Upper michigan-munising fall colors

[_m__b]

does anybody have recommendations for fall colors shooting near

munising, mi? thanks

[frank_dzambic]

Use a tripod for maximum sharpness.

[alex_lofquist]

Michigan's Dept of Natural Resources has a website that keeps you up-to-date on fall colors. (I don't remember the URL, but I imagine that you can search it out.)

[larry_mobbs]

Try michigan.gov for the DNR site address. I would watch the season closely. I live in SE Michigan and the trees are already beginning to turn and drop their leaves. We've had a lot of 40 degree evenings already.

[keithsnyder]

There is a little waterfall about 1/4 mile down Hwy 94 (?) on the way to Chatham that is quite pretty. A friend of mine from there also says that the Pictured Rocks area is really great. I've taken the boat tour, but he says the hiking trails in the area are very picturesque, and he kayaks quite often.

 

I live in Houghton, about three hours WNW. We're getting some colors, but far from peak as yet. Could be a great color season, with all the moisture we had this summer.

[markp]

The little waterfall on Hwy94 just outside Munising on the way to Chatham, is Wagner Falls. It's very nice in the fall. Also Munising Falls on the East edge of Munising, is right in town.

 

Some other popular waterfalls in the Munising area for fall photography are Au Train Falls and Laughing Whitefish falls, both west of Munising. All of these are noted on most maps of the area, and the waterfalls are lovely in early-mid October with the fall leaves hanging over the water and fallen leaves on rocks. Do note that these are all very popular with photographers - last fall I was with a friend at Wagner Falls, and vans and buses of photo club trip participants kept arriving to shoot.

 

The Pictured Rocks boatride can be nice, but take highspeed film or set your digital on a high ISO to compensate for the boat movement. The roads and hiking trails in the Pictured Rocks park have some nice subjects in fall, especially the birch and maple forest. Note that the trees right along the lakeshore turn color LATER than in the forest away from the lake, due to the temperature moderating effect of the lake. I did the boatride on the last day of October that the boats were running last year, and the trees right along the shore hadn't even turned yet.

 

If you have a 4WD, you can explore some of the logging roads in the Hiawatha Forest. Fall color subjects are bountiful here. But be sure to get a gazateer map (the discount stores in the UP sell them) or a forest service map at the forest service office on the main street in Munising, so you can find your way back to the highway - it's easy to get lost on the logging roads without a map.

 

Also, a little over an hour east of Munising is Grand Sable Dunes near Grand Marais, which is awesome for landscapes, and Au Sable Falls there is excellent for fall photography.