Late September, the one window when color and aurora overlap
For about two weeks at the end of September, the western Upper Peninsula does something the rest of the year cannot: hardwood color at or near peak on the same nights that aurora season is statistically at its strongest. A single weekend in the right place can deliver both.
The Keweenaw Peninsula and the Porcupine Mountains are the strongest pairing: color, a north-facing Lake Superior horizon for the aurora, and some of the darkest skies in the eastern United States. Tahquamenon Falls and the Pictured Rocks shoreline work too. All of them face north over open water and sit in the part of the state that turns first.
Color is a moving front, not a date, so check the live map rather than last year's calendar. For the aurora, watch the Kp index and the Bz component the night of, not the three-day outlook. The two guides below carry the live readings and the dark-sky sites worth the drive.
This is the point of the whole thing: live data, not a static page. These tools carry the current conditions for this trip.
Two systems cover almost every public campsite in the state, and both let you book ahead rather than gamble on a walk-up.
State park and DNR sites reserve through the Michigan system, often as far as six months in advance, so popular weekends fill early. National forest ground in the Huron-Manistee and Hiawatha, and backcountry permits along Lake Superior, go through Recreation.gov. Lodging in the Keweenaw and around the Porcupine Mountains is thin and books out for peak color weekends, so reserve a state park site early or line up a room well ahead.