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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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North Country Trail and Gogebic Ridge Spur through the Trap Hills
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In a remote, rugged part of the Ottawa National Forest, a series of spectacular high bluffs and panoramic knobs known as the Trap Hills are attracting increasing attention among outdoors enthusiasts. In this "hidden gem of Michigan's Upper Peninsula backcountry," says outdoor wroter Eric Hansen, a person might hike on the North Country Trail all day without seeing another hiker. Such summertime solitude would be rare in the nearby Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, a well-known hiking destination.
Eric is the author of Hiking Wisconsin and Hiking Michigan's Upper Peninsula, published in 2005. To him, the Trap Hills stand out in all the Midwest. He loves their many vistas, the bald eagles riding thermals, and the grouse in the pine forests.
A series of remarkable panoramascan be seen from many unobstructed high points on the 20-mile North Country Trail section from north of Bergland to Victoria. Eric singles out the vista from Lookout Mountain as especially "glorious" for its views of Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains to the north and Lake Gogebic and Wolf Mountain to the south.
Doug Welker, organizer and webmaster of the North Country Trail in Ontonagon, Houghton, and Baraga counties, mentions additional attractions of this stretch of the North Country Trail:
? four waterfalls
? some spectacular old-growth hardwood-hemlock forests
? a variety of ecosystems with uncommon and rare plants in hardwood forests, rock outcrops, and stream gorges.
? visible remains of copper mining from the 19th and early 20th centuries. (The famous Ontonagon Boulder of solid copper came from the Trap Hills near Victoria.)
These high hills (including Michigan's highest bluff) exist today because they are capped with dark, erosion-resistant basalt and conglomerate formed as lava cooled. These rock balconies and perches make especially sceniccampsites. Trap rock is another name for basalt formed of cooling lava.
All this information and much more is on Doug Welker's detailed Peter Wolfe Chapter site within the North Country Trail web site. Doug carefully describes ten suggested day hikes from trailheads near Merriweather, Bergland, and Norwich. (Norwich, not on state maps, is south and a little west of Ontonagon, reached by going north on Norwich Road at Matchwood, a spot on the road on M-28.)
These hikes do not require youth or special stamina. Most are do-able by average hikers if they pace themselves. They don't involve shuttling vehicles: you hike to the destination and back again. If you print out directions to trailheads before setting out on your trip, and print out map segments where possible, you'll be set for a variety of adventures!
Go to www.northcountrytrail.org/pwf Scroll down to the Trap Hills section. Detail maps show trail sections on USGS maps, with water sources. Photos convey both the panoramas and the chapter's ongoing work projects. Doug notes the most strenuous hikes. Winter recreation options (cross-country skiing and snowshoeing) are also noted.
Caution: print out and read trail notes carefully, bring a compass, know how to use it just in case, and bring water and ample insect protection. (A mesh veil over your hat can be a good idea.) Be prepared for wet terrain or shallow fords at some times of year. In summer, inland parts of the U.P. can be hot — or cold.
Don't miss the helpful section on the Peter Wolfe chapter home page on "current conditions": snow and road conditions, what wildflowers are in bloom, and fall color.
The Trap Hills are part of the Ottawa National Forest, but they currently enjoy no special protection. Timber harvests and roads have been proposed that would affect their scenic beauty. Northwoods Wilderness Recovery, a Marquette-based group formed to lobby for vulnerable natural highlights in the U.P., has successfully blocked logging in one beautiful section with some rare plants. To stay abreast of this and other NWR projects, see its newsy web site, www.northwoodswild.org
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