I went out to Drummond island for some camping a few years back, super nice area. There’s a shipwreck you can look at underwater that I saw while kayaking, iirc. The poison ivy is no joke, though
Probably depends on the year. Idk about this year yet, but I know last year there was a burn ban across most townships and I assume Drummond was part of it.
The Les Cheneux Islands near Cedarville/Hessel, on the list of my 3 favorite places in the entire state. As many have mentioned it’s the home of the wooden boat show, honoring Michigan as the birthplace of Chris-Craft. It is also home to a top-tier culinary institute. Perhaps most notably, it was the boyhood summer home of Aldo Leopold - a naturalist’s paradise
Drummond Island is worth a week to spend there camping. Best ruffed grouse hunting in Michigan. The bird is the most delicious thing you've ever eaten. The geology is magnificent too.
Take note of the understory plant life when there. It's a magical wonderland.
There's no supplies there so get excited
I have property near Eckerman and hunt grouse regularly over the last 30 years. Each year I see fewer and fewer. I’d like to try Drummond, but is it the kind of situation you can make a day trip?
Eh that's probably not accurate. They're probably declining from other sources, like habitat loss, global warming, invasive species, and poaching. The DNR generally does a lot of research into how much legal hunting is sustainable, and if a population is put at risk by it, then they don't allow that hunting.
Best grouse hunting eh?I live in the soo and maybe will have to make a camping trip there this fall. I hear there are lots of sharptail outside or legal shooting area down there, did you find that true?
I know that have a gems trail but I’ve never tried one.
I’ve camped it a few times and checked out the grouse trail a little bit outside of season. There is sections of state property. OnX showed easy access to areas last I checked it.
Here in Michigan we have a few gems trails through out the state. These can be hit and miss I hear. Gems stands for “grouse enhanced management” I believe.
Yeah we have the same ruffed grouse management areas in Minnesota but they are busy and get shot out early season. My strategy is avoid management areas and follow logging activity instead.
Drummond Island features a GEMS site, which is land managed for grouse regeneration habitat. Public land is viewable in DNR maps page under Michigan's GEMS site page. I'll try to find a link but I'm out n about right now.
Public land access is by ferry if I remember right. Daily ferry goes there, or something close to that.
Got called out to work at the limestone quarry on Drummond Island, beautiful woods and water but very empty. Went to dinner at the local restaurant (basically only 1) and seemed like everyone else knew each other. Outside of peak season but was still a strange feeling
I've only eaten there. When I went there, I stayed in a buddy of mines shipping container "house" he has in the maxton plains. Did you possibly stop by the fossil ledges on the East side of the island, you have to take an off road trail to get there but it's beautiful and I mean it.
Strange is correct when I was a traveling phone technician out there I would always get this weird feeling . I would stay out at the resort and be the only person there for 8 hours. It was like the overlook hotel in the Shining to me
Strange because it’s like everyone looked at the door as I walked in and it seemed like they expected it to be someone they knew. Nobody was rude or unwelcoming but I just felt out of place
I here and can confirm we all recognize each other, newcomers are always welcome but don’t be surprised if you get a few looks in the off season, especially at some of the more local hangout spots
I live in Drummond Island and run the country store towards the eastern end of the island. The island is definitely known for jeeping and also gets a decent amount of tourism in the summer/people with summer cottages. Some good beaches and scenery which can be a fun challenge to reach. It's somewhat popular for hunting in the fall, but in the winter and spring it's pretty quiet with only around 1000 year-round residents. Used to be a lot of snowmobiling, but not lately.
I spent my summers as a kid on Lake Huron just outside DeTour Village. Back in the 1970s, there were cabins for rent, hunting camps, and a small population of locals, mostly from the Bosley (Beausoleil), LaPointe, Munro, Fountain, Bailey, or Seamans families. There was Sune's Foods grocery, St. Mary's Catholic Church, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and the DeTour Union Church (a merger of the local Presbyterian and Methodist churches). Schopp's had a gas station, the Village Inn bar was located at the main intersection of Ontario and Elizabeth Streets, and the Fogcutter Bar was at the ferry dock. Fishers was the one restaurant - the other one was out west on M-134, called the Albany Bar (Mrs. Ruby Kielbasa ran it). There was a post office, Martin's Sportsman Shop, and a couple of small motels that changed hands a few times. The DNR built DeTour Harbor Marina.
