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Minnesota has the most inland lakes and the driftless is just southeast of the Twin Cities Metro. The Inland lakes in Northern Minnesota are beautiful. There are landscapes in Minnesota you won't find in Michigan or Wisconsin like Blue Mounds State Park
oh that's kind of cool.
Yeah, Michigan nature is largely pretty hard to reach, although I suppose Grand Rapids has OK access, but Traverse City is much closer.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I've been to 45 states, but actually haven't been to these three.
Michigan is the heavy hitter and has a lot of different options for an iconic Great Lakes vacation with Mackinac Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes, the beach towns on Lake Michigan, and the UP. It would be at the top of my bucket list.
Wisconsin I'd pick for cities and the outdoor attractions in the cities like Milwaukee and Madison. It also seems to have some charming bucolic countryside around the state. I love swimming in clear kettle lakes and ponds, the northern part of the state looks appealing for that.
Minnesota has the north shore of Lake Superior which would be my top pick if I was to choose one specific region to visit out of the three states. I like the rugged look of the shoreline there. It seems to have a lot of granite and ledgy shoreline with some cliffs and elevation gains. Add to that the inland lakes and Voyageurs NP nearby along with Duluth which I'd imagine would likely be a good brewery town to visit. I could see myself staying busy in this part of Minnesota and filling up about 4-5 days.
Hard to choose, all three have a nice array appealing options for the outdoors.
This is sort of cheating. But I’m going to give the nod to Minnesota because the twin cities are very close to both Duluth and the Superior shore and the Driftless in Wisconsin.
The sawtooth mountains offer a similar experience to the porkies.
Duluth offers a generally similar experience to Marquette.
And the driftless of Wisconsin are right there.
The only thing that’s missing are Michigans spectacular dunes and the excellent beaches of traverse city and the eastern side of Lake Michigan.
So Minnesota has to take it by having a combo of what the UP has to offer and some of Wisconsin’s best offerings in close proximity to major cities.
A good chunk of the Driftless is in Minnesota (and Iowa) too.
I have only been to Lower Michigan once in my life so will not comment on it, but I have heard great things about the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and wish to visit someday.
But I have lived in various spots in Wisconsin and currently live in Minneapolis and have been to the UP quite a few times so will give my two cents.
In general, I think Wisconsin is prettier than Minnesota throughout the state. There are a lot more hilly and wooded areas. From middle school through college, I lived in Eau Claire and that surrounding area is gorgeous with the mix of hardwood forests and hilly farmland and the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers. I am quite partial to the area.
I mostly grew up in my youngest years in the Minocqua area which I didn't appreciate much until living in a city. The sheer number of lakes and the rich pine forests are stunning, although the lack of open fields anywhere can make me feel a bit boxed in after a while. Growing up, it felt like we never saw the sun because it was so hidden by the trees all the time. But those forests are so much richer looking than the scrubbier looking forests of the Duluth/Superior area and the various parts of the U.P. I have visited.
Last week I went camping at a childhood favorite, Crystal Lake in the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest. I also traveled all the way up the Keweenaw Peninsula for a day and was shocked to see sandy beaches along Lake Superior, which I usually associate more with rounded stone beaches. Almost immediately after crossing the Wisconsin/Michigan border though it seemed like there were almost no lakes in the U.P. (especially compared to Vilas County) and the forests did not look nearly as impressive. Though due to this it felt much more remote compared to heavily commercialized Minocqua/Eagle River/ Boulder Junction areas. We even went on a hike that advertised "Old Growth Pine Trees" near Copper Harbor, but that was disappointing compared to just an average view of forests in the Minocqua area. The U.P. does have a lot more waterfalls than Northern WI, however. Houghton/Hancock was also very beautiful. (Although their average of 200+ inches of snow would be unbearable for me.)
Of all the places I've been in the three states though, nothing compares to the North Shore of MN. All the state parks and waterfalls along the way make it about my favorite place in the whole country. Also, the Twin Cities are loaded with beautiful natural areas, and it is easy to feel like I am not in a major population center even in the middle of town.
So, from what I have experienced extensively traveling throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota and the U.P., Wisconsin is prettier on average than both, but Minnesota in its most special spots seems much more impressive to me than any one thing Wisconsin offers.
I've been to 45 states, but actually haven't been to these three.
Michigan is the heavy hitter and has a lot of different options for an iconic Great Lakes vacation with Mackinac Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes, the beach towns on Lake Michigan, and the UP. It would be at the top of my bucket list.
Wisconsin I'd pick for cities and the outdoor attractions in the cities like Milwaukee and Madison. It also seems to have some charming bucolic countryside around the state. I love swimming in clear kettle lakes and ponds, the northern part of the state looks appealing for that.
Minnesota has the north shore of Lake Superior which would be my top pick if I was to choose one specific region to visit out of the three states. I like the rugged look of the shoreline there. It seems to have a lot of granite and ledgy shoreline with some cliffs and elevation gains. Add to that the inland lakes and Voyageurs NP nearby along with Duluth which I'd imagine would likely be a good brewery town to visit. I could see myself staying busy in this part of Minnesota and filling up about 4-5 days.
Hard to choose, all three have a nice array appealing options for the outdoors.
These three states are all incredibly underrated. I'd put each in top 10 in the U.S. for most amenities, including natural beauty and recreation.
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