Copper Harbor Lodgings

PINES RESORT
(906) 289-4222.

Another in-town resort with new owners is The Pines, best loved for its home-cooked restaurant meals and its popular Zik's Bar. Ken and Vicki Stigers, both former Steelcase managers from Grand Rapids, bought The Pines in December 2003. Ken had fallen in love with Copper Country long ago, when his older brother went to Tech. Now, after years of vacationing here, the Stigers have left their shrinking, increasingly pressured Steelcase jobs on their terms to work hard at developing their own business. In the summer of 2004 their daughter Jen, then 15, raised over $7,000 for buying Hunter's Point by living in a chair in the yard (with a tent for rain) for over 100 hours.
    Five motel rooms (mostly non-smoking) face a quiet side street behind Zik's Bar, which is well separated from sleeping rooms. These large, recently redone rooms ($50/night in 2004) have two double beds, a pullout sofa, in-room coffee, cable TV, and bathtubs. Minifridges and microwaves may be added. These rooms have no views. They open onto an interior corridor leading to a pleasant gathering room with hot tub and natural light. An electric sauna adjoins. A fridge and microwave let guests make snacks.
    Another motel building, partly two stories and partly one-story, extends back along First Street. Five cozy knotty-pine rooms ($50) each have a double bed. One suite with two bedrooms, four double beds, and a full kitchen was $95 in 2004.
    Six housekeeping cabins, built in the 1940s and 1950s, are tucked back behind the motel and restaurant around a semi-secluded outdoor area under mature pines. All have some knotty pine walls, small decks, and the expected mix of older furniture. One-bedroom cabins were $65/night for two in 2004. Two-bedroom cabins were $75/night for 4. One large cabin ($95 for 4) can sleep up to 8. Picnic tables and grills let guests cook out.
    The Stigers are working on landscaping, deck improvements, and signage to play up the cottages' assets - being in town but in a more natural setting. In fact, a trail leads from The Pines behind the log chapel to the historic fort at Fort Wilkins, scene of evening talks. Smoking is allowed in some rooms. Pay phone in bar. Reserve at least by March for good summer availability.

On U.S. 41 at First St. at Copper Harbor's east end. Open year-round. Handicap access: call for motel. Not at cottages. Children: $5/extra person. Dogs: currently permitted in all rooms.

LAKE FANNY HOOE RESORT & CAMPGROUND
(800) 426-4451; (906) 289-4451

The focus of this resort and campground is the Lake Fanny Hooe beach (the area's warmest, nicest swimming beach) plus the pleasant lawn and grounds, and the sublime view down the lake's length to the highlands of the Keweenaw's tip. This is an exceptional spot because of the setting, the 15-acre grounds, the amenities and well maintained facilities. These include a laundry, clubhouse/game room, and sauna. The location is also good, off the busy main drag but an easy walk to town and harbor attractions to the north. Walk or bike south and east to reach secluded Manganese Falls or connect with many miles of adjacent hiking, mountain biking and cross-country ski trails at Fort Wilkins State Park. A lakeside path behind Our Lady of the Pines leads to the historic fort at Fort Wilkins State Park.
     The beach at Lake Fanny Hooe Resort IS a busy place. It's used by guests at 16 lodging units and 64 campsites, and also visitors who get a $3.50 daily pass ($2.50 for children). Rentals include canoes, motorboats, rowboats, paddle boats, ATVs, snowmobiles, and possibly jet skis.
    Energetic owners Ed and Dawn Charbonneau moved up from northwestern Indiana in 1999. They have already accomplished a host of improvements, thanks in part to Ed's contracting background: new docks, an improved lawn charming natural landscaping around a natural spring, a good path to the sandbar by Sand Point Beach, some picnic tables and grills, and trail improvements along Garden Creek, the trout stream that runs through the campgrounds.
    The 14 kitchenette rooms in the two-story motel look onto the beach and lake vista from their window walls and private decks. Rooms ($69 for one queen, $79 for two in 2004) have space for only a small table and two chairs. Three rooms on each floor can interconnect for family use. Sound insulation is good, and decor is tastefully simply. Room improvements have focused on mattresses, bedspreads, and not, so far, replacing Mediterranean furniture and wood grain paneling. Some smoking rooms. Cable TV. Pay phones on the premises.
     Two simple housekeeping cabins have small living-kitchen areas, two small bedrooms each with a double bed, small decks, no particular view. The cabins($89 for four in 2004) are under the pines facing the shared lawn.
    A lightly used road separates the lake from the campground, laid out informally on either side of Garden Brook. It has many old apple trees, berries, and shrubs that attract wildlife. Roads and paths make the grounds here accessible for walking by all guests. The spiffy playground includes an enclosed tunnel slide. All campsites have water, electric, picnic tables, and fire pits. 2004 rates: $22 for two people, $7/extra adult.
     Campsites are adapted to many purposes. Some full hookup pull-throughs accommodate rigs up to 40'. Open, sunny sites have natural background with a view of Brockway Mountain's east end. 33 tent sites are nestled in mature firs with good landscape buffer between sites. The comfy lounge with wood fireplace, juke box, magazines, pay phones, and a few video games is ideal for groups. It adjoins the shower rooms for men and women and the sauna, used in winter only. Adult supervision required. The laundry is in a separate building. Onsite propane refills - the only place in town.
    The office/gift shop is evolving into more of a camp store with camping incidentals and fishing supplies.
    Reserve well ahead for summer; a lot is booked by January.

