Okay, let’s get the most important thing out of the way first… how on earth do you pronounce this name?! The best way to learn is to head to Michigan.gov’s pronunciation key, which you can find here. Click on letter ‘K’, scroll down until you find Kitch-iti-kipi, and click on the link to hear it out loud. I’ll wait 🙂

Kitch-iti-kipi, also referred to as “Big Spring”, is Michigan’s largest natural spring located in the Upper Peninsula, open year-round. My two brothers and I stopped here on our way up to Grand Marais, MI and I’d definitely recommend checking it out! Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Kitch-iti-kipi:

1. A Recreation Passport is Required

Kitch-iti-kipi is located within Palms Book State Park which means that a Michigan Recreation Passport (aka state park sticker) is required. We bought a day pass which was $9. They only accepted cash and I’m not sure if this was because of Covid or if that’s how it always is. Just something to keep in mind!

2. Drones are not allowed

There were multiple signs stating drones were not allowed which was pretty disappointing for me. I assumed I could fly because I’ve seen people post drone pictures of it before. But perhaps they got special permission? Or flew illegally? Or they know something I don’t? Lol all I know is that my drone stayed in the car.

3. It truly looks like this

With all the editing apps out there, sometimes it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not. I can tell you, the water really is this colorful. It’s bright, bluish-green, extremely crystal clear, and will definitely make you go, “wow”! There are also a lot of fish swimming around and they’re enormous! I believe they’re trout.

4. Parking, bathrooms, pets, etc.

The parking area is large and there’s a big building with bathrooms. Due to Covid, the building was closed but there were porta-potties available. Pets are allowed at Kitch-iti-kipi and you can even take them on the raft! 

5. The raft

A short walk (and I mean short, probably 30 seconds from the parking lot) will bring you to the spring! From here, you can walk to the wooden raft. It was busy when we were there and there was a pretty long line of people waiting to get on. But since the raft is pretty big and holds quite a few people, we only waited for about 5 minutes or so.

The raft is self-propelled so there’s not a designated person who runs it; which means if you’re the only one there, you’ll have to take the wheel! The raft runs along a cable cord so it goes slowly back and forth in one direction across the 200-foot spring. There’s an opening in the middle of the raft which is cool because you pass right over the source of the spring and you can see it bubbling 40 feet down!