Newberry, Michigan's Moose Capital

Newberry has a playful title with real paperwork behind it. Michigan’s House and Senate recognized the village as the Moose Capital of Michigan in 2002, through House Resolution 572 and Senate Resolution 259. The village’s master plan records both resolutions. Newberry is also the Luce County seat and the county’s only incorporated community — a much clearer description than calling it the county’s only “real town.”

Here is the honest part of the nickname: it is a civic designation, not a wildlife census. Michigan DNR says the state’s larger, regularly surveyed moose population is in the western Upper Peninsula. A smaller population lives across Alger, Schoolcraft, Luce, and Chippewa counties, but DNR has not conducted a formal population survey in the eastern U.P. That means there is no official basis for saying Luce County has Michigan’s largest herd or the most sightings.

You can still get lucky. DNR says moose sometimes feed in the wet areas of Tahquamenon Falls State Park, especially along M-123 between Paradise and the Lower Falls. The park is north of Newberry and its Upper Falls — about 200 feet wide and 50 feet tall — is Michigan’s largest waterfall. Newberry makes a practical base for the drive, the Tahquamenon Logging Museum, and other eastern U.P. stops. Just let the title be part of the fun, not a guarantee of a roadside moose.