Additionally, this short hike came with steeper elevation changes, which ultimately proved to be a good reason to keep this to 2 miles. It was great nonetheless, to see some of what makes Marquette a great place to hike.
Day 2
On our second day we started off again near Little Garlic River at the Elliott Donnelly Trailhead. This time, we hiked south heading towards Marquette. We were able to hike along the other side of the river for the first few miles of this section, but after about 2 miles, we split off into a very remote section of the trail. This was pretty cool to feel very isolated and deep into the woods. We saw no other hikers on this day, and really got to take in the remoteness of the Upper Peninsula. This section was 7 miles long.
To even out the day’s mileage, we decided to hike from the Dead River Basin’s trailhead towards the Forestville Rd trailhead. This was a big surprise hike for us. I was shocked to see just how fast this hike got into the rocky terrain that we experienced the day before, as well as, offered unique views of the basin and other remote features. This was a very pleasant hike blending challenging sections with easier walking on solid ground. We hiked 3 miles in total for another 10 mile day.
Day 3
With our last day of our trip, we saved the best for last. We started the morning at the Forestville Rd Trailhead and hiked towards Lake Superior. This trail quickly became very remote and covered in trees starting their fall color change. About halfway into our 6 mile hike, we connected with a trail that leads you to Hogback Mountain, and ultimately disconnected to continue heading towards the road. This last section after disconnecting was remote and offered beautiful views of the surrounding area, while walking on large rock face. This was by far my favorite section of the NCT I have experienced, and the highlight of the trip to Marquette. It was beautiful being alone in such a cool location, and looking back at Hogback Mountain from an unnamed bald really reminded me why I wanted to do this trip.
Knowing we wanted to keep with the trend and hike 10 miles per day, we drove to Whetmore Landing and jumped on the NCT near Lake Superior. I saved this section for last, in case there was sand hiking, which is not my favorite. Fortunately, this trail keeps you close to the water without necessitating sandy hiking. This was another pleasant surprise hike, as it offered varied terrain and features in a short distance. We hiked back to where we turned around earlier that morning and then finished our trip exploring areas closer to Little Presque Isle. This was the section we saw the most people, which highlights the popularity and accessibility. After finishing the 4 mile hike, we were done hiking for the trip and it really felt like we covered the majority of the NCT outside of Marquette.
Conclusion
Spending 3.5 days in Marquette is always a treat. Getting to hike on the NCT with my dog and seeing some of the most remote parts of the area really was an experience I will never forget. Often times it seems I take for granted what we have here in Michigan, and this trip helped me realize just how beautiful my home state really is. The timing of this trip with the weather and fall colors starting really added to the experience. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to finish the NCT Hike 100 Challenge. What a fun long weekend!
Photos
All photos were taken with my current phone at the time, which was the iPhone 12 Pro.
