Fall in Michigan

Michigan has beautiful fall colors in a wide range of yellows, reds and oranges. As you drive up the backroads of Michigan the colors seem to leap from the trees. It is truly a beautiful sight. When you add the distinctive landmarks to visit like lighthouses and a covered bridge and wineries, you just can't go wrong with a visit to Michigan.

In early October of 2008 we took a trip to Michigan and were greeted with a warmth of these delightful colors. Then in 2013 we returned to Michigan, this time we went to the Upper Peninsula in mid September. On this page I will share with you the photographs I took during these trips.

Enjoy the Journey! Happy Autumn!

all photographs on this page are my the author mbgphoto

The changing leaves can come at slightly different times each year depending on the weather, so when we planned our trip for early October we were hoping to hit peak color. We found that close to the lake the colors were still a bit green and just starting to change, but as we traveled a mile or two inland we started to see some gorgeous colors. We also found the farther north we traveled into Michigan the more color we began to see. By the end of our week everything was turning to beautiful shades of red, orange and gold.

I love the tree above that seems to have all the shades of color at one time.

Before starting out on a trip I like to research some of the options available to me. There are so many great places to discover if we just know what roads to turn. These books will give you some choices to find just the perfect spots to discover you autumn colors.

I love visiting local farmers markets when I am visiting small towns. In the fall it is a great place to take photographs, in addition to purchasing some great produce. At the market we stopped at in Michigan, there were beautiful red apples, bright orange pumpkins and also some varigated colored pumpkins that were new to me. Here are some of my photos.

Michigan is a state that is full of lighthouses. In fact it has more lighthouses than any other state in the USA. We visited 8 lighthouses during our trip and since most did not have trees near them, I wasn't able to capture any fall colors. Two lighthouses,however, had fall leaves near the shore and I was able to frame the lighthouses in the turning foliage of the trees.

The photo above was taken in Muskegon, Michigan. There were only a few trees on the shore and they were just starting to change colors.

The photo below is one in Holland, Michigan. It is nicknamed Big Red and I thought it looked great taken from the sand dunes and framed by the yellow leaves.

The upper peninsula of Michigan has many waterfalls. Everywhere you go you will find signs for waterfalls. I have stopped at many of these and they are always beautiful, but I have never seen anything quite as stunning as Tahquamenon Falls. These falls are located in the eastern Upper Peninsula. In September of 2013 we visited both the upper and the lower falls at Tahquamenon.

It was mid September and the colors were just starting to "pop" in the trees. I would guess we were probably a week or 10 days away from peak color, but the mix of the green leaves with bursts of red, yellow and orange was quite appealing.

Tahquamenon Falls has a brownish orange color to the water which is the result of tanic acid that leaches into the river from the cedar and hemlock swamps. When I arrived at the upper falls I noted a branch of bright orange color on a limb that hung over the falls. I positioned my camera to capture that limb with the falls in the background. Here is the resulting photo.

We loved our fall trip to Michigan so much that we returned again in the summer of 2012 to explore some more of the backroads of Michigan. There are so many great adventures and wonderful things to see in Michigan.

The photos in this lens were taken along the coast of Lake Michigan in western Michigan. We stayed in Saugatuck, Michigan for a week and each day we would take a day trip to visit another area. Our main focus was lighthouses and we photographed lighthouses from St. Joseph on the south to Muskegon on the north.