Lake Fanny Hooe Resort & Campground, Copper Harbor, MI – Aug 9-12, 2021

Aug 9, Monday

Lake Fannie Hooe Resort and Campground

The drive to our next campground followed US-41 north. When we entered the Keweenaw Peninsula, it went along the coast of Lake Superior for a while, which was very scenic.  We then had to drive toward the peninsula’s center so that we could go across the only land-based link between the northern and south sections of the Keweenaw peninsula, the Portage Lift Bridge in Houghton.  

The Portage Lift Bridge is the world’s heaviest and widest double-decked vertical lift bridge that once carried both rail and wheeled traffic over the partly natural and partly artificial Keweenaw waterway.  When rail traffic was discontinued in the Keweenaw, the lower deck was changed to accommodate snowmobile traffic in the winter. 

Both sides of the waterway were very long and steep, and there was a lot of congested traffic because some of the bridge lanes were closed for construction, but Lisa navigated this challenge without a problem. 

The last 20 miles before our campground was very curvy, and the woods got thicker, covering the road with a canopy.

Lake Fannie Hooe Resort and Campground was on the outskirts of the small village of Copper Harbor next to Lake Fannie Hooe.  The resort had a motel, cottages and cabins, lake access, bathroom facilities, a laundromat, and a playground. There were two primary camping areas: an open field near the front and a wooded area in the back. Because the reviews said the wooded area would be a lot more difficult to back our trailer in, I paid extra for a guaranteed site in the open field. After checking in, we set up at site #S51, which had full hookups. The site was dirt and unshaded, but it was level.    

Astor Shipwreck Park

We decided to run over to Fort Wilkins Picnic Area for lunch, and the Park Ranger suggested we go across the highway to the Astor Shipwreck Park, where we would have a beautiful view of the Copper Harbor Lighthouse.   We pulled out our chairs and ate lunch directly on the beach when we got there. 

The 111-ton schooner John Jacob Astor was the first American commercial vessel to sail Lake Superior.  It was named after John Jacob Astor, who started the American Fur Company and is considered America’s first millionaire.   In 1844, the wind blew the Astor up on the rocks near the Fort Wilkins dock after delivering supplies.  The ship was unable to free itself and had to be salvaged.  The Astor’s loss caused great hardships among the fledgling settlements rimming Lake Superior that winter.  Today, the remains of the John Jacob Astor are completely broken up and scattered in the waters of the park’s coast.  

Copper Harbor was an important port during the Copper Boom in the Keweenaw Peninsula in the late 19th century. The Copper Harbor Lighthouse was the second lighthouse built on Lake Superior.  The current 1866 lighthouse replaced an earlier 1849 lighthouse that had fallen apart.   In 1919, the light was converted from kerosene to acetylene gas and left unattended, and then the light was moved to a steel tower next to the structure in 1927.  The park service owns the lighthouse, and you must take a boat tour to visit it because road access is blocked by private property.     

Fort Wilkins Historic State Park

We then walked across the street and toured Fort Wilkins Historic State Park.  It was remarkably well reconstructed with great displays.  We toured all the fort buildings, the married enlisted cabins, the old mine shafts, and the gift shop that even had ice cream (no, we didn’t get any).

The fort was created in 1844 to protect the United States’ interests in the Copper Boom in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Still, two years later, the garrison was pulled to serve in the Mexican-American War. In 1867, it was regarrisoned with soldiers finishing their enlistments, and then it was completely abandoned by the Army in 1870.  Afterward, it was used as a resort until it became a state park in 1923.

Tip of Keweenaw Peninsulaecause

After we left Fort Wilkens, we drove past the end marker for US-41 and down some rough dirt logging roads, hoping to reach the tip of the peninsula.  We drove for several miles until the road started getting very rough, and because I did not want to damage the truck potentially, we turned around before taking it to the tip.  We passed many people who were camping for free back in these woods.

Brockway Mountain Drive

We then drove southwest of Copper Harbor and took the Brockway Mountain Drive.  This 9-mile scenic drive follows the Keweenaw fault 720 feet above the surface of Lake Superior and gives us breathtaking views of Lake Superior, Copper Harbor, and the Keweenaw peninsula.  It is the highest above-sea-level drive between the Rockies and the Alleghenies.  The road had two main overlooks, and though it was paved, it was badly shaped and had many potholes. It was popular with mountain bikers, so we had to be extra careful about the frequent dips and turns on the road.  

Esry Park

When we exited Brockway Mountain Drive, we followed M-26 back toward Copper Harbor, which followed the northern shoreline. We stopped briefly in Esry Park to view the lake and play on the rocky coastline.

