Did You Know That Michigan Has an Area Known as the ‘Banana Belt’?

When I think of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I don't think of the type of tropical weather needed in order to grow bananas.

So I was shocked when I recently learned that there's an area of the U.P. that's known as the 'Banana Belt'.

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As someone who spent their first 20 years of life living in the U.P., I don't learn new things about it often. But thanks to the internet, I made this discovery while sifting through the /UpperPeninsula subreddit.

A user was asking questions about mushroom hunting, and said that they would be doing such in the 'banana belt area'.

Mushroom foraging! Please read for context
byu/Ashamed-Cat-3068 inupperpeninsula

I immediately thought, "Hold up! The what?!?" And did some digging.

What Makes an Area a 'Banana Belt'?

Michigan isn't the only area of the country where you'll find a banana belt. It's used as a blanket term for any area where the climate is generally warmer than the places that surround it in its region.

READ MORE: Hauntings, Urban Legends, and Folklore of the U.P. 

That doesn't mean that the climate is tropical. Just warmer. Which is why, generally speaking, banana belts are usually in areas where the climate is known for being on the colder side.

You'll find banana belt areas in Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, among other places.

Where Exactly is Michigan's Banana Belt?

While all of Michigan is known for being pretty frigid and snowy in the winter months, the Upper Peninsula is notoriously cold and wintry. So, it comes as no real surprise (now that we know what a banana belt is and that they exist in the first place) that that is where you'll find the banana belt of Michigan.

The area is essentially a pretty large swath of the south-central Upper Peninsula. It stretches from Iron Mountain in the west to Escanaba, then over to Manistique, closer to the eastern side of the U.P. It also extends all the way down to Menominee at the very bottom of the Upper Peninsula.

Why is it warmer? Well, unlike the cities and towns in the U.P. that sit close to Lake Superior (which produces very cold winds), these towns along the southern part of the peninsula are along Green Bay, Big Bay De Noc, and Lake Michigan, which are much warmer than Superior (relatively speaking).

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On the city's official website, Escanaba even boasts that it,