Sault Ste. Marie is a historic city at the eastern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, best known for the Soo Locks that lift Great Lakes freighters between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, and for the international bridge connecting it to its twin city across the St. Marys River in Ontario, Canada. The nearest airport, Chippewa County International (CIU), sits roughly twenty miles south of downtown, a small regional field with limited on-airport rental service rather than the full lineup found at larger hubs, so it is worth confirming availability and reserving ahead rather than assuming a car will be waiting on arrival.
Downtown Sault Ste. Marie itself has a small number of rental locations that can be a more reliable option than counting solely on the airport, particularly outside peak summer travel dates when demand at the small terminal can outstrip what CIU has on hand. From the city, Interstate 75 runs south through the Upper Peninsula toward St. Ignace and the Mackinac Bridge, a drive of a little over an hour, connecting onward to the rest of Michigan and the Lower Peninsula beyond. Heading west instead takes you deeper into the Upper Peninsula's forested, sparsely populated interior, where towns and services grow considerably farther apart and cell coverage can be inconsistent.
Driving is on the right throughout the United States, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula sees genuinely serious winters, with heavy lake-effect snow, ice and sharply reduced daylight common from November through March, so winter tires and cautious driving matter here more than in most of the Lower Peninsula. There are no tolls on I-75 or the connecting roads around Sault Ste. Marie, aside from the fixed toll on the Mackinac Bridge itself further south. Fuel stations are reasonably spaced along I-75 but grow sparse on rural interior roads, so it is sensible to keep the tank topped up before venturing off the main highway corridor into the surrounding forest country.