Midwest Road Trip: Four Routes Through the Great Lakes and the Plains
A Midwest road trip is best built around water or around the Badlands. The Great Lakes routes follow the dune and cliff shoreline of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior through Michigan and Wisconsin, and work best from June to September. The plains route runs west to South Dakota for the Badlands and the Black Hills. Below are four routes, with the parks and towns each one is built around.
Four Midwest road trip routes compared
Each of these is one of our day-by-day trips, so the length and best months come from the full itinerary.
| Route | States | Length | Built around | Best months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Lakes family loop | Michigan, Wisconsin | 7 days | Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, Pictured Rocks, Door County | June to August |
| Michigan upper and lower | Michigan | 10 days | Sleeping Bear, Mackinac Bridge, Tahquamenon Falls, Pictured Rocks, Keweenaw | June to September |
| Wisconsin Northwoods | Wisconsin | 10 days | Apostle Islands sea caves, Copper Falls, Devils Lake, Door County | June to October |
| Badlands and Black Hills | South Dakota | 3 days | Badlands Loop Road, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore | May and June |
1. The Great Lakes loop
The Great Lakes family road trip is the one to pick if you have a week and kids in the car. It starts on the Lake Michigan shore at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, headquartered in Empire, Michigan, with Traverse City as the base. From there it heads north to the Straits of Mackinac and the ferry to Mackinac Island, where cars are not allowed and people get around by bike, on foot or by horse carriage. It then crosses into the Upper Peninsula for a boat tour along Pictured Rocks and finishes in Door County, Wisconsin.
2. Michigan's two peninsulas
The 10 day Michigan road trip covers the same Lower Peninsula shoreline and then pushes further into the Upper Peninsula. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore runs 42 miles along Lake Superior between Munising and Grand Marais, and about 15 miles of that is colored sandstone cliff. There are around 100 miles of trail in the park. See our Munising guide for the town the cliff tours leave from, or the Pictured Rocks backpacking route if you want to walk the whole lakeshore. North of Marquette the route ends on the Keweenaw, the peninsula that sticks out into Lake Superior.
3. Wisconsin's Northwoods
The Wisconsin Northwoods road trip runs up to Bayfield on Lake Superior for the Apostle Islands, where the mainland sea caves are best seen from a kayak, and then back south through lake country around Minocqua and Eagle River. It finishes with the quartzite bluffs at Devils Lake and the Door County peninsula. It has the longest season of the four, running into October, when the Northwoods turn color. The Apostle Islands kayaking weekend is the short version if you only have three days.
4. The Badlands and the Black Hills
The western edge of the Midwest looks nothing like the lakes. Badlands National Park sits right off I-90 in South Dakota: take Exit 131 at Interior and drive about three miles to the Northeast Entrance, or Exit 110 at Wall and drive about seven miles to the Pinnacles Entrance. The Badlands Loop Road connects the two. Rapid City is the base for Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park and the Needles Highway, all on the Badlands and Black Hills road trip. Our Black Hills guide has more for a longer stay.
Two things to know before you go. The weather here is extreme: the park records a range from 116°F down to −40°F, and summers are hot and dry. And dogs are allowed on roads and in developed areas but not on any hiking trail.
If you have more time, North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the next park north, with a South Unit that starts at Medora.
Shorter stops on the way
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio. About 22 miles and 30 minutes from Cleveland, and 18 miles from Akron, so it fits into a day on the way west.
- Indiana Dunes, Indiana. Two separate parks share the lakeshore: Indiana Dunes National Park and Indiana Dunes State Park. Their passes and fees do not work at each other, so check which one you are driving into.
- Minnesota's North Shore. Highway 61 north of Duluth follows the Superior Hiking Trail and a string of state park waterfalls. Our North Shore waterfall hikes guide lists the short ones.
When to go
For the Great Lakes routes, June through September is the window. Ferries, boat tours and lakeshore visitor services run on summer schedules, and Lake Superior stays cold even in August, so bring layers for any boat trip. Wisconsin's Northwoods also work into October for fall color. South Dakota is best in late spring and early summer, before the heat of July and August. For the hiking on any of these routes, our best hiking in the Midwest guide ranks the ten areas worth planning around.
What to book ahead
- Campgrounds at Sleeping Bear. The lakeshore has two campgrounds, Platte River and D.H. Day, and both take reservations on recreation.gov. Summer weekends go first.
- Entrance passes. Pictured Rocks, Sleeping Bear and Badlands all charge an entrance fee. If you are visiting several federal parks on one trip, an America the Beautiful annual pass covers entrance fees at all of them.
- Boat tours and ferries. Book the Pictured Rocks cliff cruise and the Mackinac Island ferry once your dates are fixed, rather than planning a July weekend around a walk-up spot.
How to combine them
The three lake routes overlap. The Great Lakes loop and the Michigan trip share Sleeping Bear, Mackinac and Pictured Rocks, and the Great Lakes loop and the Wisconsin trip share Door County. If you have two weeks, drive the Michigan route north, cross the Upper Peninsula west to the Apostle Islands, and come back south through Wisconsin. South Dakota is a separate trip: Rapid City is a long day's drive west of the lakes, so treat the Badlands as its own long weekend or as a stop on a trip further west.
Midwest Road Trip: Four Routes Through the Great Lakes and the Plains FAQs
For a first trip, the Great Lakes loop through Michigan and Wisconsin: Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, Pictured Rocks and Door County in about a week. If you want desert-style scenery instead, drive to South Dakota for the Badlands and the Black Hills.
A week covers the Great Lakes loop. Ten days lets you do either the full Michigan route across both peninsulas or the Wisconsin Northwoods. The Badlands and Black Hills fit into a three day weekend from Rapid City.
June through September for the Great Lakes routes, when ferries and boat tours run on summer schedules. Wisconsin’s Northwoods stay good into October for fall color. South Dakota is best in May and June, before the summer heat.
The ones on or near these routes are Badlands and Wind Cave in South Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota, Indiana Dunes in Indiana, Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio, Isle Royale in Michigan and Voyageurs in Minnesota. Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks and the Apostle Islands are national lakeshores, run by the same park service.
No. Cars are not allowed on Mackinac Island. You leave the car on the mainland, take the ferry, and get around by bike, on foot or by horse carriage.
No. Dogs are allowed on paved and gravel roads and in developed areas on a leash of 6 feet or less, but not on hiking trails, in visitor centers or in the backcountry.
Yes. The worked day-by-day plan is Great Lakes Family Road Trip: A 7-Day Itinerary (7 Days), with the permits, the stays and the drive times already sorted. Tell us your dates and we will put it together for you and confirm what is genuinely open on those days. Asking is free: no card, no deposit, and nothing is held until you say yes.
