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Hunts' Guide to Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA

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CRYSTAL FALLS
POINTS
OF INTEREST

Iron County Courthouse. This 1890 courthouse, among Michigan's most memorable, has just been meticulously restored. The courtroom and history room/research area are of special interest. ... more

Downtown Crystal Falls. A classic 1930s WPA post office mural; a 1920s theater with impressive organ; an exceptional sausage shop with takeout sandwiches and soups; a shoemaker/shoe store that's a time trip, a big antique shop; and a pasty/pierogi factory that sells seconds for less. ... more

Harbour House Museum. This unusual cement block house with two-tiered wraparound porch is a local house museum with an outstanding collection of Ojibwa baskets, beaded clothing, and more. ... more

Paint River Boardwalk. Easy access to a beautiful in-town stretch of river ... more

Crystal View Golf Course. A scenic, inexpensive 9-hole course on the steep slope of the Paint River valley, with mature hardwoods framing a grand view of the town ... more

Horserace Rapids. A delightful attraction - not just the rapids but the path twisting around massive boulders among birches and then towering dark pines down to a magical glen. ... more

Runkle Lake Park and Recreation Complex. A mile east of Crystal Falls, this 1920s park has swimming and a beach on Runkle Lake, a log shelter in the pines, a fishing pier, tennis, volleyball, and basketball courts. ... more

Glidden Lake & Lake Mary Plains Pathway. A swimming beach and 10-mile hiking trail through pine plantations and oak uplands adjoin this 23-site rustic campground ... more

Peavy Pond & Michigamme Reservoir /Wisconsin Electric Power. Fishing, paddling, boating, and primitive camping in wilderness areas are possible at these impoundments with long shorelines and many arms. ... more

Bewabic State Park. The four Fortune Lakes are fishing and birding destinations at this beautiful, uncrowded state park with picturesque CCC projects and a good, sandy beach. ... more

Chicaugon Falls. A mile hike leads to the top of this striking, little-visited waterfall that creates a dramatic deep glen among massive, dark boulders ... more

Margeson Falls. Tough to reach, but the reward is a waterrfall in a striking canyon ... more

CRYSTAL FALLS

Peavy Pond & Michigamme Reservoir /Wisconsin Electric Power

Wisconsin Electric Power (now called "We Energies") owns 13 hydroelectric dams on the Menominee River watershed in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin, and 40,000 acres of surrounding recreational land known as "Wilderness Shores." The biggest reservoirs, with long, irregular shorelines of many inlets and peninsulas, are on the Michigamme River less than ten miles from Crystal Falls: the long Michigamme Reservoir northeast of town and Peavy Pond to the southeast. Good navigating skills are a must here!

Fishing is the big attraction, for smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, muskellunge, and panfish. Eagles, osprey, and other raptors prey on the fish. Most of the land is open to hunting, with deer and grouse the main attractions.

Wisconsin Electric Power (now known as "We Energies") has voluntarily developed small, primitive campgrounds on so-called "project lands" around dams that are licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. There are also power company campsites along the Brule River. See "camping" section of Crystal Falls.

The Michigan state highway map indicates various routes to the reservoirs. Wisconsin Electric Power sites and rules are described on its web site, www.we-energies.com/environment/ . The map is currently crude and hard to read. A better online map is at www.fishweb.com/maps/wilderness-shores An excellent, detailed color map is in the "Wilderness Shores" pamphlet, available at the Iron River Chamber of Commerce, Michigan and Wisconsin Welcome Centers (in Iron Mountain, Ironwood, Hurley, and Menominee). Or write Wisconsin Electric Power, 800 Industrial Park Dr., Iron Mountain, MI 49801. Attn: Hydroelectric Operations Division. Or call the Iron Mountain office at (906) 779-2479.

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