By Marissa Gawel

This easy loop hops islands and sand dunes beside Lake Michigan.

Spend a weekend on the water on this circumnavigation of a lonely island in Lake Superior.

This rugged Michigan landscape is better than any treasure.

Do winter camping the luxe way with a wood-stove-heated hut in Michigan.

Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

Enjoy fishing, cascades, and the Great Lakes in this Michigan wilderness.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan

Wind past a half-dozen jade pools on this loop in fall-perfect Huron-Manistee National Forest in Central Michigan. BY STUART PECK

Escape to a secluded strip of rippling dunes on this 5.2-miler, which rewards your efforts with panora- mas from high above Lake Michigan.

Climb to a historic lighthouse and spot a mysterious shipwreck in Lake Michigan on this 4.3-mile loop in Ludington State Park.

This 8.2-mile Sylvania Wilderness overnight loops around a glacial lake with sandy beaches and huge virgin-growth trees. It's one of the best hiking spots in the upper Midwest.

This pleasant 4-mile loop runs through a peaceful hardwood forest, then roughly parallels the banks of the Chippewa River to a wooden covered bridge.

Connect dune-lined shores, secluded inlets, and marshlands Hamlin Lake on this 4.9-mile paddle in Ludington State Park.

Connect wooded dunes, bottomland forest, and a pristine beach on this 3.7-mile loop along Lake Michigan in Warren Dunes State Park.

Explore the cedar groves and 100-year-old white pines in the Manistee River Valley on this 22-mile overnight.

Discover mesmerizing views and solitude on the North Country Trail.

Inspire your inner thru-hiker on this easy 2-miler in Yankee Springs Recreation Area that samples the North Country Trail with a climb to a glacier-formed depression.

Trace the shoreline of Lake Superior past beaches and lakefront overlooks on this 13.8-mile point to point in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Circumnavigate a wilderness island on this 15-mile loop on North Manitou Island.

Have one of the best backpacking adventures in the Lower Peninsula on this tranquil 17.5-mile loop through the Manistee National Forest.

Climb dunes, find instant solitude, camp atop riverside bluffs, ascend to surprising above-treeline views, and hike along the St. Croix River.

Hike a high escarpment above a northern forest and Lake Superior.

Adventurous types can still find magic in the rivers, lakes, and paths of Detroit.

The view is nothing to write home about, but this newly crowned high point deserves a visit.

Two trails, same river, two different worlds.