This is a very big question, but I can give some generalities to start, and if you'd like to follow up with more specific questions I'd love to respond.
The Great Lakes basically covered the entirety of the northwestern frontier of the war, and were fought over, back and forth, between British and American forces for the entire duration of the conflict. The first significant military action of the war took place on Mackinac Island in July, 1812, when a tiny British force aided by hundreds of native allies surprised the small American garrison and captured the place without firing a shot. Less than a month later, William Hull's "Northwestern Army" surrendered to a smaller British force at Detroit, blighting the war effort and leading, later, to Hull's trial and conviction for treason in 1816.
Further to the east, along the Niagara River, American efforts were less disastrous but were still failures, as Stephen Van Rensselaer's army was unable to successfully capture Queenston Heights or any of the British strongpoints on the mainland, and his immediate successor, Alexander Smyth, was similarly unable to get a campaign off the ground.
Back to the west, the first attempt to recapture Detroit ended in the infamous "River Raisin Massacre" following the battles of Frenchtown, in Michigan. The shocking brutality of the affair galvanized American efforts in the west, and lent a new urgency to the massive ship-building campaign going on on Lake Erie, which came to a head in early October, 1813, when Oliver Hazard Perry eked out a narrow victory over the British forces and allowed William Henry Harrison to cross the Detroit River and move up the Thames river, eventually killing the native confederacy's most effective leader, Tecumseh, at the battle of the Thames/Moraviantown.
In the meantime, the actions along the Niagara morphed into a burtal stalemate. Raids and counter-raids were thrown across the river, and the American forces utilized Canadian expatriots - the British and Canadians would term them "traitors" for good reason - led by Joseph Willcocks to pinpoint key areas of supply, and to more or less wage a guerilla war in Upper Canada. Towns were burned, and the Americans destroyed grain silos and mills, which was later cited by the British as one reason they burned the White House.
Though none of the American invasions amounted to much, strategically, there were a number of prominent battles between large regular forces. Lundy's Lane, Chippawa, Chateuguay played out like Napoleonic battles in miniature, and were cited by American veterans-cum-politicians in the decades to follow.
In terms of the soldierly experience, the Great Lakes region was probably one of the worst to take part in. Supply problems dogged both sides, and problems with feeding, clothing, sheltering, arming, and tending to their armies made even simple, short-term objectives nearly impossible to achieve. Americans were fearful of native atrocities, but also committed many of their own.
Generalities aside, is there anything specific you'd like more info on?
Best general sources are Jon Latimer: 1812: The War with America and Donald Hickey: The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict