 | | A woodland path leads to the mouth of the Misery River, a charming, often unpeopled place to linger. |
This remote Lake Superior shoreline spot is yet another low-key Upper Peninsula gem. The cold, clear, briskly moving Misery River winds around into the big lake. There's a DNR boat launch here. At the eastern end of the parking lot, a sandy path through a woods takes you around to the sugar sand beach and the fascinating curl of the river just before it empties into the lake.
 | | A look from its mouth up the Misery River. Before it empties, a long spit of sand separates the river from Lake Superior. | The specialness of the site is intensified when you experience it alone, which, given its remoteness, you often can.
Superior stays shallow for a long ways out, so this is a fine place for young kids who like the water. This is one place where the water is actually colder as you move up the river than in the lake.
Locals say the river and bay got the name "Misery" because of a bloody battle between two bands of Indians, after which the river ran red.
Vern Simula, who lives nearby, has enjoyed wading across the river and hiking three miles to Wolf Point. It's an undeveloped shoreline, with no cabins. (—March, 2008)
Takes the same road—Misery Bay—that goes from M-26 in Toivola to Agate Beach, but follow the signs to Misery Bay.
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