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BERGLAND AND LAKE GOGEBIC
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
North Country Trail and Gogebic Ridge Spur through the Trap Hills. 20 miles of North Country Trail along panoramic bluffs and knobs may be the Midwest's best hiking and backpacking. Plusses: soaring birds on thermals, old-growth forest, waterfalls, copper-mining remnants. ...
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Backroads forest drive to Victoria and Rockland. Rugged back road through the Trap Hills to Victoria Dam, Old Victoria mining ghost town, and picturesque Rockland. ...
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Lake Gogebic County Park. Pleasant county park on Ice House Bay has a swimming beach, picnic area, fishing dock, boat launch, and campground. ...
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Lake Gogebic State Park. There's a beach, campground, and a choice hillside nature trail up into large old-growth maples and hemlocks, with outstanding spring wildflowers. ...
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Alligator Eye. Landmark hillside on Lake Gogebic's west shore has a short, steep trail to the top, with a long view east. Beautiful in fall; a snowmobilers' favorite. ...
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South end of Lake Gogebic: west shore. A scenic drive punctuated by two parks with swimming beaches and picnic areas, and two memorable hillside hikes. ...
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Lake Gogebic's East Shore Road. 19-mile scenic drive includes birding spots, an elk pen, and a picnic area with a fine view across Lake Gogebic to Alligator Eye. ...
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Backroads forest drive to Victoria and Rockland
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This drive from M-28 at Matchwood heads due north along Norwich and Old Victoria roads. It goes through a remote area of the Trap Hills, offering an occasional vista. (The North Country Trail's vistas to the south are better than those offered by the road, however.)
Your destinations are the restored Old Victoria miners' cabins and then a meal at Henry's Inn in Rockland. A short segment of the North Country Trail can be hiked by Old Victoria. All this is described in the "Porcupine Mountains & Ontonagon" section of our web site, hunts-upguide.com.
Do not attempt this drive in spring or muddy conditions! Victoria Road is not plowed in winter. Plan on over an hour for the drive in good weather, excluding stops. With visits to Old Victoria and Rockland's little museum, and a meal at Henry's, this could be an all-day outing.
It's essential to turn east onto Victoria Road after rounding a hill and passing the sign showing where the North Country Trail crosses Norwich Road. You will be going up into the Trap Hills north of the ridge line. As you descend the high hills but before reaching Old Victoria, you will be near Victoria Dam, a massive electrical project from the 1930s that is also a popular fishing spot. Get there by going right. UPPCO (Upper Peninsula Power) owns the dam, which is on the West Branch of the Ontonagon River, and the property around it. For insight into how electrical power is generated here, visit www.ontonagonmi.com , click on "Heritage Trails" and then on "Victoria Dam." Three other upstream dams enable water to be stored upstream from the Victoria Dam and used in July and August when the river is low.
Only one road, Victoria Road, goes through the area now. Logging companies have been eyeing its big hardwoods, and recreationists and environmentalists want to keep this choice area the way it is. Keep abreast of the controversy and political developments by looking in on two sites: the newsy Ottawa National Forest web site, www.fs,fd.us/r9/ottawa/, and Northwards Wilderness Recovery nonprofit U.P. forest restoration group, www.northwoodswild.org/
An ardent back-country skier from Ironwood loves the Trap Hills area and seeks it out for back-country skiing like out west, with its big hardwoods and deep, snowy valleys. He approaches it from Norwich Road, which is plowed in winter. (After snowfall, it is plowed later than main routes.) Remember, Victoria Road is NOT plowed.
Return to Bergland and Lake Gogebic
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