ROADSIDE UPPER PENINSULA: Michigan’s – World’s Largest Snow Gauge

The Keweenaw Peninsula deals with snow completely differently than most of Michigan. From a Troll's perspective (Upper Peninsula's term of endearment for Lower Peninsula residents) the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) does an incredible job of keeping the roads safe.

Related: Blizzard of 1978: When Mother Nature's Fury Shut Down Michigan

Residents of the UP are built of heartier stock than most as well. Clearing sidewalks, driveways, or even your front steps may require hours of intense shoveling. Trees and street signs are buried with fallen, blown, and shoveled snow.

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The amount of snow Keweenaw Peninsula residents deal with on an annual basis is tough to visualize, that is unless you visit the World's Largest Snow Gauge). This roadside attraction is a regular stop for northern visitors, especially in the summer when the park is open.

The Keweenaw Snow Thermometer (yes, it's a gauge, but the official website refers to it as a thermometer) is over 30 feet tall and sits just north of Mohawk, Michigan off US-41 and tracks the annual snowfall in Keweenaw County. The county's record snowfall rests atop the giant stick.

If you decide to visit during the winter, be aware that you'll have to park on the side of the road, but as I alluded to earlier, MDOT does an amazing job clearing roads, even in the snow-packed Keweenaw Peninsula. The park is closed during the winter, so here's what the road marker, which is removed seasonally, reads:

During the winter of 1978-79 Keweenaw County established a new snowfall record by tabulating a seasonal total of 390.4 inches of snow. This could be a new record set in the USA for the entire area east of the Rockies. The monthly tabulations for the winter of 1978-79 are as follows: Nov. 49.2 inches, Dec. 116.4 inches, Jan. 111.4 inches, Feb. 53.0 inches, Mar. 52.6 inches, Apr. 7.8 inches.

Here's a closer look at Michigan's Keweenaw Snow Thermometer.