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Isle Royale: Do You Mind If I Camp With you?

Posted on April 8th, 2022
Isle Royale National Park officially opens up next week after setting an attendance record last year. Now the Lake Superior wilderness is struggling with how to solve the problem of overcrowded campsites in its backcountry. Jim DuFresne, author of Isle Royale National Park: Foot Trails & Watread more

When You Go Rustic Camping; Go Rustic

Posted on April 22nd, 2021
As part of its Project Rustic this summer, the Michigan DNR is promoting its system of small rustic campgrounds with Paige Lackey visiting 77 of Michigan’s 145 state forest campgrounds. She’s going to pull up in a 33-foot-long Class C motorhome that features two slideouts, sleeps up to sev… read more

A Dangerous Trip to the Manitou Islands

Posted on July 20th, 2020
And so our coronavirus summer continues. In the latest Trail Talk blog from MichiganTrailMaps.com, Jim DuFresne writes about the Manitou Islands being open but for most people no place they can visit. For the first time in more than a century, there is no ferry service from Leland this summer. It’… read more

Freeze-Dried Is Forever!

Posted on May 12th, 2020
We’re all longing not to just get outdoors but to resume adventuring again. Hang in there; we’re almost free from our stay-home, stay safe edicts. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore opens July 1, Pictured Rocks June 25, Isle Royale National Park June 15. Check our eshop if you need guideboo… read more

Drive-in or Walk-in? In Michigan We Need Both

Posted on February 14th, 2020
Walk-in or drive-in? In Michigan there is a need for both types of access but not on the same lake. That’s the debate they’re having in the Upper Peninsula over the future of Silver Lake Basin. The latest Trail Talk blog looks at the issue and how a proposal to change access to walk-in would alter the… read more

Hard to Delete a Trail Like Valley View

Posted on March 14th, 2019
In a park known for great beaches, spectacular views and towering sand dunes, the Valley View Trail in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore had none of those. Yet when the decision was made not to reopen this short, obscure trail after the 2015 wind storms, we lost a lot.  Read the latest Michiga… read more

Cooking Like a New York City Food Cart Vendor

Posted on February 13th, 2019
Jim DuFresne, the main blogger for MichiganTrailMaps.com, was sitting in Times Square when he realized that New York City food cart vendors could teach a thing or two to backpackers. What could they possibly have in common? Read his latest Trail Talk blog to find out (and pick up a few cooking tips). I… read more

The Overcrowded Wilderness

Posted on October 3rd, 2018
Have you hiked Nordhouse Dunes lately? Our favorite trails and wilderness areas are getting crowded and not just on the weekends. What’s the solution to overrun campsites and the growing amount of trash left in the woods? Are reservations or strict permit systems to the backcountry a permanent p… read more

If Not Us, Then Who Pays?

Posted on June 20th, 2018
As the traditional outdoor sports of hunting and fishing decline in participation, there is concern about who is going to pay for the upkeep of our woods, waters and wildlife. Jim DuFresne looks into that issue in the latest Trail Talk blog from MichiganTrailMaps.com and concludes it has to be the re… read more

Oh, To Be A Guide In Alaska

Posted on February 2nd, 2018
We noticed the following help wanted ad in our email box recently. So did Jim DuFresne and it made him reminisce about the two years he worked for a guiding company in Southeast Alaska. Was it his dream job? Read on. Later this month DuFresne will be giving his new presentation, A Place Called the Porkieread more
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