Moab, Michigan, Banff, and a Whole Lot of Road
Destination Michigan is our 2026 long-haul trip from Washington, built around spending the summer in Northern Michigan (Northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula), then heading west to Banff in Canada for our five-year wedding anniversary before looping back through British Columbia and Washington on our way back home.
Why Michigan? On our cross country trips we always end up going through Michigan and loving it. Its something we hit on our way through but haven’t ever spent the time there it deserves given how much we always enjoy it so we decided this year the actual destination is… Michigan.
This trip did not not start with the name Destination Michigan, though Michigan still was central. The original plan was Mashville, a mashup of Michigan and Nashville. We planned to leave Moab for Mesa Verde, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Hot Springs National Park, and Nashville before turning north toward Michigan.
Unfortunately a short ways into the trip Harry’s feet decided they wanted to be a pain in the, uhhh, foot and required more time resting and less time running around. We added time in Ogden and Utahraptor, found a two-week opening at Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway, canceled the southern route, and rebuilt the middle of the trip through Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, and Indiana.
Michigan stayed the destination, but almost everything about getting there changed. The route kept evolving after we arrived, too, with campground swaps inspired by bugs, crowds, unlevel sites, better alternatives, and one birthday request. The final road through Waterton, Banff, the Revelstoke area, Kelowna, Darrington, and back to Kenmore is now booked, with only one Calgary-area overnight still to solve.
This page follows the route we actually took and the plans still ahead, along with the Tow Stops, road stories, photos, Favorite Finds, recipes, and practical lessons that came out of all those changes.
Trip at a Glance
Destination Michigan Route
This is the working route for Destination Michigan, based on our current RV Life Trip Wizard plan. As always, the map is more of a living document than a promise. Campground availability, repairs, weather, and real life can all change the route.
The Route, Broken Into Legs
Mashville is a long trip, so we’re breaking the route into a few big sections instead of trying to explain every stop at once.
Leg 1
The Northwest to the Southwest
Completed
Kenmore → Pendleton → Hagerman → Ogden → Utahraptor State Park / Moab
The trip began with a casino overnight, Idaho hot springs, water-heater repairs, and worsening foot pain as we crossed from the Pacific Northwest into Utah. By the time we reached Utahraptor State Park, the original route was already starting to wobble.
4 Tow Stops
12 Nearby Finds
5 Blog Posts
Leg 2
The Great Pivot
Completed
Moab recovery stay → Colorado → Nebraska → Illinois → Indiana Dunes
Two extra weeks in Moab gave Harry’s feet time to improve and gave us time to rebuild the trip. Mesa Verde, New Mexico, Hot Springs, Nashville, and the southern crossing came off the calendar. The replacement route headed northeast through Colorado and Nebraska, crossed the Mississippi River in Illinois, and ended at Indiana Dunes before we continued into Michigan.
6 Tow Stops
4 Nearby Finds
Leg 3
Summer in Michigan
Current
Northern Michigan
Michigan was no longer just one part of the route. It became the destination. This is the slower summer section of the trip, built around waterfront parks, state and county campgrounds, small towns, family visits, time with friends, local finds, and enough time to actually live in the places where we stop.
11 Tow Stops
Leg 4
Anniversary in Banff
Planned
Wisconsin → Minnesota → North Dakota → Montana → Waterton → Calgary → Banff
After the Michigan summer, the route turns west across the Upper Midwest and northern plains toward Canada. Banff is more than a pretty stop, it is a return to where we spent our honeymoon for our five-year wedding anniversary.
7 Tow Stops
Leg 5
Back Toward Homebase
Planned
Crazy Creek / Revelstoke area → Kelowna → Darrington → Kenmore
The final section is no longer open-ended. After Banff, we will cross British Columbia with stays near Revelstoke and Kelowna, return to Washington for a longer weekend near Darrington, and the back to our homebase in Kenmore.
3 Tow Stops
The Plan vs. the Road
We left Kenmore with a carefully booked itinerary. It lasted three days before the first change.
Since then, repairs, recovery time, campground reality, bugs, crowds, cancellation fees, and one birthday request have kept reshaping the route. Here is how Destination Michigan evolved.
We initially added a night in Ogden to handle the water-heater repair. The repair went smoothly, but Harry’s foot was hurting enough that we kept the extra recovery time. That night originally came out of Utahraptor.
We then extended Utahraptor by two nights to rest Harry’s foot. That meant shortening the New Mexico portion and moving the planned Mesa Verde dates.
When Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway had a full-hookup two-week opening, we booked it. That recovery stay replaced everything between Moab and Michigan, including Mesa Verde, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Hot Springs, and Nashville.
Once Harry seemed to be improving, we rebuilt the route northeast through Stoneyard Distillery, Boyd Lake State Park, Pals Brewing Company, Omaha, Fisherman’s Corner on the Mississippi River, and Indiana Dunes.
