Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

USA

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan

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Last Updated: July 2, 2026

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore stretches along the southern shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and it earns every superlative thrown at it. The park is named for its stunning multicolored sandstone cliffs — streaked with minerals that paint them in shades of copper, iron, and manganese — rising as high as 200 feet above the water. Add in around 17 waterfalls, miles of pristine beach, and some of the clearest water in the Great Lakes, and it’s easy to understand why Condé Nast Traveler called it the most beautiful place in Michigan.

Colorful sandstone cliffs of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore viewed from a boat on Lake Superior, Munising, Michigan
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Gurney, Saxon, Bayfield Wisconsin & Houghton MI

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Last Updated: July 2, 2026

Gurney is a small community in northern Wisconsin, tucked near the shores of Lake Superior. For us, this stop was more than just a destination — it was a homecoming of sorts. Michael’s father, Jim, grew up here. Jim was born 25 miles away in Bessemer, Michigan, where his father worked in explosives for a copper mine. When the mines began to shut down, Jim’s family moved to Gurney to farm — a fortuitous decision, as the land kept them self-sufficient through the Great Depression.

Vast cornfield in Gurney, Wisconsin, near where Michael Huntley's father Jim grew up during the Great Depression
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Grand Portage National Monument & Duluth, Minnesota: Fur Trade History, High Falls & Lake Superior

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Last Updated: June 22, 2026

Grand Portage sits at the very tip of Minnesota’s Arrowhead region, pressed against the Canadian border on the western shore of Lake Superior. It was once one of the most strategically important spots in North America — a crossroads where French and British fur traders, Ojibwe people, and voyageurs converged on the greatest of the Great Lakes. The scenic drive from Voyageurs National Park is curvy and beautiful, hugging the Lake Superior shoreline through dense boreal forest as you climb toward the Canadian border.

Sunset over Lake Superior at Grand Portage, Minnesota — on the shore of the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, photographed by Michael Huntley travel blogger
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Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota: Pontoon Boating, Ellsworth Rock Gardens & Kettle Falls

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Last Updated: June 22, 2026

Voyageurs National Park sits in the far north of Minnesota, right at the Canadian border — a sprawling water wilderness named for the French-Canadian fur traders who paddled these lakes and portages in birchbark canoes centuries before there was a park here at all. Unlike almost every other unit in the National Park system, Voyageurs is primarily a water park. There are no grand scenic drives, no paved trails to the overlooks. To see it properly, you need a boat. We were happy to oblige.

Dr. Michael Huntley physician travel blogger at the helm of a rented pontoon boat on Lake Kabetogama, Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
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Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota: Bison, Wild Horses & Badlands

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Last Updated: June 22, 2026

Theodore Roosevelt first came to the North Dakota Badlands in 1883 as a young man, drawn by the promise of bison hunting and the wide open West. What he found instead — or perhaps in addition — was a landscape that would shape him profoundly. After losing both his mother and his wife on the same day in 1884, he returned to these rugged badlands to grieve and heal. The land, he later wrote, made him the man he became. It’s impossible to stand in this park and not feel some of that pull yourself.

Bison surrounded by dust, illuminated by a passing car's headlights at dusk in Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit, North Dakota — wildlife photography by Michael Huntley travel blogger
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Montana & Idaho Road Trip: Coeur d’Alene, Missoula, Garnet Ghost Town, Lewis and Clark Caverns & Billings

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Last Updated: June 22, 2026

Montana is one of the largest and least populated states in America — and one of our absolute favorites. On this leg of our Pacific Northwest loop, we pushed east from Walla Walla, Washington through northern Idaho before crossing into Big Sky Country. We would have loved to revisit Glacier and Yellowstone, but with New England fall foliage and a Florida winter on the horizon, we had to keep moving. What we did find along the way — a hidden ghost town, a cave carved by ancient seas, and a sandstone pillar signed by Lewis and Clark — more than made up for it.

Historic cabin with American flag at Garnet Ghost Town, Montana — a well-preserved gold rush ghost town managed by the BLM near Missoula
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