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One of the most beautiful scenic highways in the country cuts right through the middle of the Cherry Republic. M-22 comprises 116 miles of pure driving or biking wonder. Starting north of Manistee, it hugs the Lake Michigan shoreline through Benzie County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, making its way around the north tip of Leelanau County and eventually winding down on the eastern edge of Traverse City. Voted the Best Scenic Fall Drive by USA Today, we thought we’d share a ...

Surfers heading to the beach at Sleeping Bear Point. Photo: Beth Price. It may be about a thousand miles to the nearest ocean, but you can surf in northern Michigan. While the waves are usually small, the right conditions can produce surprisingly large and high-quality surf. Sadly, those conditions aren't that common until the fall. But after mid-October, the winds whipping off Lake Michigan really start to pick up. For the adventurous few who surf the Great Lakes, these gales create a uniqu ...

The wild winter this year has brought frigid temperatures, mountains of snow, and large waves to the Republic. We can now add ice caves to that list! The spectacular formations on Lake Michigan have been caused by the way the lake has frozen this year: a mixture of sudden freezing caused by historic low temperatures, a gradual pileup of pack ice, and wave action adding freezing spray to the equation. The results are stunning: cavernous caves, precipitous cliffs, and an ice pack stretching ...