Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula

Some of the most moving experiences I have had around Lake Superior have been in the Keweenaw Peninsula—the upper peninsula of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Consider its location: Keweenaw sticks out into the heart of the lake. Everywhere you go in the peninsula, you’re never far from a view of the big blue lake. And the feeling that you’ve traveled to the very heart of the lake is never more powerful than at Copper Harbor on the northernmost point of the peninsula.

Just south of the geographic center of Lake Superior, Copper Harbor is an eight-hour drive from the Twin Cities. The drive can be lovely, and the peninsula features three of my top 10 drives in the United States: Highway 26/41 between Calumet and Copper Harbor, particularly the stretch of 41 known as the “covered drive”; Brockway Mountain Drive between Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor; and MI Highway 26 between Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor. At the peak of fall color, the trees form a canopy that bathes the routes in a dappled sea of orange and red light.

I drove my family up through that canopy to a rustic cabin on the water in Copper Harbor last autumn. All these months later, I need not consult my notes to recall the splendor of our experiences. We built roaring fires in the agate-encrusted fireplace. We watched the harbor season wind down from the deck. We ate fresh local lake trout and whitefish. But the most memorable moments occurred outside of the cabin, on trails, roads, and beaches in the area.

The harbor outside our deck was once the main shipping port for the peninsula’s primary economic base, copper mining (hence the name). Like the Iron Range, Keweenaw has transitioned much of its economy to tourism. As the mines were abandoned, mining companies left behind ghost towns, mixed hardwood forests, and pristine inland lakes. Unlike the Iron Range, the mines did not scar the country, at least not in a noticeable way. The result is a landscape similar to the Sawtooth Mountains on the north shore of Superior.

One fine day we drove southwest on Highway 26 along the lake to take in the scenery and hunt for agates. We stopped at Eagle Harbor Inn for lunch (I had a very good lake trout sandwich) and visited the Eagle Harbor Light Station Museum. The view of Eagle Harbor from the lighthouse ridge reminded me of a New England fishing village. The fishing boats rocked in their slips as whitecaps washed over the shoals at the mouth of the harbor.

Back on the road, as the canopy began to shade the car in golden light, we came upon a Byzantine rite monastery called Holy Transfiguration Skete, its gold dome standing stark against the blue sky. Just down the road is the Jampot, the monks’ bakery. There we bought jams made with local wild berries and enough baked goods to sustain us for the rest of the trip.

The bakery is just a few miles east of Eagle River, our agate destination. For some reason, agates are especially plentiful near the mouth of the river. We picked our way along the beach, though the agates were not as plentiful as the hype from the Keweenaw tourist board indicated. Still, it was a joy just to be near the waves as they met the shore they’ve communed with for millions of years. We reluctantly drove back to the cabin with various igneous rocks in our pockets.

Our reluctance quickly evaporated as the drive home excited our senses. Unlike the Sawtooths, the highest ridge of Keweenaw’s mountains is capped by a road—Brockway Mountain Drive—that connects Copper Harbor with Eagle Harbor. This road offered spectacular views of the surrounding valleys and mountain forests for miles around in full fall splendor. When we reached the road’s peak, we stopped the car to take in the complete panorama of the peninsula, including a view of Isle Royale 40 miles to the northwest. Near the end of the road, an overlook provided amazing views of the area. It was quite possibly the best day of driving I’ve ever had.

Our other adventures were on foot. The Copper Harbor area offers more hiking opportunities than we could take advantage of in a week. The premier hiking trail close to the harbor is at Hunter’s Point Park. The park skirts the west end of the harbor, culminating in a narrow point of land that protects the harbor from the northwest wind. A trail extends from the marina to the tip of the point, ducking in and out of little coves along the lake. We explored each cove and spent a lot of time on a narrow spit of rock jutting into the lake.

Just east of Copper Harbor lies Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, which offers hikes along Lake Fanny Hooe—a long, narrow lake at the base of a tall ridge. Wilkins sits between Fanny Hooe and Superior. In the mid-1800s, it served as a U.S. Army outpost, and the buildings from that period still sit in their original places, guarded by 19th-century cannonades. We had a delightful time walking around the park, especially on the Superior side, which provides access to the Copper Harbor Lighthouse.

We could have filled several more days driving, hiking, biking, boating, golfing, or fishing around Keweenaw. But the view from the cabin was so tranquil, and the fire so inviting, that we were inclined to spend our mornings enjoying our coffee and monk-made baked goods by the fire rather than following a packed agenda. We took shorter adventures in the afternoons and headed up Brockway Mountain for nightly sunsets. Eventually, we had to pack up and leave. But the Copper Harbor cabin still occupies our thoughts and talks these many months later.

James Mathewson, a Faribault-based writer, is a frequent contributor to Mpls.St.Paul’s travel section.