Cold-weather camping poses added challenges but also great rewards in terms of breathtaking scenery and fun-filled activities.
By Mike Wendland, F426141
January 2014
The snow measured 28 inches on level ground. The outside thermometer registered minus 4 degrees. And we were camping in our motorhome at Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Michigan’s remote Upper Peninsula. I felt pretty smug. Then Jennifer told me to look out the window.
A couple of spots over I saw a couple who were camping in a tent. Who says winter is the off-season for camping and RVing? The tent campers had a portable kerosene heater with a vent pipe to keep them warm. As for us, we were surprisingly comfy and cozy in our Roadtrek eTrek Type B motorhome.
In fact, the hardest thing about finding a spot to camp in the wintertime in the “north country” is locating an open campground. The 50,000-acre Tahquamenon Falls State Park, between the towns of Paradise and Newberry, was not only open but had a dozen campsites plowed and available. Although water is turned off at the sites, electricity is offered.
We were amazed at how toasty we were in our motorhome, warmed by its Webasto Dual Top diesel heater. We also plugged in a small ceramic heater to keep the floor warm when we made our way out of bed to use the bathroom. Speaking of which, when winter camping, you flush the toilet with antifreeze instead of water. To supply other water needs, you carry some along in plastic bottles.
The Tahquamenon River’s Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi, with a vertical drop of nearly 50 feet. It measures more than 200 feet across and has a roaring water flow of more than 50,000 gallons per second. The slower-moving water nearest the bank freezes solid. But because of the speed at which the river flows, three-quarters of it remains open, oblivious to the cold.
The churning water is amber-colored, because of tannins leached from the cedar, spruce, and hemlock trees in the swamps drained by the river. Frosty mist that drifts from the spray of the falls coats the rocks and trees along the river’s shoreline during the winter.
We spent half an afternoon there, glad that the state keeps the park open. We ate dinner that night at Tahquamenon Falls Brewery and Pub, an excellent restaurant and microbrewery at the Upper Falls — also open all winter and doing a brisk business from snowmobilers. Then we made our way to the Lower Falls campground, about four miles to the north, where those dozen plowed campsites are kept full most winter weekends. The larger Upper Falls campground is closed during the winter.
The other campers, besides the tenters next door, were in an assortment of travel trailers and motorhomes. Many brought cross-country skis or snowshoes.
Our stay at the falls was the culmination of several days of winter motorhome travel in the Upper Peninsula. Jennifer and I love the UP and visit it as often as possible. But until last year, we had never traveled there in the wintertime. We were really curious about how the summertime beauty would look under a blanket of ice and snow. We also wanted to see how feasible it was to RV in the wintertime.
The first thing we learned is that you need to spend a lot more time checking the weather reports. It’s a good thing the speed limit in the UP is 55. In the winter, especially as lake-effect snow blows in off Lake Superior, whiteouts can happen . . . fast. We encountered some pretty dicey weather on state highway M-28 just east of the Lake Superior town of Marquette, where we took in a dogsled race. We shared a parking lot with snowmobiles.
Each February, Marquette hosts one of the nation’s premier dogsled races, the UP200, a challenging 240-mile course that winds its way through cedar and hardwood forests, across half-frozen streams, ice-covered lakes, and rugged wilderness to the tiny town of Grand Marais far to the east, before returning by the same route.
We really fell in love with Marquette, a city of about 21,000 in the north-central UP, set right on the shores of Lake Superior. The town is the home of Northern Michigan University and has a first-rate medical center and lots of great restaurants. Marquette also has the most accessible lakefront I’ve ever seen. And all around it are vast stretches of gorgeous wilderness. Everyone in Marquette seemingly loves the winter. They embrace it. Grown men and women wear snow pants and don’t feel the least self-conscious. Nor does anyone worry about having hat hair.
The UP200 race is a great one for spectators. Plenty of spots offer opportunities to get close to the dogs. Towns along the route build big bonfires. Local churches bake pies, and civic groups and mom-and-pop restaurants sell hot soup and sandwiches. Downtown Marquette had 8,000 people lining the streets for the start of the race. Other towns on the route, such as Munising, Harvey, Chatham, and Grand Marais, also draw spectators.
For three days, we followed the dogsled route in our motorhome. I took lots of photos, and we cheered on the mushers and the dogs. But we were delighted to be able to retreat to the warmth and comfort of our motorhome several times during the day as we watched the teams at various locations. As the race ended, we set off for our home in southeastern Michigan, by way of an overnight at Tahquamenon Falls.
We enjoyed the trip so much that we are planning another big winter trip with our motorhome this year, this time to the north shore of Minnesota and an even bigger dogsled race, the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon on January 26. You can follow our adventure on the blog later this month.
Meantime, though winter camping does present some extra challenges and a few inconveniences compared to warm-weather RVing, don’t let it scare you off. If you like the outdoors and wintertime, it can be a wonderful adventure.
Hope to see you out there.
Veteran journalist Mike Wendland, F426141, FMCA’s official on-the-road reporter, travels the country with his wife, Jennifer, and their Norwegian elkhound, Tai, aboard the couple’s Roadtrek Type B motorhome. Mike can be reached at openmike@fmca.com.