Stretching north and west from the Marquette region, the Huron Mountains hold the highest point in Michigan (1,979-foot Mt. Arvon), but almost all of this rugged 50- by 25-mile area is privately owned and pretty much off limits. It’s also among the wildest corner of a wild part of the country; the private owners (with last names like McCormick, founders of International Harvester, and Miller, of Miller Beer infamy) keep it pretty much as it has always been—before the miners and loggers had their way with the rest of the U.P. The best place to get a feel for the Huron Mountains region is at the Thunder Bay Inn ($80–130; 906/345-9376), in the hamlet of Big Bay on Lake Superior, 25 miles northwest of Marquette.
