Kick-It Picks Things to Do in Michigan
The stops worth the drive — and the truth about the ones that aren't.
Michigan is a state made of water and split in two. It touches four of the five Great Lakes, holds more freshwater coastline than any state in the country, and comes in two very different halves joined by one of the great bridges on the continent. The wild Upper Peninsula is a near-wilderness of waterfalls and the painted cliffs of Pictured Rocks. The northern Lower — 'Up North' — is the vacationland of Sleeping Bear Dunes, the car-free island of Mackinac, cherry orchards and vineyards around Traverse City, and endless beaches. And the southern Lower is Detroit and the auto industry that built the modern world, Motown, and the sunset coast of Lake Michigan. These are the picks worth driving both peninsulas for.
Regions: Upper Peninsula · Northern Lower · Southern Lower
Everything below is a Kick-It Pick — the entries we’d grab you by the collar for. Each one is pulled from Kick the Bucket List: Michigan, our 120-stop field guide, and each carries a blunt Bucket Rating so you know what’s non-negotiable and what to skip. Prices and hours drift; we stamp every page with the date we checked it and fix what changes.
The Big Ten
Ride the Car-Free Island
Non-negotiableSee the Painted Cliffs
Non-negotiableClimb the Great Dunes
Non-negotiableStand at the Root-Beer Falls
Non-negotiableTake On the Motor City
Non-negotiableTouch American History
Non-negotiableThe Great Outdoors
Oddities
Eats
Road Trips
Small Towns
Month by Month
Locals-Only
Get all 120 in Kick the Bucket List: Michigan
These are the marquee Kick-It Picks. The book has 120 — adventures, eats, road trips, and the small towns worth the detour — each with a checkbox, a date line, and a Bucket Rating. Fill it in. Score yourself.
See the Michigan book →