Just south of U.S. 41 at 505 Second. Turn at The Pines. Motel open year-round. Campground open May 15-Oct. 15. Handicap accessibility: call. Children: 12 and under free. $7/extra adult. Dogs: $6/night.

MARINER
(906) 289-4637. (888) MA NORTH

Copper Harbor's newest, biggest, and most amenity-loaded motel rooms are behind the Mariner restaurant in town on U.S. 41. The large, cheerful, air-conditioned rooms have queen beds, a sitting area, a wet bar, minifridge, and oversize whirlpool. Eight are in a two-story lodge with interior hallway ($86 for 2, $101 for 4 in summer 2004); four are in the single-story “annex” on Bernard Street ($79 for 2, $94 for 4).
    Five two-story log cabins are on Bernard Street and Third Street. Their big front porches mostly face an undeveloped thicket. The ground floors are comfortably laid out with a separate kitchen/dining area, living room with gas fireplace and desk, and bathroom. The bedrooms, each with a queen bed and sometimes a twin bed, are upstairs. Summer 2004 rates: $116 for two people, $140 for 4.
    Both the two-story log cabins and the motel rooms have been designed with winter cocooning and snowmobilers in mind, rather than summer outdoor living. Of course, all have cable TV. Views are not the thing here, except for the spectacular honeymoon suite with a balcony and grand harbor view. Pay phones in restaurant.

245 Gratiot/U.S. 41 at Third in town. Open year-round. Handicap access: 1 room. Family-friendly. Extra charge for over two people/room.

HARBOR LIGHTS INN
(906) 289-4741; (800) 670-8606

The cozy, pleasant rooms at this simple eight-unit motel on Copper Harbor's main drag are exceptionally thoughtfully appointed. Each has a coffeemaker, minifridge, microwave, and desk in addition to cable TV. Smoking prohibited. Rates for two are $55 (one queen), $57 (one double, one single), and $60 (one queen, one double). A small lawn and sitting area adjoins the owner's house across from guests' parking. A two-unit commercial sauna and hot tub building are in back. The sauna ($5 per guest) works by heating water with propane before splashing it on rocks to create lots of steam - a much more satisfying and traditional experience than electric saunas provide. The scent of cedar completes the effect. The hot tub (also $5/person for guests) is in a lounge with TV.
    Behind the motel, four RV campsites with water, sewer, and electric occupy what's essentially a parking lot. $20/night for 2, $3/additional adult, $2/child in 2004.

On U.S. 41 (505 Gratiot) just west of M-26 intersection, across from Minnetonka Resort. Open year-round. Handicap access: call. Children: 12 and under free at motel. Dogs: not in motel.