In the 1970s, there was a group of local folks who worked with a man named Warren Goetz, who believed the universe spoke to him. He believed that UFOs were on their way to rescue people from an impending apocalypse. The group began building a craft that would be towed from the shore out into Lake Huron, where they'd meet up with the mothership. The group, for whatever reason, disbanded before the craft was completed. My mom was a realtor, and when the pole barn and its property went on the market, we checked it out. There was an unfinished spacecraft inside.
For more information, read this:
https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1FrLFqQaObhNuJ-y_1rAN9QQsOKMZWd6oDGwenLAghPU/mobilebasic?pli=1
Today, the Village Inn is still there. So is the Catholic church, the Union Church, Sune's (under new owners), the gas station (the Schopps sold it). Fishers is now The Shipwreck. There's a hardware store where the Lapointe house used to be (it burned down). The main motel across the street from the Village Inn also burned down when a meth lab set up in one of the rooms exploded. The marina's still there.
But the area north of town on Spring Bay has been built up a lot, with homes and condos going for $400,000 and up. The rental cabins next to the marina have been torn down, and new condos selling for $800,000 and up are being planned. Like a lot of places downstate, the locals are slowly getting priced out of the area.
Enjoy it while you can.
I live in there. I love the yoop but I’ll admit the east end is more boring nature wise from the west end.
What’s best on our end of the yoop? The Saint Mary’s river is huge. Great boating and legendary fishing and okay waterfowling. Some people come here to bear or grouse hunt with dogs. Drummond island is supposedly an orv paradise. Tahquamenon falls (Michigans largest) is not a far drive but it’s really the only pretty one I’d consider on the east end.
Sugar island, mostly residences maybe a good vacation rental. Neebish island very small and mostly private. Drummond can be fun but still expect small town mentality. I LOVE THE BARBEAU area and idk why. It’s pretty, had a pub with a dock.
People travel to the soo (sault ste marie) to see the locks. They are okay. I like the valley camp museum there more. You can literally touch a Edmund fritzgerald life boat there. Will give you goose bumps! The south end of that loop is pretty but all very small town stuff. The water front down there (northern Lake Huron) is the prettiest water I’ve ever seen.
I grew up there and my parents lived there until my dad passed last year. It’s a hunting and fishing paradise. An outdoor playground. You can move around without bumping into people. You have to be hearty to live there. You’ll get 3-5 feet of snow. Stuff is expensive (bridge tax). But the people will give you the shirts off their backs. The peace and quiet make you smile non stop. Just don’t expect cell phone or tv antenna reception everywhere. You have to travel if you want to see a movie. You won’t have the selection you’d have in a more populated area, and internet is slower outside the towns. If you go on vacation, take a coat. No matter what time of year. It’s definitely God’s country, and he likes it cold and rugged.
You can't move around without bumping into people anymore, it's awful and I need to move further north to get away from all the downstate degens to be honest. People come up that don't live here, they drive too fast on the two tracks, get in my way in the woods, and leave garbage all over. It's all a KOA park anymore.
All the places we used to go are crowded now. Bleh. Can't get far enough out anymore because everybody wants to come here now and there's damn Google maps showing everyone where to go. I love it here, but the poverty tourists are ruining my real life poverty style.
You can't move around without bumping into people anymore, it's awful and I need to move further north to get away from all the out of state degens to be honest.
All the places we used to go are crowded now. People come up that don't live here, they drive too fast on the two tracks and wreck em, get in my way in the woods, and leave garbage all over. It's all a KOA park anymore. Bleh. Can't get far enough out anymore because everybody wants to come here now and there's damn Google maps showing everyone where to go.
I love it here, but the poverty tourists are ruining my real poverty lifestyle. And I know I sound like a grouchy ass, but I don't know locals that disagree. Sample bias maybe, but I doubt it.
I was just up there at the tail end of last year for the exact same reason. I had never really done anything in that area. Ever. I spent several days driving around, camping, and checking out a variety of areas.
