 | | Monocle Lake | The centerpiece of this attractive natural area in the Hiawatha National Forest is 172-acre Monocle Lake. It's stocked for fishing with walleye, bass, pike, and perch. There's a beach, boat launch, and picnic area with charcoal grills. Lots of improvements, including a floating fishing dock and hard gravel paths, make Monocle Lake outstanding for handicapped people.
A two-mile hiking trail loop starts at the picnic area and goes through natural hardwoods intermixed with some very old white pines and hemlocks. The trail's first 1,100 feet are fully accessible, including the boardwalk carrying the trail across a wetland and beaver dam. The industrious beavers, which grow to 40 to 60 pounds, make use of the boardwalk, too. Northwoods Wildlife says that beavers "are quite punctual, leaving the lodge every day at dusk to feed. Most of their work is done at night, except in the fall, when they may be seen during the day catching their winter source of tree limbs by the lodge." Beaver lodge entrances are underwater to avoid predators.
Ospreys (also called fish hawks) have a nest in the area, so it's not unusual to see them catching fish in the wetland shallows.
When the trail comes to a bench in a quarter mile, a spur leads left up the bluff overlook for a grand view of the shipping channel. See under Brimley-area camping for campground description
From M-28, take M-221 to Brimley, go west on Lake Shore 7 miles. Monocle Lake is 1 mile east of Point Iroquois. (906) 635-5311. Free day use. Wheelchair-accessible.
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