In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we’ve been fortunate enough to visit Sugarloaf Mountain in Marquette, Mt. Arvon (the state’s highest point), Summit Peak and the Lake of the Clouds overlook at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, and Brockway Mountain in the Keweenaw Peninsula. This summer we went on a challenging but rewarding hike to the top of Silver Mountain in the Ottawa National Forest, and can now add that to our list of favorite views. We visited Silver Mountain as part of my 2026 project to do a “new to us” hike in every county in Michigan, and I had seen a story about Silver Mountain on the Visit Keweenaw website that made it look quite promising. Here’s a look at one of our favorite hikes of this year (so far):

Getting to the trailhead wasn’t difficult, but required a few miles of driving on forest service roads. From Baraga, you can head west on M-38, turn on Prickett Dam Rd. and follow it for just over two miles. Turn right on Forest Rd. 2270 and follow that for around six miles, before following signs for Silver Mountain and turning right where the road splits and following it to the parking area. We came in from the west, which involved us taking Laird Rd. south for five miles, Forest Rd. 2276 for two miles, Forest Rd. 2270 for a mile, and then making the same turn onto Forest Rd. 922 to the trailhead. We were the only car in the parking lot when we got there and it was easy to find where the trail started.

The trail starts out as a wider dirt path, with a small boardwalk covering a low area that must get wet sometimes. It then makes a slight right and uphill turn and within a quarter mile you get a view of the massive cliff wall.

We stopped here and took in the view of this outcropping, thinking about how the trail was eventually going to take us to the top of it. It is quite the view, and this area apparently draws in some visitors for rock climbing as well.

The trail narrows a bit as it continues to head uphill, and while it is moderately challenging in spots it remained easy to follow. A few roots and loose rocks and some fallen leaves had us watching every step as we continued uphill.

The entire hike from the parking lot to the top of the mountain is just under a mile but it feels a lot longer due to the terrain. Around a half mile in, there were a few spots where it became harder to follow the trail. We stayed on what looked like the most well-worn path in those instances until we found marker posts on trees to let us know we were headed the right way.

The next thing that let us know we were on the right track was a series of ridges in the rock. These glacial grooves in the basalt were cool to see up close, and they are located around .6 miles into the hike.

After this the trail winds some more and there are a few spots where you will want to pay attention to the cliff edge. There are frequent vantage points where you can see for miles, and with no one else around the only noise was from the trees moving in the wind.

Once we finally reached the top of the mountain we were treated to some truly incredible views. To the north we could see Prickett Lake, and in every direction the landscape was full of trees with no signs of development. Most of previous visits to the national forest involved searching for waterfalls, so this was a different but equally awesome experience.

From the top of the mountain it is easy to re-trace your route back down, using caution on the descent. This was one of the more intense hikes we’ve done this year but well worth it. The views here in the fall must be incredible and that might be the next time we return to check it out! Here’s a short video look at the cliff wall:

The Ottawa National Forest covers nearly a million acres in the Upper Peninsula. Some other spots we recommend checking out include the waterfalls on the Black River Scenic Byway, Sturgeon Falls, Jumbo Falls, Mex-i-min-e (Burned Dam) Falls and Campground, O Kun de Kun Falls, and Yondota Falls.