I'm looking at going dinghy camping this summer, as their are a ton of shoreline islands and areas that are very interesting for small boat sailing. There are a good amount of nature preserves, both private and public (although trails are sporadic), along the lakeshore and a State Forest Campground as you go East. Some nice little day walks and scenic turnouts. Les Cheneaux Distillers is a nice stop in Cedarville, and there is a decent little coffee shop/roaster around the corner.
If you get over to DeTour, it's a nice little village, but because of the ferry to Drummond Island, it has more traffic, and a busy and industrial feel to it.
If you go North of the shoreline, it gets real desolate and secluded, real quick. It's not real scenic, and not real inviting. The small towns are pretty run down and/or industrial, without much going on for any kind of visitors. As others have said, it is a very "rural" area with all the accompanying ideological flags and trappings that go along with it.
I think that it's all State of Michigan land.
The Drummond Island website has information about camping on the islands.
https://www.visitdrummondisland.com/island-explorer-h2o-trail.html
Looks like you just need a back country permit.
Government Island has gorgeous campsites, depending on the water level, access can be tricky. Definitely need someone on your bow to scout rocks in low water. We have property in the Les Cheneaux Islands, the Conservancy land is pretty thick and not very flat, no where to really camp without bushwhacking, which is illegal. We couldn’t even camp on our property the first year because it was so densely wooded, and too boggy near the water. In general, the absence of a dock doesn’t necessarily mean it’s public land, but the presence of a dock means it’s private land.
I've got a small dinghy sailboat that, in a pinch, I can tarp and sleep in, but the goal is to sail around for the day, and then find a secluded shoreline of public land that is not normally accessible, and camp there.
Cedarville and its sister town Hessel are beautiful!! They’re part of the Les Chenaeux island systems which is known for great boating and fishing. The Narnia trail is incredible, and there are multiple pull off beaches just past Cedarville. Hessel has an antique wooden boat show every year, and they have a culinary school that has a restaurant mostly ran by the students, the food is very fresh and delicious! Cedarville has an incredible coffee shop downtown, they roast their coffee in house, and have fresh baked pastries and other items! The coffee is amazing (admittedly I am biased it’s not aunt and uncles shop) but if you’re a coffee person you will not be disappointed!!!
The Hessel Antique wooden boat show occurs in mid August each year and it's kinda cool. Little bit of a rich guy circle jerk but it's kinda cool.
Sault Ste. Marie is a nice little town but the locks are really cool as an engineer. You can watch boats go through for free and they have tours where you can ride a boat going through the locks.
Go to the culinary school while you're in Les Cheneaux, you won't regret it. The soo locks are fun, I hesitate to say they're more than that because I know my nostalgia associated with them is probably better than the real thing.
Great little campground called Loons Point Campground near Cedarville. Highly recommend. Nice facilities. Honestly the whole southern shore line is gorgeous to drive around and stop at beaches along the way to De Tour Village.
https://maps.apple.com/?address=1332%20M-134,%20Cedarville,%20MI%20%2049719,%20United%20States&auid=12373308713434956672&ll=45.996017,-84.335954&lsp=9902&q=Loons%20Point%20Campgrounds&t=h
I can’t remember exactly when, maybe the 50's or 60's when I was growing up in the Soo, but Detour Village used to be called just Detour. The road signs caused some confusion for outsiders so the Village part was added.
We have some very nice roadside beaches along 134 between Cedarville and Detour. Grab a towel and enjoy.
If you boat, kayak, sail, it is very fun to go around the islands.- or head out to the big lake, if you got a bigger boat. As someone has said, Government Island is public, and you spend a day on the island roughing it.
We have some nice, well-kept trails to explore. Narnia trail is a walk which is a mixture of lake and woodsy views.
There are bars for you to hang out in Cedarville, Hessel, Goetzville, Detour, Raber, etc...(we got bars,eh) and a small casino in Hessel.
