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SILVER CITY
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Bonanza or Greenwood Falls. Unusual and compelling, the Big Iron River winds around scalloped layers of tilted rock ...
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Silver Image Studio. Gallery and studio shows the photographs of the late Dan Urbanski: scenic views, weather, nature of the Porcupine Mountains. ...
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Great Lakes Trading Company. Antiques,pottery, handmade rugs, sculpture, carvings, Tiffany-style lamps and more in a charming old house. ...
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Region: Porcupine Mountains and Ontonagon
SILVER CITY
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 | | Dan Urbanski | | Lake Superior's pebble beaches by Silver City’s small resorts make for interesting rock-picking — and for beautiful night views of dark, starry skies across the big lake. | Today Silver City is mostly a collection of tourist-oriented resorts and other businesses along M-107 near the entrance to Porcupine Mountains State Park. But for three years in the 1870s it was a silver mining boom town. At the fur-trading post that was the first settlement here, stories circulated about silver found by Indians back in the woods away from Lake Superior. Homesteader Austin Corser actually found the silver on the Little Iron River in the 1850s. He kept quiet about it until he proved his claim. In the 1870s he revealed the silver, sold his land, and left. Only one brick of silver, worth $723, was ever shipped from Silver City.  | | Driving west from Ontonagon on M-64, motorists see the mouth of the Iron River as they pass the junction of M-64 and enter Silver City. |
Soon some 30 mines established claims, and three found enough silver to build a joint stamping mill to extract the precious metal. Daniel Beaser platted a town, naming its streets after Civil War heroes and the town after himself. No mines found enough silver to make any money, and eventually they closed. After Beaser died, the town's name was changed to Silver City. ...continued below...
 | | Dan Urbanski | | Bears are unwelcome visitors to Silver City yards. They've become common here due in part to a local business that feeds them as a visitor attraction. |
Remains of Austin Corser's cabin, and the sweet Williams he planted, can still be seen by hiking up the Little Iron River from its mouth. For decades Bob Daly of Fenton, Michigan (near Flint) poked around the cabin. Now the things he found (bottles, hardware, etc.) are part of a new Austin Corsair exhibit at the Ontonagon Historical Society Museum.
Lake Superior beach Today there's more to Silver City than meets the eye along M-107. Houses are on two back streets paralleling the lake but up the hill. A pleasant, sandy in Silver City is at the mouth of the Iron River, just east of M-64 and the Porcupine Mountain Lodge. Buffered from the road by cedars and stones, this is a popular place to pull over, park along the road, and get out.
As of June, 2008, the Silver City General Store has been closed. Managers of the Porcupine Mountains State Park are working to provide groceries at The Outpost by the Union Bay campground. For fishing and hunting licenses, check at the park office.
WILDERNESS ADVENTURE AND SUPPLIES i906-885-5676) is part nature store and souvenir shop, part outfitters for last-minute camping and backpacking gear. The friendly local couple who staff this attractive shop have also worked at the shop in the state park's visitor center. It's open from mid-May through fall color season. Extended hours in summer.
 | | Don't blink if you want to see "downtown" Silver City on the way to the Porcupine Mountains State Park. Old, established streets are up the hill. |
 | | Dan Urbanski | | Good views of the Northern Lights, whenever they might occur, can be had from the state park's Union Bay campground and from lodgings on Lake Superior from Silver City to Ontonagon. Lakefront lodgings here face the northwest, with unobstructed views to the northwestern horizon. |
Back to Porcupine Mountains and Ontonagon
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SILVER CITY
RESTAURANTS,
LODGINGS
& CAMPGROUNDS
These are our choices, not ads.
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SILVER CITY
RESTAURANTS
PAUL'S SUPERIOR VIEW RESTAURANT AND PORKIES PUB
(906-885-5311)
This restaurant connected to the AmericInn offers a very pleasant atmosphere and generally good food, depending on who is cooking. The restaurant overlooks Lake Superior beyond a lawn and trees. The cozy lounge is warmly inviting in winter. The nightly $8.95 sizable burrito is a good value. Many evenings are all-you-can-eat specials: $7.95 Friday for the fish fry and $11.95 for the "land and sea buffet," Wednesdays its walleye ($14.50), Thursdays BBQ ribs ($13.94), and Saturday night all-you-can-eat prime rib buffet $18.95.
120 Lincoln/M-107 in Silver City. Kitchen currently open 5-9 year-round, later in summer. Full bar. Wheelchair access: entire facility.
THE FOOTHILLS
(906) 885-5246
In the right season, this is the place to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the gateway to the Porkies. In fact, breakfast is served any time the grill isn't being used for hamburgers. Lunch brings sandwiches, homemade soups, and specials. BBQ ribs are a specialty. For $10.50 in fall of 2006, we enjoyed attentive service and a meal of whitefish, baked potato, and salad bar (with all dinners, nothing fancy but good when you're hungry), but not so much the soup. "Just as good as the rest for a whole lot less" is the motto of co-owner Gerry Yaklyvich, an Ontonagon County snowmobile pioneer. The Foothills was built during Prohibition, and expanded after alcohol was made legal in 1933 as The Silver Court, with 13 cabins in a horseshoe, and a dance hall (not used since the White Pine Mine closed). Children's menu. No smoking in the dining room.
