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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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Region: St. Ignace & U.S. 2 to Naubinway
BREVORT
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 | | Brevort became an overnight stop before the Mackinac Bridge was built. Vacationers driving up from southern Michigan could catch the ferry and make another 20 miles west in one day of travel. | Today's Brevort, an unincorporated area, has become for most U.P. visitors a short patch through which they are supposed to slow down slightly as they barrel down U.S. 2 to points west. (The pronunciation is "BREE-vort.") Brevort's motels date to the time when tourists from Lower Michigan took the ferries across the Straits. If they set out in the morning, they could get as far as Brevort by day's end.
The settlement dates to 1875, when the Mackinac Lumber Company built a warehouse for logging supplies. Swedes came to work in the lumber camps and stayed. Some took up fishing. Trinity Lutheran Church, up on a hill off the highway, raises a midsummer pole in the Swedish tradition on the third Sunday in June at 9 a.m. Visitors are welcome to come as they are.
Logged-over timberlands and once-worthless sand dunes became part of the Hiawatha National Forest in the 1930s — a story told on interesting interpretive panels on the site of Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Round Lake on H-57/Brevoort Lake Road half a mile north of U.S. 2.
On the north side of U.S. 2, motorists can see dunes, some covered with low, shrubby vegetation, others with huge pines and oaks, trees suited to droughty conditions. Between U.S. 2 and Brevoort Lake, the low, wet spots between dunes are good places to find blueberries, typically in late July through mid-August. Parking on U.S. 2's north side isn't allowed. Parking is allowed on side roads.
Dunes like these are stabilized by a succession of plants that follow the principal pioneer, American beach grass. Its long, deep roots grow down to find moisture in the sand. Its grass blades can withstand being buried by sand. Once the dunes are stabilized, juniper, oak, and pine will follow. Eventually enough soil will be formed to support forests like that on the old dunes on the south shore of nearby Brevoort Lake.
Visitors with little time can take some beautiful short hikes through these dunes: near the Brevort Lake Campground and Picnic Area, part of the Hiawatha National Forest; at the Little Brevort Lake Campgrounds in the Lake Superior State Forest; and at Big Knob on state forest land n(see the community of Naubinway).
Just east of H57/Brevort Lake Road, the many twists of the Pointe aux Chenes River between Round Lake and Lake Michigan form an usually large and undisturbed marsh. Pull over on the wide shoulder on U.S. 2's north side, and you might observe some of the marsh's resident loons, osprey, eagles, and terns.
Back to St. Ignace & U.S. 2 to Naubinway
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BREVORT
RESTAURANTS,
LODGINGS
& CAMPGROUNDS
These are our choices, not ads.
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BREVORT
RESTAURANTS
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BREVORT
LODGINGS
See: St. Ignace; U.S. 2 west of bridge; Epoufette.
DUNE SHORES RESORT
(906) 643-7693; off-season (716) 337-2522
Mary Ann Hernek and her husband, Steve, run the Dune Shores Resort as an informal, friendly resort—nothing at all fancy. No phones, no air-conditioning. The sandy beach across busy U.S. 2 is popular and especially nice here. Expect truck noise.
In summer the resort is normally booked up with repeat guests, but occasional vacancies do occur. Availability is better in June, Sept. and Oct.
The 7 simple housekeeping cabins, from another era, have practical asphalt tile floors. (Just sweep the sand outside.) No TV. The one-room cabin type has 2 double beds, a dining nook, older furniture, and a front porch. A larger cabin type has an open area and 3 bedrooms, all with twin beds. Cabins run $375-$525/week, depending on size and number of occupants. They are rented by the week from mid-June into late August, or for three or more days at other times.
The simple motel rooms can be rented as a single room, as a single room with kitchenette, or together as a suite (about $104/day, or $92/day for 6 or more days). They do have TVs with two channels. There's a narrow, covered porch outside.
The comfortable rustic dining room had been a Hungarian restaurant awhile ago. Now it's open for guests for breakfast and as a gathering area. Videos on the VCR entertain children on rainy days. There are some picnic tables and grills Room rates don't change with the seasons, but complimentary breakfasts are served in quiet times.
The resort goes back to 1960, when Mary Ann Herbrink's father bought 800 acres north of this highway property. He moved some CCC cabins here between the dunes and the beach. He built a simple 8-unit motel and converted the front part of previous owner's house into a restaurant. Today the back acreage belongs to the Hiawatha National Forest. It's part of the Sand Dunes ski and hiking trail system off Round Lake Road.
