Keweenaw Peninsula scenic drive

The Keweenaw Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and therefore of all of Michigan. Houghton is about half way up the Peninsula and where we started our tour northward. The hosts at the City of Houghton RV Park have a sheet with a suggested tour and we used that with great success. There is so much to see and once is just not enough to see it all. We will be back to this area and we will do this tour again.

We stopped in Lake Linden for some ice cream and then continued on to the Keweenaw Peninsula snow gauge which has documented snowfall for the last 50+ years. The record low is 161.1 inches in one winter, the average is 240.8 inches per winter and the record high is 390.4 inches in the winter of 1978-1979. Here we are in front of the gauge and the snowfall totals per month for that record.
































We arrived in Copper Harbor about lunch time so we tried to find the Harbor Haus which Bob had read great things about. Our GPS was useless and we drove around a little, stopped at the Marina for directions and finally found it only to find out it was closed. The Harbor Haus used to be open all day and then Michigan passed a minimum wage law and now is only open for supper. Nearby was the Tamarick Inn where we had the best whitefish we have had since we hit Lake Superior.

Leaving Copper Harbor we took Brockway Mountain Drive towards Eagle Harbor. This is a must for scenic views of Lake Superior and the mountains nearby.















In Eagle Harbor we visited the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse which was built in 1871 replacing the old lighthouse. The Fresnel lens has been replaced by an aviation beacon that rotates so the tower was closed to visitors. The lighthouse grounds, maritime museum and keeper quarters were well worth the visit.















After the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse we drove through a sand dune area. The sand dunes here are not as large as the dunes near Pictured Rock National Lakeshore which we will be visiting in a couple of weeks but it was cool to see a beach similar to what you might see in California.















Just after the sand dunes was Eagle River and the Jampot, a bakery run by the Monks of the Society of St. John. Best known for their many jams and jellies they also have bread, fruitcake, muffins and candy. Right next door to Jampot is Jacob Falls.

Another great day in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Many more photos of this scenic drive have been added to the Houghton set on Flickr.com

Till next time,

Bob and Jo