251 Lincoln/M-107, inland side, toward the park. Hours vary. Call ahead. Open continuously from late May into mid-Oct. In busy season open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Only open Fri, Sat & Sun when spring and fall are less busy. Open in deer season, Nov. 15-Dec. 1. Open in snowmobile season. Closed April into May. Handicap accessible thru rear entrance. Full bar.
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SILVER CITY
LODGINGS
See also: Ontonagon, White Pine, Rockland. For western end of Porcupine Mountains State Park see Lake Gogebic/Bergland, Wakefield, Bessemer, Ironwood.
LAKE SHORE CABINS
(906) 885-5318
Shady, nicely landscaped grounds and a sandy Lake Superior beach distinguish this pleasant older resort, decorated to enhance its northwoods atmosphere. Of the six housekeeping cabins, five look out onto the lake. 2005 rates. One cabin ($128 for two) sleeps up to 8 in two bedrooms and a loft. It has a bath with shower, a cable TV, a fireplace, a microwave, and a screened porch. The other cabins ($98 and up for two) are clean and cozy, rustic in style. Each sleeps 5 to 6 in two bedrooms and has a screened porch with swing, a gas heater, and half bath. These don't have TVs. Showers are in the sauna building. A charcoal grill and picnic table comes with each cabin. The office phone can be used in emergencies. Guests can make campfires on the beach, depending on conditions. Walk to restaurants, grocery.
400 Lincoln/M-107 in Silver City, 2 blocks west of the Iron River mouth & Porcupine Mountain Lodge. Open year-round. Handicap access: call. Paved drive, sidewalks to cabins. $10/extra adult, $5/child. No pets
AMERICINN PORCUPINE MOUNTAIN LODGE
(906) 885-5311
The only full-service hotel in Ontonagon County has a restaurant with Lake Superior view, a cozy separate lounge, and a sizable indoor pool. The pool is 44' long; windows look out to the lake, but aren't placed so you can see the lake when swimming. The pool has an adjoining sauna, spa, fitness room, and game room.
Continental breakfast is served year-round. On winter and spring weekends in ski and snowmobile season the bar has occasional live music for dancing.
Back by the lake is a lawn with birch trees, benches, a bonfire pit, and picnic tables. Bonfires on starry nights here are a real treat!
Decor is pleasant but not luxurious. 71 rooms are on 3 floors with interior corridors. All have phones, cable TV with dozens of channels, and 2 queens or 1 king. Rates for two: from $104 in summer and ski season, $79-$94 otherwise. Ask about rates for whirlpool rooms.
Though the hotel backs up on a rocky shore of Lake Superior, it's sited so no rooms are oriented to the lake. Some do have a view of the mouth of the Big Iron River mouth across a parking lot. An interesting park with woodsy shoreline is a short walk away, on the river's opposite bank. Silver City's few shops are within walking distance along the road.
120 Lincoln/M-107 in Silver City. Wheelchair access: entire facility is handicap accessible; some rooms are ADA-approved. Children: 12 & under free; $6/extra person. Pets: dogs but not cats; call.
SILVER SANDS MOTOR LODGE
Closed as of June, 2008. Business had been steadily increasing, but high heating costs led the owners to close the motel and store. A loss to the area. Currently for sale.
LAKE OF THE CLOUDS
(906) 885-5318
Five cute vintage housekeeping cabins are perched up on a hill under big pines, on the opposite side of the road from the lake. Rick and Kitty DeaGuero, who own and operate the Lake Shore Cabins across the road, bought and refurbished the cabins heree. All have cable TV, full kitchens, and northwoods decor. Cabins are from $79 to $98 for two, depending on cabin and season. There's one cabin with separate kitchen and a living room/bedroom, a two-bedroom cabin, and three single-room cabins, two with wood fireplaces. Cabins are more widely spaced than similar lakefront resorts. Each comes with picnic table and grill.
501 Lincoln/M-107 in Silver City, two miles east of the park. Open year-round. Handicap access: call. $5/extra child, $10/extra adult. No pets.
MOUNTAIN VIEW LODGES
(906) 885-5256
Eleven newish two-bedroom 750-square-foot cottages offers contemporary rustic style with just about every convenience except air-conditioning, which would very seldom be desired. Each has a fireplace, microwave, dishwasher, cable TV/VCR (video rentals are down the road), phone/fax, wi-fi access to every cabin, BBQ grill. Five cottages are on the beach, 6 are farther back but with lake views. 2007 rates for two: $129-$165. Cottages are sited to favor privacy and handy parking rather than common areas. Silver City's visitor-oriented businesses are an easy walk down the road (no sidewalks; can be busy). There are fire rings by the beach and picnic tables. Owners Jeni and Rick Varecha are also artisans who display and sell their works, including Porkies photogrphy, fused glass, jewelry, and carvings.
34042 M-107. Just west of Silver City on the Lake. Handicap access: one cottage to ADA standards; good accessibility in all. Extra person: $8/child, $16/adult. Dogs OK in 4 cottages; call. $40 fee per dog per stay (2 dogs maximum).
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SILVER CITY
CAMPGROUNDS
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