Both the Herbrinks have been Olympic paddlers. Steve Herbrink was a young Olympic canoeist from Hungary in 1956, the year of its suppressed revolution against its Soviet communist "protectors." He and fellow team members decided to make a public protest at the Olympics. After that, he defected. He met Mary Ann when he coached the 1960 women's kayak team.
3300 West U.S. 2 just west of Round Lake Rd. 14 miles west of St. Ignace and 7 miles east of Brevort. Open from Mem. Day weekend thru color season. Children welcome. Call about handicap access: one floor, older bathrooms.
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BREVORT
CAMPGROUNDS
LAKE MICHIGAN CAMPGROUND/ Hiawatha National Forest
(906) 943-7900. www.fs.fed.us/r9/hiawatha. Some sites reservable. (877) 444-6777. www.reserveusa.com
Of 35 rustic campsites (no showers, vault toilets), 16 have direct access to Lake Michigan. Most have lake views, too. There's a nice, sandy beach below the dunes, with sunset views. Good privacy between sites. Some tent sites are between small dunes. Road noise can be heard. Campground host most summers. Very popular — come in midweek for best chance of a site. Consider Foley Creek or Carp River (see "St. Ignace Area Camping" ) as backups. Just 2 miles from Brevoort Lake: warmer swimming, good fishing.
Just off U.S. 2, 5 miles east of Brevort and about 18 miles west of the Bridge. $12/night. Open mid-May thru Sept. ADA accessible: toilets, 2 campsites
BREVOORT LAKE CAMPGROUND/Hiawatha National Forest
(906) 943-7900. www.fs.fed.us/r9/hiawatha. Some sites reservable: (877) 444-6777. www.reserveusa.com
This extremely popular rustic campground (no electricity, no showers) enjoys two scenic, wooded locations near a prime fishing bay, on a lake managed for good fishing. Boat rentals, groceries, fishing info and charts are at the camp store between the picnic area and campground. On a small peninsula are a good swimming beach and one loop of 50 campsites, 35 with direct water access. A 22-site loop is nearby, near the boat launch. Good privacy between large sites. Campground host. Some flush toilets. On-site dump station ($10, or $5 for campers). The 20-minute interpretive Ridge Trail begins just outside the campground and goes up a sand dune with a Lake Michigan view. The North Country Trail passes neaby; a trail marker is by the campground entrance. Close to Lake Michigan Campground/Picnic area with swimming beach. Generations of campers have created a real sense of camaraderie, akin to a summer resort. To get a spot in summer, reserve ahead, or check with the campground host for tips on who's leaving when. May and September after Labor Day aren't too busy.
Off U.S. 2, 20 miles west of St. Ignace and about 4 miles east of Brevort, go north on Brevoort Camp Rd./FH 3108. $14/night. Non-campers' ay use fee of $5 for picnic area, beach, and (when improved) boat launch. Open mid-May into early Oct. ADA accesssible: restrooms, showers, some sites.
LITTLE BREVOORT LAKE CAMPGROUNDS/ Lake Superior State Forest
(906) 477-6048 (field office). Not reservable. www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/
Of these two popular rustic campgrounds, the 20-site north unit fills first. The 12-site south unit, set in rolling hills among hardwoods and some big hemlock, is in some ways nicer. Get in by 6 p.m. Friday, and you'll probably find a spot, except for holiday weekends. Both units have swimming, boating, and fishing (though this small lake is vulnerable to heavy pressure; catch-and-release is advised). Because this is a designated natural area, motors are not allowed on the lake. The lake is an embayment formed during a higher stage of Lake Michigan. Hemlocks some 400 years old grow in the moist back dunes of the old, forested dunes. The diverse terrain means every kind of north country tree grows within this limited area. A one-mile hiking path connects the two campgrounds and takes visitors through this interesting terrain. An ORV trail is nearby, but ORVs are not allowed in the natural area.
Watch for signs on U.S. 2 1 1/2 miles southeast of Brevort. Campgrounds are north of U.S. 2. Serviced May thru Nov. $10/night. Wheelchair-accessible: vault toilets. Level sites.
DISPERSED CAMPING/Hiawatha National Forest
Of the eight attractive, isolated, quiet individual campsites in the Brevoort Lake area, something is just about always available. Three wooded sites are on the south shore of Brevoort Lake. Five sites, open with river views, are on and near the Carp River. It's a trout stream, off Forest Road 3332, which goes north and south between the two Brevoort lakes. Some campsites are near the Carp's Rock Rapids. Two sites are near Round Lake, where the CCC camp trail is. All these sites are primitive. They have no picnic tables, water, or outhouses, and there's no fee to camp here - no reservation system, either.
Pick up a map at the Forest Service on U.S. 2 west of St. Ignace, or call (906) 643-7900. Wheelchair-accessible: no.
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