Fall Adventures in Ludington
When we were planning our fall trip to Ludington, we had a list of things we knew we wanted to do. As the weather can be somewhat unpredictable in fall, we followed along with the forecast because one thing that we wanted to do was to go fishing on the Pere Marquette River. Not only did we want to go fishing, we wanted to fish from our paddleboards. As we were close to Ludington we realized the weather was perfect to start the trip with that adventure!
As we arrived at the river, we inflated our boards and geared up. The setting was perfect. It was calm and the colors on the trees around us looked amazing. Now, it was time to try to catch some fish. We often say, we are not highly skilled fisherman. We fish because we have fun doing it. The challenge of fishing on a river from a paddleboard just adds to the experience. After a few minutes, we had a hit...and missed it. It was promising though as we knew there were fish around! As we continued up river, the action started coming fast and we were catching pike. Pike can get very large and these were smaller pike and they were a ton of fun. After a few hours on the river of paddling and catching fish, we were ready move on with our day. Next stop, Ludington State Park.
One of the best parts about Michigan is that every season sets a new stage. Ludington State Park looked much different with all of the fall colors than it did in the summer. New season, new activities, same great park. We spent time exploring the trails along Lost Lake, Hamlin Lake and the dam. We even watched a few people catch salmon at the dam.
Next up, we decided to make the walk to the Big Sable Lighthouse. The wind had picked up during the afternoon and we knew that there would be some good waves crashing creating some amazing views and photo ops. If you have never been to Big Sable Lighthouse, there is a 1.8 mile trail each way to get to the lighthouse. During the summer, we paddled to the lighthouse and took the trail back. This time, we decided to avoid the water! We chose the perfect time and had the area all to ourselves. If you haven't been to Big Sable Lighthouse, add it to your list! You can walk or bike on the trail, but just know it is not one that you can drive right up to.
After a long day of being outside, we went downtown to get some food and drinks, making stops at Jamesport Brewing and Ludington Bay Brewing. We decided to do one of our favorite brewery activities, and that is Test Flight, where we each get a flight and chose our favorite beer. That, along with a bunch of great food, was how the end to an amazing day.
The next morning started like all mornings for us, and that was with a good coffee. After stopping at Red Rooster to get a coffee to go, we walked around downtown to take in some of the fall scenery. Then we had an idea. Each fall, we like to find a fall covered trail or road to skateboard down and we found it on the Cartier Park Pathway.
After spending some time on the trails, we decided we were in the mood for barbeque and got it go from The Q Smokehouse and went to eat at Stearns Park and watch the waves crashing on the pier. After we were done eating, we had to check out the skatepark. If you watch the video, you will notice that there is no footage of us skateboarding at the park. Actually, we didn't even get our cameras out because we knew we weren't going to do anything worth watching, but that doesn't mean we didn't have a great time!
We enjoyed our fall adventure in Ludington so much that we actually went back for a couple of more days and brought others with us to check out what we just experienced. If you have any must-do activities in Ludington, let us know! We would love to hear from you!
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