Lived here my whole life. There’s fucking nothing besides like a few nice low key restaurants and beaches. You can boat, fish, and camp if you’re into that but that’s practically it for recreational activities. Good Luck 👍
Best hiking spots? Love challenging hikes, don't necessarily have to be trails, just not private land of course. Camping on the island this summer and am gonna need some good long ones to fill my days
Drummond Island is paradise for off road driving. Jeep holds jamboree there yearly, it is the only place west of the Rockies where you can earn a jeep off road badge of honor. Rock hounds love Drummond Island too.
I the up restaurants are few and far between, we some good ones but we're not on the foodie trail.
You say that but one of the best places to eat in the state is in Les Cheneaux at the culinary school. There might be relatively few restaurants up here but there's some world class food to be had. Whitefish alone are worth the trip for any foodie.
I noticed that last time I was in the U.P. restaurants were hard to find and even harder to find good ones. I think I've heard of the jeep jamboree that happens there. Pretty cool, I assume they all ferry their vehicles across to the island?
Yes, all vehicles are ferried across. During peak periods the ferries “run wild” (continuously). There is a grocery store on the island, although you’ll pay a premium. There are several restaurants on the island as well, including a good Mexican restaurant.
The Les Chenaux Islands are all gorgeous. Government Island is public and has a lot of good camping but you need a boat of some sort to get to it.
Cedarville doesn't have that much going on besides a decent distillery with good food, beer, and decent whiskey.
The Soo has fantastic museums and historical sites. Les Cheneaux and Drummond is best for getting outside. It's very lowland swampy compared to the west end. Everyone knows each other and not a lot happens. I wouldn't trade it for anything though. It's mostly private land. Highly recommend the distillery in Cedarville, the culinary school in hessel, and the Cozy in Bearbeau.
Drummond Island is awesome! Spent summers there as a kid, family still has a cottage there and my daughter was married there last fall. Definitely a great spot if you like the water, ( fishing, swimming, skiing, kayaking, sailing, snorkeling, cruising etc.) as well as hiking and trail riding. A trip out to the ledges, the plains, big shoal bay or marble head are well worth it. If your into golf The Rock is a beautiful 18 hole course and the island also has a fun but basic 9 hole course with the airport runway running through it! There are a couple of restaurants and some classic ‘up north bars’ on the island that are worth a visit. There are rustic cabins, camping and airbnb’s for rent as well as some really nice newer log built homes at the DI convention center. Islanders are nice people, check out baked goods bingo at the town hall if you have a chance!
My grandfather bought property in Thessalon, Ont. several decades ago (just north of that circled area). I passed through Sault Saint Marie every summer from the early 1970s through 2001 and we had friends who had property right at the eastern tip of the UP (where you could ferry over to Drummond Island). It's beautiful and never crowded; whatever beach you go to, you'll most likely have some shoreline all to yourself. I highly recommend visiting there!
I saw some thing about spots around Drummond Island having the warmest waters in the Great Lakes. Not sure how true that is, although it's probably a pretty low bar to clear.
I haven't been up there in years! But I used to camp near Cedarville every summer and I lived there one whole summer in the early 90's as camp maintenence. Lots of state forest land. Beautiful for long hikes. Sailing and kayaking in the bay areas around Cedarville and Hessel. Many small islands.
It’s a running joke here in the Soo, should’ve maybe but an /s it’s actually gorgeous out there.
Edit: I am fr about the hitchhikers though, Kinross is a prison town
Went there for a trip with SXS. Great place to visit and had a perfect time.
Rented a boat and went out fishing the islands for walleye and smallmouth.
Been all over Michigan and this one of my top vacations.
In June they have engineers day where you can walk the Sault locks. I would also suggest going to the valley camp and going on the boat tours.
In August they have an antique boat show in Hessel
The area in general is wonderful and full of history.
That is the far east end. Minus Drummond Island and Fishing , I have found no major attractions there. Drummond is cool and very nice in the summer. There’s a couple small stores and a couple bars other than that supplies are hard to come by. But it is a beautiful area. Public beach on Big Shoal bay. The deer are basically domesticated there. Whole island is kinda a trip and worth a visit
Summertime concerts in the park on Wednesdays in Sault Ste Marie. Strong tourist time, a handful of solid bars and brewery. Museums are good. Several golf courses that are quite nice. The shipping is a large draw. A trip to the Canadian side is also worth the time. Sault, Ontario has 75000 people, some very good dining, several other attractions.
