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Hunts' Guide to Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA

JUST OUT! A new edition of Hunts' Mapguide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Over 300 entries, all conveniently located on maps and chosen because we think they are the coolest things to do in the U.P. (No ad tie-ins!) Great choices for restaurants, hikes, shops, adventures, museums, boat trips, waterfalls, vistas, road trips, and much more! To learn more click UP MAP GUIDE

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Back to Tahquamenon & Seney, Grand Marais & Whitefish Point

TWO HEARTED RIVER MOUTH AREA
POINTS
OF INTEREST

Mouth of the Two Hearted River. Bedlam rules here at April’s trout opener. But fishing (for steelhead, salmon, and menominee) is heavy here into fall, except for a July lull. A swinging suspension bridge across the river mouth, fun for kids, gives access to a scenic point looking out over Superior ... more

Canoeing and fishing the Two Hearted River. The shallow, gravelly river bottom makes this trout stream good for fly-fishing and for family paddling. Two Hearted Canoe Trips at Rainbow Lodge drops you upstream for an easy trip to the mouth ... more

Crisp Point Lighthouse. Crisp Point caused many shipwrecks on this remote Superior point, subject to storms from several directions. Hence the tall ighthouse was built here in 1902. Now it's just a tower. Improved gravel roads make this remote beach accessible by ordinary vehicles. ... more

Region: Tahquamenon & Seney, Grand Marais & Whitefish Point

TWO HEARTED RIVER MOUTH AREA

The interior north of Newberry and the much-visited Tahquamenon Falls is some of the Upper Peninsula's most remote land. Mixed forests of maple, birch, and conifers, and many wetlands make for outstanding fall color. Most land is part of the Lake Superior State Forest, and loggers are active in some areas. Of the scattered sawmill villages established during the bygone lumber era, none has developed into a permanent community.

The western part of this area is drained by the four branches of the Two Hearted River, made famous by Ernest Hemingway, who appropriated its poetic name for his short story about fishing on the Fox. The Two Hearted name actually refers not to moods but to the fact that it has two branches, more or less equal in size. Totaling over a hundred miles, the Two Hearted is a designated Wilderness River under the state's Natural Rivers Program, which defines a wilderness river as "a free-flowing river, with essentially primitive, undeveloped adjacent lands." Reliable water levels and fishing for steelhead and trout make it popular enough as a canoeing stream to warrant a canoe livery/campground/motel at its mouth, Rainbow Lodge.

The area east of the Two Hearted is largely drained by the Shelldrake River, which empties into Whitefish Bay north of Paradise. This land includes the extensive, wild portion of Tahquamenon Falls State Park. For poetic descriptions of the remote Lake Superior shoreline and vicinity, read Laurie Penrose on the Crisp Point Lighthouse (a point of interest for Two Hearted River Mouth) and then read naturalist Jim Rooks on the Michigan Nature Association's Lake Superior Sanctuary (a point of interest for Paradise). This part of the shore is prime agate-hunting territory, too. See the Grand Marais section for pointers on finding them.

The land here is low. Low sand dunes are along the Lake Superior shoreline and forests, marshes, bogs, and swamps in the interior. Much of the land is open to the public for hunting, fishing, and recreational use, either as state land that's part of the state park or the Lake Superior State Forest. The State Forest has three campgrounds along the Two Hearted, and three on nearby lakes.

Some remote and rather rough sections of the North Country Trail pass through here. The trail is less difficult near the lakeshore from Grand Marais and Deer Park to just east of the Two Hearted's mouth. Then it turns south and heads for Tahquamenon Falls, going through some challenging areas. Visit www.northcountrytrail.org , then "Explore the trail" and "Upper Michigan" for Wes Boyd's trail description.

Tip: Showers ($2) at Rainbow Lodge are available to all.

Back to Tahquamenon & Seney, Grand Marais & Whitefish Point

TWO HEARTED RIVER MOUTH AREA
RESTAURANTS,
LODGINGS
& CAMPGROUNDS

These are our choices, not ads.

TWO HEARTED RIVER MOUTH AREA
RESTAURANTS

TWO HEARTED RIVER MOUTH AREA
LODGINGS
RAINBOW LODGE
(906) 658-3357

In this remote area Richard and Kathy Robinson’s place has grown from a spring and fall fishing retreat into a substantial, year-round place catering to campers, snowmobilers, hunters, anglers, and rockhounds. Only in snowmobile season the Two Hearted Café offers breakfast and lunch (chili, burgers, pies, soups – all homemade) daily. The general store supplies campers with groceries, alcoholic beverages to take out, camping supplies, tackle and bait. There are two motel rooms and four housekeeping cabins ($42-$95 in 2001, depending on size). The 45-site primitive campground next to a grass airstrip costs $10 a night, the same as the state forest campgrounds. Showers ($2) are available to campers and non-campers alike. This is not an old, picturesque lodge nestled in a mature forest. Built in 1967, it’s in a jack pine forest.

From Newberry, take M-123 19 miles northeast to CR 500. In about 7 miles, turn left onto CR 414. Follow signs to Rainbow Lodge. Handicap accessible: 1 cabin accessible. Call on others. Family friendly. Dogs allowed.

TWO HEARTED RIVER MOUTH AREA
CAMPGROUNDS
RAINBOW LODGE
(906) 658-3357

45-site primitive campground. See Lodgings just above.

Mouth of the Two-Hearted River
(906) 293-5131, not reservable.

Fishermen fill this remote campground from April through fall, with a lull in July. Snow is bulldozed off the campground for April's crazy, intense opening week of the trout season. There's canoeing on the river, and rock-hunting. The entry road leads to a parking lot by the simple dirt boat launch. The 39 rustic sites (no running water or electricity) are in two loops.
The smaller loop, west of the lot, is more open. Here the attraction is a swinging suspension bridge across the river mouth leading out to a scenic little point in Lake Superior.
Over half the sites are east of the lot, in a grove of red pine separated from the lake by a wall of cedars and pines, which protect it from winds.

From Newberry, take M-123 19 miles northeast to CR 500. In about 7 miles, turn left onto CR 414. Follow signs to the nearby Rainbow Lodge and the campground, over various turning gravel roads for 12 or so miles. Serviced May through November. $10/night. Pit toilets, some sites ADA accessible.

CULHANE LAKE CAMPGROUND AND BODI LAKE CAMPGROUND
(906) 293-5131. No reservations.

These campgrounds are for people who like to be away from it all in a wild, unspoiled natural area within two miles of a beautiful, remote, and little-known stretch of Lake Superior. The 22-site campground on 60-acre Culhane Lake is in a stand of very large pines.
The nearby Bodi Lake Campground has 20 sites in a stand of mature pines and oaks. Fishing in both lakes is for panfish. A 1.25 mile hiking trail loops by Bodi Lake and over a bog. The Crisp Point Light is within 10 miles, and it's a 17-mile day trip to Tahquamenon Falls. Other area attractions: shipwrecks, agate-hunting, blueberry-picking. Both campgrounds are well shaded in red pine and maple.
Sites enjoy good privacy from neighbors, and still aren't too heavily used because of their remoteness. Half are on the water.

Culhane Lake is about 3 miles east of the mouth of the Two-Heart (via unimproved roads) and 30 miles northeast of Newberry. From Newberry, take M-123 19 miles northeast to CR 500, which twists and turns over 11 miles to Culhane Lake. Bodi Lake is about 2 miles farther, on CR 437. Serviced May through Nov. $10/night. Handicap accessible: call.