Some years over 200 inches, with snow on the ground from late November through late April
When a guide is worth it here
Two cases stand out. Sand riding, where Silver Lake runs on flag rules, pressure limits, marked boundaries and a signed direction of travel that is easier learned with someone who knows the dunes. And winter, when the plow line is the whole story: at Pictured Rocks only Sand Point Road is cleared, and from December 1 to March 31 the rest are snowmobile trails closed to vehicles.
A guide is also the fastest way to learn which of 13,494.1 miles of state forest road actually goes anywhere.
A guide earns the fee in the places where the map runs out of detail. They know which wash flooded last week, which gate is locked, where the fuel is, and how long the hard section really takes with a group.
A guided trip usually brings
01Route knowledge and current conditions
02Permits and access already arranged
03Recovery skill and equipment
04A pace that suits the group
05The history and natural history of the place
How to choose a guide
Ask the questions a land manager would.
01Ask whether they hold the permits and insurance required to operate commercially on the land they use.
02Ask about group size and the minimum vehicle requirements.
03Ask what is included: meals, camping gear, communications, a support vehicle.
04Ask about first-aid training and the plan for emergencies.
What to tell a guide
Honesty about experience makes for a better trip.
01Your vehicle and what has been done to it
02Your experience off pavement
03Who is coming, including children and dogs
04Your dates, and what you most want to see
Questions people ask
Do I need a guide?
Not for most travel. A guide earns the fee on routes that are remote, technical or hard to get permits for, and on first trips where you would rather learn than guess.
Can I join a guided trip in my own vehicle?
That is how most overland guiding works. The guide leads in their vehicle, you drive yours, and the trip sets minimum requirements for the vehicles that come.
How high is Michigan?
From Oscoda at 588 feet to Mount Arvon at 1,979.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
WatersmeetWhere US 2 meets US 45 in the middle of the Ottawa National Forest. Nearest town to the Sylvania Wilderness and the forest’s highest ground.1,598 ft
IronwoodFar western corner on US 2, at the edge of the Ottawa National Forest. The Ottawa calls it the largest city on the forest boundary, at about 9,000 people. The Black River byway leaves from Bessemer just east.1,503 ft
CadillacSupervisor’s office town for the Huron-Manistee National Forests. The USGS puts the geographic center of Michigan in Wexford County, 5 miles north-northwest of here.1,308 ft
GraylingOn I-75 at the Au Sable River, with state forest road country in every direction and the Huron National Forest to the east.1,135 ft
BaldwinMiddle of the Manistee National Forest, on the Pere Marquette. Sections of the Michigan Cross Country Cycle Trail and the forest’s motorcycle trails run either side of town.837 ft
MarquetteThe largest city in the Upper Peninsula and its main stop for parts, tires and a hospital. Commercial flights serve it, and Munising is about 43 miles east.664 ft
HoughtonKeweenaw Peninsula service town on US 41, and the mainland headquarters for Isle Royale. The Ranger III sails from here and your vehicle stays behind.634 ft
Grand MaraisEast end of County Road H-58 and the Grand Sable Visitor Center. The road east of Adams Trail is not plowed in winter, so this end goes quiet.628 ft
Copper HarborNorth end of US 41 and of the Copper Country Trail byway, 52 miles from Houghton by the Park Service’s reckoning. The other Isle Royale ferry leaves from here.615 ft
Sault Ste. MarieBorder city at the east end of the Upper Peninsula and the start of the Whitefish Bay byway south on the Mackinac Trail, H-63.613 ft
OntonagonOn Lake Superior about 20 miles east of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, per the DNR. Last real services before the park’s campgrounds and the South Boundary Road.613 ft
MunisingWest gateway to Pictured Rocks and the Hiawatha’s Munising Ranger District. The Grand Island ferry leaves from M-28 about 2.5 miles west of town.607 ft
ManistiqueOn US 2 on the Lake Michigan shore, in the Hiawatha’s Rapid River and Manistique district. Forest Road access to the single rustic lake campsites runs north on M-94.600 ft
Traverse CityLargest town in the northwest Lower Peninsula, on the M-22 byway and about an hour from Sleeping Bear Dunes. Full services before the smaller lakeshore towns.596 ft
St. IgnaceNorth end of the Mackinac Bridge, where I-75, US 2 and M-134 meet. The place to wait out a wind closure rather than sit on the approach.590 ft
OscodaLake Huron end of the River Road National Scenic Byway, where the Au Sable reaches the lake. Eastern gateway to the Huron National Forest.588 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Mount ArvonThe highest point in Michigan, in Baraga County. Our own reading of the USGS elevation surface at the summit is 1,978 feet1,979 ft
Mount CurwoodA few miles from Arvon and within two feet of it on our reading. The USGS names Arvon as the state high point1,977 ft
Summit PeakHigh ground of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Our own reading, because no state page publishes an elevation for it1,956 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
