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Hunts' Guide to Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA
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JUST OUT!
A new edition of Hunts' Mapguide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Over 300 entries, all conveniently located on maps and chosen because we think they are the coolest things to do in the U.P. (No ad tie-ins!) Great choices for restaurants, hikes, shops, adventures, museums, boat trips, waterfalls, vistas, road trips, and much more!
To learn more click UP MAP GUIDE
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BREVORT
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Lake Michigan beach from Pointe aux Chenes to Brevort/ Hiawatha National Forest.. Just east of Brevort are 8 miles of beautiful, sandy, undeveloped Lake Michigan beach, part of the Hiawatha National Forest. ...
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Lake Michigan Beach & picnic area. Another splendid beach, backed by low dunes and mature forests. Part of the Hiawatha National Forest Lake Michigan campground. ...
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Brevoort Lake/Hiawatha National Forest. Good fishing, warmer swimming by a pretty picnic area, a hiking trail up a dune, and a camp store with boat and canoe rentals and fishing advice. ...
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First Edition Books. From her home north of Brevort, Mary Carney runs an interesting used book sotre, heavy on Michigan and Great Lakes history, but many other topics as well ...
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CCC Camp Round Lake Interpretive Site /Sand Dunes Cross-Country Ski Trail. A fine outdoor exhibit tells about the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps to employ jobless young men, and about Camp Round Lake that once stood here. 15 miles of looped hiking and ski trails go into secluded back dunes with some ancient beeches, oaks, and maples. ...
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Gustafson's Smoked Fish. Famous for smoked fish and jerky (beef, turkey, elk, and buffalo). Open year-round. . . . ...
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CCC Camp Round Lake Interpretive Site /Sand Dunes Cross-Country Ski Trail
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This trail-laced area, part of the Hiawatha National Forest, offers 15 miles of trails and an excellent outdoor exhibit about the Civilian Conservation Corps . CCC Camp Round Lake was here in the 1930s. It was one of some 2,650 camps nationwide, established to put unemployed young men to work during the Depression. Part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the CCC employed 600,000 men in 1935.
Flat gravel walks connect large, engraved metal markers showing the sites of various camp buildings. (Signs are taken down for winter.) Large interpretive panels have illustrations and outstanding text by Hiawatha National Forest archaeologist John Franzen. They convey the philosophy and politics behind the CCC and show what camp life was like for jobless young men who lived here. They worked on CCC reforestation projects, built trails, and constructed many beautiful rustic buildings for Michigan State Parks — all for $30/month plus food and clothing.
"City boys surrounded by trees," says one sign. It describes typical CCC crews as "boys that didn't know an ax from a baseball bat." At Camp Round Lake some 200 young men built roads, planted trees, made the dam and campgrounds at Brevort Lake, and cleared logging debris to prevent fires. The site is now a meadow, filled with wildflowers in late summer. This is an inspiring place, in a very quiet way.
Six trail loops (each a couple of miles) go through open areas and wooded old oak forests on the back, inland-facing sides of dunes. Mountain bikes are not allowed. Stay on the trail in this fragile dune environment. In summer, loops A, B, and C offer more stable footing; D, E, and F go through more bare sand. Trails start in an opwn meadow that doesn't suggest the variety of forests they go through. Ancient sand dunes offer beautiful views of mature hardwood forests - beech, birch, and red maple, beautiful fall color. The further back you go, the more secluded it feels. After a mile, you don't hear the highway noises. Loop A, the easiest, takes you through gorgeous waist-high ferns; continue into Loop B a ways for a nice hike that's not too long - a good break from highway driving. If you had three hours, you could see much of the trail system.
The cross-country ski season here usually lasts from late December or early January through March. Trails are groomed regularly, and there's firewood for building a fire at the warming cabin by the entrance. Donations for grooming are much appreciated.
There's a pit toilet, and winter seating and picnic tables in the warming cabin.
Half a mile north of U.S. 2 on H-57/ Brevort Lake Rd. Call (906) 643-7900 for trail conditions. Handicap accessible: interpretive site. Not pit toilets or trails.
Return to Brevort
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