Lake Effect Bar and Grill

We decided to eat dinner at the Lake Effect Bar and Grill.  Lake Fannie Hooe Resort had bought it the previous year, and they gave me a 10% off coupon when I checked in. It had been called The Pines because everything inside and outside was made of white pine logs.  It was very pretty. We had a little difficulty finding it, though, because they still had “The Pines” on the side of the building.  The service was very disorganized, and it had a very limited menu, but it did have free wifi, and since we did not have cell coverage, this was nice.  

Aug 10, Tuesday

We left around 8:30 and headed south to check out the Quincy Mine.

Calumet

On the way, we drove through the city of Calumet. It was settled in 1864 and grew to become a very large and prosperous city due to the copper mines in the area. It was originally called “Red Jacket” in honor of a Native American Chief of the Seneca tribe.  One of the companies. the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company produced over half of the United States’s copper from 1871 through 1880. The glory days have passed, but the town and the surrounding area are full of historical buildings and heritage sites that are being preserved as part of the Keweenaw National Historical Park.

We found the National Park Service visitor center in Calumet closed today, but we planned to return another day.

Quincy Mine

The Quincy Mine is located just north of Houghton and considered part of the Keweenaw National Historical Park,  Though mining operations have been closed since 1945, the Quincy Mine Hoist Association maintains the buildings and grounds and provides guided tours of the Number 2 Hoist House and the 7th level of the mine during the summer.  We went into the Visitor Center and were able to get on the next tour, which started in about an hour.  In the meantime, we could walk around the grounds and take a picture of the ruins of mining buildings and the numerous pieces of mining equipment strewn about.    

The Quincy Mining Company owned the mine and operated it between 1846 and 1945. It was known as “Old Reliable” because it was one of the few successful 1840s copper mines, and it paid a dividend to investors every year from 1868 through 1920.  When the mine ceased production in 1945, the Quincy Number 2 shaft was the world’s longest mine shaft, at 9,260 feet (1.75 miles). It had a decline of 55 degrees. To raise and lower ore and workers into this shaft, the world’s largest steam-driven mine hoist was built in 1918 and housed in the Quincy Number 2 Hoist Hous. This is where our guided tour began.  

The very decorative Hoist House was used as a showpiece for visiting investors. It was built in 1918 and is made of reinforced concrete. It was built in the Georgian style with brick veneer and Italian-tiled walls.  It weighed 880 tons and lifted 10 tons of ore at 36.4 miles per hour.  The hoist sat on the largest concrete slab ever poured. It had only been used for eleven years before the mine closed.   

We were taken down the hill from the hoist house to the entrance of a horizontal shaft or adit that took us into the seventh level of the mine.  We were transported by a cog railway that was not originally to Quincy mine, but it was easier, faster, and more fun than walking.  Everything below the seventh level has been filled with groundwater since the closing of the mine, making it inaccessible.  The adit was constructed in 1892, originally five feet high and three feet wide.  It was enlarged by Michigan Tech, which still uses the mine for classes.  The guide took us deep into the mine and did a great job explaining the history and the operation of copper mining.  During the tour, he lit a couple of candles and turned off the electric lights to demonstrate how dark it was for the miners.    

Houghton

After we left the mine, we drove south into Houghton to eat at the popular Roy’s Pasties. Roy’s was located on the Houghton Waterfront along the Keweenaw Waterway, which had a great view of the Portage Lift Bridge.  We had to drive in circles through town a few times before figuring out how to get down the waterway, but we made it.  Unfortunately, Roy’s was out of the pastries we were interested in, so we found a picnic table along the waterway and ate our lunch.  It was a beautiful day, and we still had a great view.  

Ahmeek Dairy Bar

After we left Houghton, we headed back north and stopped in Ahmeek at the Dairy Barn for some ice cream.  We then took 5 Mile Point Road toward the northern coast and Eagle River.

Eagle River

We saw Eagle River Falls from the road as soon as we went over the Eagle River bridge so we stopped at the parking area to view the falls.

Next to the parking lot was a memorial to the wreck of the freighter Tioga. A section of the pilothouse was rescued shortly after it ran aground off Eagle River in 1919 and used for a gift shop before being moved to its present location in 2015.  

We then drove the short distance to the cobblestone beach area at the confluence of the Eagle River and Lake Superior.   

Jampot

Just up the coast at Jacob’s Falls, monks operated a popular store called The Jampot. 

There is usually a long line at the store, and it takes a while to get inside the small store. Once inside, the slow-moving line continued past a row of shelves with about a dozen different jams and then to their cash register, surrounded by baked goods. One of the unique jams they are noted for is Thickleberry Jam, but because of its uniqueness, it costs three times more than the other jams. When we finally got to the counter, we bought a jar of the thickleberry jam and two of their cupcakes for dessert later.  