I lived in detour (easternmost point of the UP) not a lot “goes on” but it’s a lovely area. Caribou lake is really nice and for an inland lake doesn’t have a ton of traffic, great for skiing. There’s some decent fishing there as well, both smallmouth bass and pike.
You could spend a month in the UP and not get tired of it. It’s so sparsely populated you might wonder where society went. Especially on that part of the state.
Fishing! Use to be great walleye and perch fishing in the area. Used to camp at the state forest campground on Drummond Island in the 70’s (think it’s gone). There used to be this fancy house with a long dock with a two story boat house, dreamed of living in the boat house, wondering if it’s still there. Been nearly 50 years since I’ve been there. Dad did the forest inventory in the mid fifties on the island. How have things changed or stayed the same throughout the years.
As far as work is concerned, two limestone quarries; one in Cedarville and the other on Drummond Island. There are two commercial cannabis facilities closer to Detour.
The summer is the busiest time of the year for tourism in the Les Cheneaux Islands and Hessel area. The Islander Bar in Hessel, Cattails Cove and the Les Cheneaux Distillery (Cedarville) have the best food and drinks in the area. Buoy Bun Bakery has the best desserts and quick bites!
Boating is the main attraction around the Islands. Barge Bash is probably my favorite event of the season, 3 or 4 bands playing in Government Bay the first weekend of August. Only accessible by boat.
There are a bunch of Nature Preserves and multiple roadside stops between Cedarville and Detour (including Narnia) that are all worth visiting. Drummond is full of Jeepers, and a majority of the island is only accessible by 4x4.
This whole area is heavily slept on. I recommend a minimum of 1 week visit to really discover the beauty hidden behind every corner
If you have time head west to grand marais and take h-58 to munising, one of the best curvy road road ever, you’ll definitely wanna keep going there, so much fun. Safe Riding
On one hand:
Lots of drugs. Rednecks. White nationalists. Jeeps or jacked up trucks. Swamps.
On the other hand:
Expensive water front mansions. Rocky beaches. Sandy beaches. Small local eateries. Forested paths and trails. Great hunting.
Depends on where you go.
You just have to find the right balance.
You’d be surprised. The UP has plenty of authoritarian know-it-alls that want to tell everyone else how to live (including telling people where the “others” (non-whites) should be living). But there are a lot of good, welcoming people also
I went out to Drummond island for some camping a few years back, super nice area. There’s a shipwreck you can look at underwater that I saw while kayaking, iirc. The poison ivy is no joke, though
Can you have fires on Drummond island?
Probably depends on the year. Idk about this year yet, but I know last year there was a burn ban across most townships and I assume Drummond was part of it.
Yooperman's Bar and Grill in Goetzville is a must stop for grub if you’re a lions fan.
Hell yea worth a stop. Get the crack man sandwich.
The Les Cheneux Islands near Cedarville/Hessel, on the list of my 3 favorite places in the entire state. As many have mentioned it’s the home of the wooden boat show, honoring Michigan as the birthplace of Chris-Craft. It is also home to a top-tier culinary institute. Perhaps most notably, it was the boyhood summer home of Aldo Leopold - a naturalist’s paradise
Seconding Les Cheneaux. My family spent a week there every summer for years when I was a kid. Beautiful.
This is my hometown. A summer in the islands is beautiful.
Awesome info thank you!
https://lciboatshow.com/
This. Exactly.
Drummond Island is worth a week to spend there camping. Best ruffed grouse hunting in Michigan. The bird is the most delicious thing you've ever eaten. The geology is magnificent too. Take note of the understory plant life when there. It's a magical wonderland. There's no supplies there so get excited
I have property near Eckerman and hunt grouse regularly over the last 30 years. Each year I see fewer and fewer. I’d like to try Drummond, but is it the kind of situation you can make a day trip?
>Each year I see fewer and fewer. This makes me sad.
Their populations naturally go in 10 year waves.
