Copper Country

 The sun quickly returned as I drove north to Houghton, MI. I stopped at the Isle Royale Headquarters to get some info for my trip there on Friday. Crossing the Portage Lake Lift Bridge, I headed up the Copper County trial scenic byway. 
The bridge is massive and is the world's heaviest and widest double-decked vertical lift bridge. There are many sites to stop and see along the byway. I drove past the Laurium Manor Inn (the largest mansion in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan). 
I stopped at the Central Mine which I really enjoyed. It’s an old ghost town on a dirt road and you can explore several restored buildings.
 

 At one time Central Mine, opened in 1854, was a top copper producer. From the visitor center you can hike up a short trail to explore a church and house on top of the hill. 
 









I came across this interesting artifact which looked like a toilet but was actually a cooker. 

 Continuing on north, I reached the very tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula that juts from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Superior. I debated over stopping at Fort Wilkins State Park because I hadn’t really planned to but decided to and I am so glad I did.
 
 I love a good fort and this was probably the best restored fort that I’d ever seen. Nearly every building was open and restored beautifully with plenty of information but not an overwhelmingly amount. This wasn’t really a traditional fort as it was formed in the early 1840s when a copper rush took place, with fortune-seekers moving from all directions to the peninsula. 
The U.S. government was concerned about possible disorder and violence, and lake shipping interests asked the government to build an aid to navigation so that essential supplies could be shipped in and the copper moved out. However, the fort proved to be unnecessary.  


It is one of the most beautiful forts I’ve been to, situated right on a lake. 

You can also view the Copper Harbor Lighthouse from the park. 
  
Driving away from Copper Harbor I took the Brockway Mountain Drive which is a nine mile scenic drive that runs atop the spine of Brockway Mountain. I wasn’t expecting much (compared to mountain drives in CO) but it was stunning. 
  
On top of the mountain is parking area where you have a 360 degree view of Lake Superior. It is so vast. I continued down the byway and stopped at the Eagle River Falls along the roadway.  
There’s also an old church which was open so I went in, expecting to see a functioning church but it is blocked off by glass with very creepy mannequins. 
 
Another interesting roadside attraction is this snow marker which records the highest snowfall in the winter of 1978 of 367 inches! The lowest snow ever recorded was 116 inches which is crazy!

 My last stop was at the Visitor Center which had a huge chunk of copper out front. I really enjoyed driving this byway and highly recommend it if you are ever in that part of the country. All of the sites are part of the Keweenaw National Historical Park and it's so interesting to learn. You always hear about the "gold rush" but never any other places where metals like iron and copper were discovered.