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With summer officially wrapped up, the Copper Country is ready for fall days and changing leaves. Summer was full of fun festivals, and plenty of out-of-towners coming to the Keweenaw for great outdoor recreation opportunities. Visit Keweenaw Executive Director Brad Barnett says the majority of visitors to the region come from the Midwest, but this year there were more people from outside the United States.
“We draw really from across the Midwest. And shockingly we’ve had more visitors from international countries as well. So just stopping in at our little visitor’s bureau, we’ve met people from Belgium, and London this summer. It’s been a very interesting year, as people from across the world become more comfortable with travel, getting through the COVID pandemic, and some of the challenges of international air travel this year.”
Barnett anticipates a clearer view of the region’s summer tourism impact as Visit Keweenaw receives more survey submissions from locals, and gathers more information from local businesses affected by the industry. Barnett anticipates the region will continue to see plenty of visitors into the fall, especially as fall color tourism becomes more popular.
“What I love about the Keweenaw Peninsula, and what makes it a unique spot to come, is we have so many ways to experience fall color. We’ve got boat rides on the Keweenaw Waterway now. The chair lifts tours on the weekend with Mount Ripley. Which is a great way to go out and see it. And beginning last year, and rolling into this year, you can jump up into an Isle Royale Seaplane, with tours on Thursdays, Fridays Saturdays, and Sundays. So you can get up in the sky and really see this stuff. So there are a lot of really great ways, in addition to bikes and your own two feet, so there’s a lot of great ways to get out and experience fall color form a different angle, a different perspective.”
There are plenty of ways to get out into the Keweenaw’s woods and view fall colors. Whether by land water or air. To help locals and travelers Visit Keweenaw has put together a page on its website detailing great ways to see this season’s fall display of color in the Keweenaw peninsula. Also, look for the Visit Keweenaw Summer Tourism survey asking for local residents to share their view of tourism in the region and its impact in the Copper Country.
