Upper Midwest Fall Colors

The Upper midwest does not have 9s and 10s landscapes or fall colors like Vermont or Colorado or California. The chill vibe of the landscapes of the Midwest of the US is similar to the people who live there – no drama but a lot of substance.

Iowa was the first surprise – it is a beautiful state and has a lot more to offer than hog farms and cornfields. The foggy sunrise from Pikes Peak State Park in Iowa was sublime.

Door County, Wisconsin and its crown jewel – Peninsula State Park offer varied landscapes close to civilization. This place feels so remote, especially on a morning by the beach at Lake Michigan.

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a remote wilderness. How it ended up with Michigan and not with Wisconsin involves Toledo, Ohio – look it up!

Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area feels like an inland sea. We could have spent several days at the Painted Rock National Lakeshore admiring the rock formations and the variegated colors.

Moving on westward through the UP, the fall colors were spectacular. We were headed for the Porkies – the Porcupine mountains. The maples had a “mast year” so there was a carpet of baby maples on some of the hikes. The maples on this particular hike were not at peak, however the colors around Lake of the Clouds were – we ended up spending the entire day at the lake.

The return trip was through the prairies of Wisconsin and Minnesota. I wandered through the Driftless area – unlike the surrounding regions of the Midwest, this area was untouched by the most recent continental ice sheets during the Ice Age. Because the glaciers did not flatten the land and fill the valleys with drift, the region features a distinctive, rugged landscape. Sunrise at the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge offered flocks of pelicans, a dozen blue herons fishing (with their egret friends), my first photograph of a wood duck and a spectacular sunrise accompanied by local birder Jeff.

The prairies of Minnesota are NOT boring. And the people are truly “Minnesota nice” like my friend Jeff. At Blue Mounds State Park I witnessed a beautiful sunrise and sunset with Sioux quartzite in the background, this stone is harder than granite or marble.

The final stop of this journey was Badlands National Park. The pictures speak for themselves.

I thought I was all done but rural Nebraska threw a curveball – Carhenge!

And finally a storm (carwash for all those pesky Nebraska bugs) and some great views of the grasslands in Wyoming before getting home.