Porcupine Mountains Yurt Camping Background/Logistics
Domonick and I decided to get out of town in mid-December and planned to snowshoe and yurt camp in the lovely porcupine mountains (aka “porkies”). Porcupine Mountains State Park, established in 1945, is just one of Michigan’s 103 state parks (Michigan state parks boast 28 million annual visitors!). The highlands of the park were created more than a billion years ago during periods of volcanic activity, later being shaped by moving glaciers.
I had never been to Porcupine Mountains State Park, but Domonick had spent one night out there two summers prior. During winter, traditional accommodations are slim in the porkies, so Domonick got creative and reserved a yurt for us to stay in. We stayed in the Union Bay East yurt. A listing of other accommodations bookable through Michigan.gov/dnr can be found here – our home-sweet-home is on page 23. We left our house on the outskirts of Munising on Saturday morning and made the <3 hour drive west. After checking in at the DNR headquarters, we made our way to our yurt.
Yurt Details
It was about a 0.25 mile trek to the yurt, which was nestled on a small bluff overlooking Lake Superior. We carried all the supplies we would need for the trip. The yurt had two bunk beds and slept four people. The bunk beds have sheet-less mattresses, and I brought a fitted sheet for each of us to put our sleeping bags on. We also brought our sleeping pads which turned out to be a good move since the mattresses were not soft. The yurts are equipped with a wood stove with a supply of firewood (there was a small stack in the yurt and a larger pile covered with a tarp a short jaunt away).
There was no electricity (bring a head lamp!) or running water (we carried in a few liters). There was a clean outhouse not too far away, and a bear box right outside our door. Shovel included!
Snowshoeing Porcupine Mountains
Once we got settled in, we did a 3-mile out and back snowshoe trek on the Deer Yard Trail via the Superior Loop. Please note that the DNR map mileages are in kilometers, not miles! The trail affords a beautiful view of Lake Superior. During our trek, the winds were high and waves were up.
After our jaunt, Domonick made us a gourmet backpacker dinner of macaroni and cheese!
We got cozy in our sleeping bags and Domonick stoked/fed the fire every few hours, as the stove was not very large. In the morning, we did the four mile loop hike on the Deer Yard Trail. We were told at the visitor center that the trail had been rolled, but we found that not to be the case. Even with snowshoes, we were sinking. Definitely burned off all that mac and cheese! The trails are open to snow showers and cross country skiers; we did see a couple skiers.
Summary
I definitely recommend yurt camping! Especially in winter when a sturdy wall blocks out a bitter wind a tad better than a tent wall. It is also nice sometimes to have the flexibility of having a home base and then exploring the surrounding area via snow shoes or trail shoes without having to carry gear. I also can’t wait to visit the porkies in the summer and check out the iconic Lake of the Clouds! If you’re interested in booking a campsite or yurt yourself, visit https://www.midnrreservations.com/. If you’d like to do an overnight trip and want to leave the planning/booking to us, click here =)
Happy trails,
Carolyn