Great Sand Bay

Our next stop was a wayside just south of Great Sand Bay that gave us some great views of Lake Superior.  There was a long staircase down to the cobblestone beach, so I walked down it to look closer.

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse

We reached the Eagle Harbor Light Station as we continued down the coast.  The original Eagle Harbor lighthouse was built in 1851 and made of wood, but it was replaced in 1871 by the present red brick structure.  The Coast Guard still uses the lighthouse as an active navigational aid, so you are not allowed to climb the tower.  Since 1982, the Keweenaw County Historical Society has maintained four museums on the site, including the lighthouse, a Maritime Museum in the old fog signal building, a Keweenaw History Museum located in the old U. S. Coast Guard Station garage, and a Commercial Fishing Museum located in one of the assistant keepers’ buildings.   The museums were closed, but we could still walk around the grounds and the rugged coastline.   

Silver Falls

As we continued to follow the coastline toward Copper Harbor, we stopped briefly at Silver Falls.

Copper Harbor

Once we got to Copper Harbor, we drove around the town and its coast before eventually driving back to the camper for the evening.  We found a coffee house down by the lakeshore that we decided to visit the following day.

Aug 11, Wednesday

Jamsen’s Fish Market & Bakery

We went down to the Jamsen’s Fish Market & Bakery at the Copper Harbor waterfront around 8 am in the morning.  Though no longer a fish market, the little shack is noted for serving the best fresh brewed organic coffee and pastries. We ordered thickleberry turnovers and coffee at the walk-up window and then sat at a picnic table on the dock enjoying the lake views.

We arrived just in time to see the Isle Royale Queen IV take off for Rock Harbor on Isle Royal National Park.  We had originally planned a day trip there, but the reviews stated that it was a long and boring round-trip cruise and we would only have a very short time on the island.    

Southern Coast

When we left the bakery, we drove along the peninsula’s southeastern coast from Lac La Belle to Gary.  

In Lac La Belle, we stopped at the marina to view Lac La Belle lake, and then at Haven Park, where they had a waterfall.  

Farther down the coast, we stopped at a red sandy beach along Lake Superior.

Then we stopped in Brunette Park, which also had red sand as well as red sandstone boulders that made the beach very colorful.

Kearsarge

From Gay, we headed away from the coast toward Calumet.  We saw a stone ship with a mining drill mounted on the bow as a gun along the way. The town of Kearsarge was named after a Civil War ship of the same name by a Naval Officer who served on it and moved to the Keweenaw. He worked for the Hecla Mining Company, and named the company town after the ship. Workers with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) built this monument In 1934, and is used today as a Veteran’s Memorial.

Calumet

We immediately went to the Keweenaw National Historical Park Visitor Center when we got into town. It had a multi-story museum with many displays about copper mining in the area and about the city and people of Calumet.   

We then went next door to the Coppertown USA museum housed in the former Calumet & Hecla pattern-making shop where skilled artisans designed patterns that were used for casting metal components.  Our self-guided tour started with a 15-minute film on the mining industry in the area. We then walked through a variety of displays that depicted the life of the miners and others who lived in the area. 

Outside, we took pictures of the Russell Snowplow, which was used by the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company to clear a heavy snowfall from the railroad.

We decided that we wanted some lunch and some margaritas, so we headed over to a highly rated Mexican restaurant called Carmelitas.  When we arrived, they had a note on the door that they decided not to open until 5 pm because they didn’t have any help that day.   

After searching the internet for other options and finding the most closed, we settled on the Hut-Inn just north of town. The Hut Inn is a family-style restaurant with a dark 1970s rustic log cabin interior, low ceilings, and a tunnel through the dining room.  The dark interior gave it a dingy look, and you could see that everything needed a good dusting.  The waitress was fun to talk to, and the food portions were large.

After lunch, we went back into town to see The Keweenaw Heritage Center, which was in the former French-Canadian St. Anne’s Catholic church.  Their only exhibit was about notable women in the area and their challenges in a patriarchal world.   

Before we left Calumet, we stopped by Pats Foods to get some groceries.

Snow Gauge Park

On the way back to the camper, we briefly stopped in Snow Gauge Park to take pictures of the snowfall thermometer.

Laundry

When we returned to the camper, we got some laundry done.  Unfortunately, most of the washers were broken, and the next closest laundromat was a couple of hours away, so laundry took longer than we would have liked.

Aug 12, Thursday

Manganese Falls

In the morning, I decided I wanted to check out the Manganese Falls, which was only a short distance from the campground. The falls were in a narrow gorge, and it was hard to see because trees mostly obscured them.

When we got back to the camper, we finished packing up took off around 10:30 am, and headed toward Lake Gogebic State Park.