Michigan is home to many different adventures and opportunities to explore and discover. Whether in the Lower Peninsula, or the Upper Peninsula, there is plenty to keep anyone busy. I have been lucky to spend a portion of my life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Aside from lots of trees and water, there are tons of activities to do in the UP. The specific area that we will be focusing on in this post is the Keweenaw Peninsula on the north side of the Upper Peninsula.
The Keweenaw
A peninsula is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:
: a portion of land nearly surrounded by water and connected with a larger body by an isthmus
Michigan is broken into the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula. Now peninsulas are all around the world, but how many peninsula’s contain additional smaller peninsulas? The Keweenaw Peninsula is a peninsula that reaches into Lake Superior off the north shore of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Keweenaw is know for its extraordinary outdoor activities year round. During the summer there is camping, hiking, mountain biking, and more. The winter’s also hold many things to do: snowshoeing, skiing, renowned snowmobile trails, and more. One of the many things that makes the Keweenaw unique is the CopperDog 150 Dogsled Race.
CopperDog 150
What is CopperDog? CopperDog is a dogsled race that starts in Calumet, MI and continues through multiple other small towns. The race is three days long and begins on Friday night. The conclusion of the race ends where the teams began, in Calumet Michigan. There are actually three races that are all going on at the same time. The CopperDog 150, 80, and 25. Each race is varied in length and difficulty. The 150 teams consist of 10 dogs, the 80 teams have 8 dogs, and the 25 have 6 dogs. If you have never seen a dogsled race before this is a great one to get involved with and watch. The route is easy to follow and there are numerous locations to observe each leg of the race. The CopperDog website contains maps of all the trails.
An Amazing Weeking
CopperDog is one of my favorite winter events of the year. I have been photographing the race for a number of years and volunteering in different roles as well. In 2019 I took a new look at the race and decided to put together some videos highlighting the weekend. You can find the videos linked below. If you haven’t already check out my Youtube Channel and subscribe to get awesome travel content in video form as well! This is one of the many ways I have been able to Seek Discovery even close to home. Remember, just because you call it home, doesn’t mean others don’t see it as a vacation destination! See you in the next post!