MINNETONKA RESORT & ASTOR MOTEL
(906) 289-4449

The Minnetonka's curio shop is also its lobby and office—a classic northwoods interior with a stone fireplace and lots of tongue-and-groove pine paneling. Here guests are welcome to hang out, peruse the stock of used and new books, and watch TV. It all evokes a much earlier, quainter era of tourism, starting with the stiff life-size Indians in buckskins who greet visitors at the office door. The shop and private Astor House Museum in back (see Copper Harbor shops) reflect the interests of the longtime owners of this three-generation family resort. The pencil sketch vignettes of Copper Harbor lore are by co-owner Judy Davis. She can tell you all about her mineral samples, old bottles, and used books, especially those with local and regional themes—and she'll rent you a metal detector and send you out in the right direction to look for copper at old mine sites. Daughter Johanna Peters has Johanna's Massage Therapy in the handsome stovewood studio-residence she and her husband recently built next door.
    The motel's 5 drive-up units overlook busy U.S. 41. These large rooms ($68 for 2, $4/extra person) have in-room coffee and bathrooms with tubs. No phones and no air-conditioning.
    Out of view are the 12 cute vintage cottages loosely grouped around a secluded outdoor area beneath mature pines. All cottages have semi-rustic decor with knotty pine and the typical mix of older furniture. Good mattresses. Six housekeeping cottages are from $85 (two bedrooms, three double beds) to $125 (sleeps up to 10). A cabin for 2 with no kitchen is $60. Showers only.
    A pay phone is across the street. Cottages typically fill by May or June; motel units are free later.

On U.S. 41 at M-26 (560 Gratiot) right in town. The resort is open from mid-May through color season. Handicap access: call. Family-friendly; Free wireless Internet access. Dogs OK ($10 extra).

KING COPPER MOTEL & ANNEX
(906) 289-4214;http://www.kingcoppermotel.comkingcop.html

The office and 13-room "annex" of this longtime Copper Harbor lodging are on the harbor waterfront, right in town next to the Isle Royale ferry dock. Its large, attractive drive-up rooms have new furniture and window walls with spectacular views of the harbor and its protecting islands. (They are not yet air-conditioned.) Sliding doors open out onto a length of shared patio. A sliver of natural rock and sand beach is a few steps away across a rough lawn. A couple of small docks let guests tie up their canoes and kayaks in the shallow water. Don't expect much in the way of landscaping.
     An additional 20 rooms are in the main motel across the street, also well maintained. They form a V around a big lawn so that each room has an angled water view and opens out to a small patio with chairs. Vehicle access is by the back door. This building has better sound insulation than the annex, but water views are more distant and sometimes obstructed. Now air-conditioned. Furniture here is older,     Mediterranean-style circa 1970, but decor is pleasant. All King Copper rooms are quite large, with coffeemakers, cable TV, desks, and bathtubs. 60% are nonsmoking. Guests can use the office phone or the pay phone in the annex parking lot. In-season rates aree $85/night in the annex, $75 otherwise. Owner-founders Shirley Kauppi and her late husband Sully are local legends. He was a 50-year commercial fisherman who served under General George Patton in World War II. The mother of seven, Shirley extends her energetic and supportive maternal force community-wide. Daughter Cindy helps manage the motel.
    The annex rents first. For good summer availability, call by the end of May.

Open from early May through color season. Annex may be open in winter. On Brockway at fourth in the center of Copper Harbor. Handicap access: one step. Children: 8 and under free, $4/extra person. Pets: in some rooms. Call.

BELLA VISTA MOTEL and COTTAGES
(906) 289-4213

The 1960s-era motel here has always enjoyed an ideal Copper Harbor location, overlooking the harbor, close to the Isle Royale ferry dock but away from the traffic. Now Rebecca Braun and Mike and Judy Jukuri, owners since late 2003, are putting new energy into the building and grounds. A big lawn by the water has a picnic area, and there's a dock with rowboats for guests to use. Perennials make for vivid splashes of color. The two-story main motel's 13 rooms (mostly $58-$63 in season in 2004) all have sliding doors and windows with grand harbor views, and seating on a shared patio or narrow upper deck. Spreads and decor are tasteful; each room has two easy chairs.
    Serendipitously, within days of buying the motel, the new owners received a call from a Michigan State University landscape designer who remembered the fabulous rock gardens and flowers from 20 years ago. She offered to restore the gardens as a student summer project. “It'll take us four to five years to get the resort where we want it,” says Mike. New cottage showers were a first step. A screen house is part of the plan. He hopes to find more instances of handsome tongue-and-groove paneling behind humdrum old paneling. In a second building, four larger upper rooms ($63) with two double beds have an angled harbor view. Downstairs rooms without views cost less. See spring rates on web site.
    One super-charming vintage cottage with stone fireplace is occasionally free in spring or fall. Eight cute one- and two-bedroom housekeeping cottages from the 1940s and later have good natural light and the expected mix of older furniture. In 2004 they were quite a bargain at $46 (for one full bed) to $65 (2 full beds and hideaway). They are on the street, with no particular view and not much privacy, either.
    All rooms and cottages have cable TV. Coffeemakers in cottages only; phone and free coffee in office. No smoking in lakefront rooms and some cottages. Reserve by March for good summer availability.

