Hiking Sugarloaf Mountain
Day 2 in Marquette, MI | Hiking Sugarloaf Mountain | April 2024
Our second day in Marquette was both dry and cool, the perfect day to go hiking! We wasted no time in driving North to our chosen hike for the day: Sugarloaf Mountain. Starting from the South parking lot, this trail is one mile round trip and takes you up to a viewing platform with excellent views in all directions. The elevation gain is almost 300 feet, but most of that is done over the many staircases over steep slopes.
The trail is very popular given its proximity to Marquette and being relatively easy, but we lucked out with there only being a couple other cars in the lot that morning. Curtis’ mom recalled how the first time they hiked this, there had been a near constant stream of people hiking up and down the trail — we were glad to not have that experience today! We set off on the trail heading up to the peak. Despite all the rain, the trail wasn’t muddy, and was in good condition.
Going into the hike, we knew that there were a lot of stairs, and that going down steps isn’t Charlotte’s favorite thing. But since the trail was on the shorter side, we just planned on taking it easy and if the downhill part got too long, Curtis could give her a lift. However, the cool weather was perfect for her, and she was very motivated to walk. Some of that motivation could have come from having Curtis’ parents and their dog Sweets there too, but even when everyone else stopped for a letterbox, she wanted to keep going, so she and I continued up the hill. She powered through climbing up the many flights of stairs with great enthusiasm. Everyone else eventually caught up to us, and we all summited the peak together.
After one last flight of stairs and some rock hopping, we made it to the top — and wow, was it the perfect day to enjoy the sights! While there were clouds overhead, they weren’t obstructing us from looking out over the lake, seeing the nearby islands to the North and South along the coast (including Presque Isle from the night before), and seeing the continuous rolling hills to the West. We pointed out Hogback Mountain, another bald peak that would have been fun to hike, but that we would end up passing on for Charlotte’s sake because it was over double the length and more challenging. We took lots of pictures and attempted to get the dogs to sit down and take a break, before eventually beginning our descent.
At the last trail intersection before the peak, the guys stopped to search for some letterboxes. I thought this would provide Charlotte with another chance to rest, but she was more interested in completing the hike. With my guidance, she walked down each and every step, back down the trail, hardly stopping at all until we made it back to the parking lot, well before the guys even thought about abandoning their missing boxes and hiking back down. And because Charlotte still had energy, she led me on a victory lap around the parking lot, but this time stopping to enjoy all the fun smells. We finally coaxed her back into the car with treats and got her to take a break. Needless to say, she slept well that night! If you’re interested, check out our Alltrails recording here.
