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DRUMMOND ISLAND
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
North Haven Rentals & Gifts. A good first stop on the island, this log lodge has an upscale gift shop, canoe, kayak, and pontoon boat rentals, maps, and advice ...
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Drummond Island Yacht Haven. A big marina with a variety of boat rentals (from fishing to pontoon boats), also guides, and lots of supplies and gear ...
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Drummond Island Historical Museum. Items include items used by Indians, Finnish farmers, Yankee settlers, plus displays of a British fort, the lumber era, ferry boats, and commercial fishing ...
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Drummond Island Resort & Conference Center. 2000 acres bought by Domino's Pizza magnate Tom Monaghan with a beautiful golf course, a lavish retreat, a splendid bowling alley, restaurants, a beautiful clay shooting range ...
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Big Shoal Township Beach. A tucked-away sand beach in a cove ...
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Back country adventures. 200-foot-high cliffs, a river connecting 4 lakes with wild rice and loons, a limestone outcropping with rare grasslands and alpine plants, a place rich in fossils, a protected bay with 30 islands ...
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Back country adventures
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For maps, stop at North Haven Rentals & Gifts. A map showing state land will keep you from inadvertently trespassing. Take along a compass and drinking water, too. For further local information, ask the staff of wherever you're staying. Many local people are quite knowledgeable.
Here are some popular backcountry destinations, arranged from southeast to north.
• GLEN COVE. This is a good camping destination for kayakers because the primitive road gets you right up to the water. At Johnswood, some 15 miles from the ferry on the main interior road, turn northeast and get onto Kreetan Road and then Sheep Ranch Road. (Some maps call these “Glen Cove Road.”) Take them some seven miles toward the water (it will become quite rough). At the intersection known as Corned Beef Junction, turn left and you'll soon be at the cove.
• MARBLE HEAD Dolomite cliffs a couple hundred feet high descend to the North Channel in steps. View Cockburn Island across a narrow passage. See Glen Cove, but turn right toward Glen Point at Corned Beef Junction. When you can't go any farther, get out and walk along the shore east perhaps three miles around Marble Head.
• POTAGANNISSING RIVER. A kayak or canoe trip can take you into some remote areas where loons nest and wild rice grows. The river connects four lakes. Water levels, controlled by a dam, can be too low to be navigable. On a map, the chain of lakes looks easy to navigate through, but in fact it's full of false channels, complicated by heavy growth of summer vegetation. So it's a good idea to hire a guide to go back here, unless it's duck-hunting season. Heavy use makes channels obvious then.
• MAXTON PLAINS. Here the limestone bedrock is right at the surface, almost like pavement in its flat expanse. Plants grow in the cracks, creating four to eight inches of spongy soil on top that supports the rare alvar grasslands and alpine plants. To survive here, these plants must be alkaline and able to withstand sudden alternations from dry to soaking conditions. These boring-looking grasses can burst into bloom within a day, turning into a sight of great if subtle beauty. Alvar grasslands exist in only a few places in the world including nearby Manitoulin Island, Pelee Island, and Latvia. Much of the plains is Nature Conservancy property. Mountain bikers are prohibited from biking on the fragile, thin soils. From Drummond village, take Maxton Rd. east and then north into plains.
• FOSSIL FORMATIONS. Fossils, commonly found in the exposed limestone of the eastern U.P. and Straits-Charlevoix area, are especially abundant on the beach at this point on Drummond's north shore. See a good map.
• POTAGANISSING BAY and HARBOR ISLAND. There are over 30 islands in this protected bay. The uninhabited ones without cottages are fun for kayakers and boaters to explore. Large Harbor Island with its big interior cove is public land where boaters like to swim, fish, pick berries, and see beaver lodges along the shore. No campfires or camping is allowed here. The cove, seven feet deep, is a popular place for boaters to drop anchor and spend the night.
Return to Drummond Island
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