On Sixth St. (the continuation of U.S. 41 north of the blinker toward the harbor). Open from mid-May thru mid-Oct. Children: $5/extra person. Dogs: in some cottages.

BROCKWAY INN
(906) 289-4588; www.brockwayinn.com

The inn is a pleasant, six-room motel with enclosed front hall is at the west end of Copper Harbor, so it's away from midsummer congestion, but still an easy walk to shops and restaurants.
    Karen and Steve Karl, nature-lovers from the Milwaukee area, bought the motel from longtime owners Clyde and Lloyd Wescoat in 2000. Karen, a lifelong birding enthusiast, has continued and enhanced the motel's nature-theme decor and turned the central gathering room into Boreal Beans coffeehouse with the village's only espresso machine, a mini-gallery for her own nature photography business, and Birding Central. There Karen posts recent and unusual sitings and gives out Copper Harbor bird checklists. (A former accountant, she's also the Grant Township treasurer, so she's up on local affairs from multiple perspectives.) Visit the far-ranging Brockway Inn website and seek out the seasons and birding info for a look at Karen's photos and nature observations.
    Simple rooms, all with desks and easy chairs, are tastefully decorated. Each has a desk and cable TV. Guests can use the office's portable phone. No air-conditioning — seldom needed. The hall has microwave and minifridge for guests and benches for watching birds at the outdoor feeders. There's a grill for guests, and they receive excellent coffee free of charge.
    Room rates are $44 for a small room with one double bed; $52 for one double bed and a single whirlpool; and $66 for two double beds and a double whirlpool.

On M-26 between downtown and the marina. Open year-round. Handicap access: several steps. Family-friendly; children stay free with parents. $7/extra adult. Pets: in designated pet rooms only. Call.

KEWEENAW MOUNTAIN LODGE and Golf Course
(906) 289-4403

...continued below...

---

---

Along with the legendary log lodge, 23 nifty log cottages were built in the 1930s. Some are duplexes; there are 34 cottage units in all. These rent for from $114 (one bedroom, sleeps two) to $144 (3 bedrooms). A few are not vintage architecture. Most cottage units have stone fireplaces; all have phones, cable TV, and small porches. Reservations for fall color season should be made a year ahead; by spring, peak summer weeks are mostly booked. The newish 8-unit motel ($95/night, $5/extra person over two) has big rooms, phones, cable TV, but far less atmosphere. Mature trees screen potential views from this hillside setting. There's shuffleboard, a tennis court, and a 9-hole golf course, where early golfers may be greeted by bears in the distance.

Off U.S. 41 a mile south of Copper Harbor. Look for sign. Open mid-May to mid-Oct.

EAGLE LODGE/LAKESIDE CABINS
(888) 558-4441; (906) 289-4294

Managing owners Doug and Liz Johnson have cleared away the dark cedars that mysteriously shrouded this longtime resort, perched on Lake Superior at the foot of Brockway Mountain. Now revealed are a lodge building and nine cabins, three with kitchenettes. Only the two lighthouse inns have such a good location on Lake Superior. Here the surroundings are more wild and natural. The lodge and nine cabins sit on the seven acres (66O feet of lakefront) between M-26 and the lake, which is accessible though rocky here. There's 240° of visibility across open water - great for seeing weather fronts move in and storms develop. The north-facing orientation means you can see both sunrises and sunsets. Freighters rounding Keweenaw Point are visible on the horizon. More resort acreage is across the highway, where informal trails lead up Brockway.
    The cabins have been winterized, and and several have gas fireplaces. Some have drywall, some are knotty pine, and the large three-bedroom cabin ($125 for up to 8) has the original log walls and wood-burning fireplace. Satellite TVs, but no phones, or air-conditioning (not needed). All towels and linens are supplied. Guests can use the office phone. Rate start at $75 for a one-bedroom cabin. four two-bedroom cabins for up to four are $85. $5 off for 7-night stay or more. Reserve early for peak seasons; word about these has gotten around fast locally. Doug and Liz, longtime U.P. visitors from Akron, Ohio, are glad to have found a way to live year-round. Open year-round.

On M-26, three miles west of the Copper Harbor marina and 10 miles east of the Shoreline Resort in Eagle Harbor.

Return to Copper Harbor