Indiana Dunes State Park had been our first choice for Memorial Day weekend, but it was originally unavailable. Campnab found an opening, allowing us to swap it back into the route.
A traveler at Tahquamenon Falls told us the bugs and mosquitoes were even worse at Wilderness State Park. Research suggested he was not exaggerating, so we canceled, paid Michigan’s $64 cancellation fee, and moved to O.B. Fuller outside of Escanaba MI in the UP.
We drove through Whiting Park while exploring during our first MI stop and found our assigned site extremely unlevel. We canceled and found a spot at Magnus Park that had opened up. Magnus Park was one we originally wanted to stay at so we could be right on Lake Michigan, so it all worked out for the better.
After driving through several busy Michigan state parks, Interlochen started to feel more stressful than relaxing. Reports of swimmer’s itch at the campground swimming area did not help. We switched to Little River Casino Resort near Manistee for pools, pickleball, laundry, easier Lake Michigan beach options, and Fourth of July fireworks.
We locked in the trip home from Banff with stays at Crazy Creek Resort near Revelstoke and Bear Creek Provincial Park near Kelowna.
The original Birch Bay stay we booked was replaced and extended with Whitehorse Regional Park near Darrington after Leigh Anne’s daughter requested we go there for her birthday and keep our yearly pilgrimage tradition going.
One stop remains unsolved: the overnight between Waterton and Banff.
Mashville Photo Highlights
We take a lot of photos along the way, but this gallery is reserved for the images that best capture the trip: the landscapes, campsites, road moments, people, food, animals, and small details we most want to remember.
Tow Stops Along the Route
These are the places where we parked the trailer during Destination Michigan, including state and county parks, private campgrounds, RV resorts, Harvest Hosts, casinos. Some were carefully planned. Others only appeared because the plan changed.
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Stoneyard Distillery
Dotsero, Colorado
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Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway
Moab, Utah
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Utahraptor State Park
Moab, Utah
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Riverside RV Resort
South Weber, Utah
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Billingsley Creek Campground
Hagerman, Idaho
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Wildhorse Resort & Casino
Pendleton, Oregon
Favorite Finds Along the Way
These are the places, meals, parks, scenic drives, shops, and small discoveries that stood out during Destination Michigan. Some were planned, but most were random discoveries.
- Miracle Hot Springs – near our stay at Billingsley Creek Campground
- Moab Finds
- Arches National Park
- Moab Tattoo – Leigh Anne got 2 tattoos here while in Moab
- Ye Ol’ Geezer Meat Shop – got fixings here for some of our most memorable meals
Blog Posts From This Trip
This is where the road story lives: the travel days, repairs, recovery, near misses, campground changes, funny details, the “well, that happened” moments, and decisions that turned Mashville into Destination Michigan.
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Doing Moab Wrong (And Loving Every Minute of It)
There are a lot of very Moab activities to do in Moab. Hiking. Jeeping. Coating every exposed surface of your skin, vehicle,…
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Un-Mashable: How Our “Mashville” Trip Began Rerouting
Our Utahraptor State Park stop near Moab became the painful turning point where Harry’s foot injury forced us to cut Nashville and…
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The RV Got Fixed. The Driver? That’s Another Story.
Our Ogden stop was supposed to be about fixing the trailer’s hot water heater before Moab. The repair went better than expected,…
Trailer-Made Recipes
Some trips are remembered by the views. Some are remembered by the repairs. And some deserve a spot here because dinner in the trailer turned out way better than expected.
- Leigh Anne’s poke bowls from Riverside RV Resort in Ogden, UT
Destination Michigan Playlist
We build a playlist as each trip unfolds, adding songs that fit a place, a mood, or whatever ridiculous thing just happened. This one started as the Mashville playlist, but the name changed along with the route.
Trip Tools & Resources
A few tools and resources helping us plan, adjust, and make this trip work from the road.
RV LIFE Trip Wizard – We used it to build the original route, then used it all over again when Moab changed everything. Also gets used to so we know where/when we are going next and the notes I took while booking.
Campnab – This tool helps us find openings at booked campgrounds, such as Indiana Dunes State Park for Memorial day weekend this trip.
Harvest Hosts – Harvest Hosts helped fill short overnight gaps during The Great Pivot, including Stoneyard Distillery and Pals Brewing Company.
Towmads Trip Tips
These are a few lessons Destination Michigan has “driven” home.
- Recovery time can save the rest of a long trip.
- A cancellation fee may be cheaper than forcing a stay that no longer works.
- Firsthand campground reports are worth investigating.
- Leave enough flexibility to replace a route, not just move a reservation.
- Driving through a campground before check-in can reveal problems the booking page cannot.
- A route-planning tool is indispensable (which we already knew but it really shined when the route had to change so much on this trip).
Still Taking Shape
Rarely are trip plans fully formed when we launch them. This one is no exception. Luckily at this point the only open piece is one overnight between Waterton and Banff, likely somewhere near Calgary. Let us know if you have a suggestion.
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