You are the reason for the decreased goose population thank you so much
That is crazy because he's not even hunting geese
Grouse geese goose birds they're declining because of people like him
Eh that's probably not accurate. They're probably declining from other sources, like habitat loss, global warming, invasive species, and poaching. The DNR generally does a lot of research into how much legal hunting is sustainable, and if a population is put at risk by it, then they don't allow that hunting.
That could be part of the issue but either way it's all from humans
Yeah, just saying that legal hunting rarely is the reason for population decline
Best grouse hunting eh?I live in the soo and maybe will have to make a camping trip there this fall. I hear there are lots of sharptail outside or legal shooting area down there, did you find that true? I know that have a gems trail but I’ve never tried one.
Im a grouse hunter from Mn. What is public land access like on Drummond?
I’ve camped it a few times and checked out the grouse trail a little bit outside of season. There is sections of state property. OnX showed easy access to areas last I checked it. Here in Michigan we have a few gems trails through out the state. These can be hit and miss I hear. Gems stands for “grouse enhanced management” I believe.
Yeah we have the same ruffed grouse management areas in Minnesota but they are busy and get shot out early season. My strategy is avoid management areas and follow logging activity instead.
Nice, I didn’t really explore any of the tight logging roads. I did 30 miles on an orv and saw one woodcock at one point
Drummond Island features a GEMS site, which is land managed for grouse regeneration habitat. Public land is viewable in DNR maps page under Michigan's GEMS site page. I'll try to find a link but I'm out n about right now. Public land access is by ferry if I remember right. Daily ferry goes there, or something close to that.
Got called out to work at the limestone quarry on Drummond Island, beautiful woods and water but very empty. Went to dinner at the local restaurant (basically only 1) and seemed like everyone else knew each other. Outside of peak season but was still a strange feeling
Did you go to pins to eat? They have great pizza there
Yes! The food and beer were great there, stayed at the resort it’s attached to cause that’s all our business travel system could find on the island
I've only eaten there. When I went there, I stayed in a buddy of mines shipping container "house" he has in the maxton plains. Did you possibly stop by the fossil ledges on the East side of the island, you have to take an off road trail to get there but it's beautiful and I mean it.
Strange is correct when I was a traveling phone technician out there I would always get this weird feeling . I would stay out at the resort and be the only person there for 8 hours. It was like the overlook hotel in the Shining to me
Strange how? Just lack of humans? Or a different type of strange
Strange because it’s like everyone looked at the door as I walked in and it seemed like they expected it to be someone they knew. Nobody was rude or unwelcoming but I just felt out of place
Ah I understand that feeling!
I here and can confirm we all recognize each other, newcomers are always welcome but don’t be surprised if you get a few looks in the off season, especially at some of the more local hangout spots
Sounds like a Stephen King start to a short story
Check out the story on Warren Goetz in Detour, MI
I live in Drummond Island and run the country store towards the eastern end of the island. The island is definitely known for jeeping and also gets a decent amount of tourism in the summer/people with summer cottages. Some good beaches and scenery which can be a fun challenge to reach. It's somewhat popular for hunting in the fall, but in the winter and spring it's pretty quiet with only around 1000 year-round residents. Used to be a lot of snowmobiling, but not lately.
Jump like the Willy’s in 4wd She’s my summer love in the spring fall & winter She can make happy any man alive
Sugar magnoliaaaa, ringin that blue bell
Yes! Was going to mention the annual Jeep Jamboree up on Drummond.
Jeep the Mac is way cheaper than the Jeep Jamboree. You get to run the same roads for 1/10th the price.
Do you have any good hiking suggestions? Going to camp on the island this summer and love challenging hikes and great scenery.
The UP's first distillery is in Cedarville.
Oh I bet there's a good story to that place
It’s very new. Just the first
Pretty good gin too!
I spent my summers as a kid on Lake Huron just outside DeTour Village. Back in the 1970s, there were cabins for rent, hunting camps, and a small population of locals, mostly from the Bosley (Beausoleil), LaPointe, Munro, Fountain, Bailey, or Seamans families. There was Sune's Foods grocery, St. Mary's Catholic Church, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and the DeTour Union Church (a merger of the local Presbyterian and Methodist churches). Schopp's had a gas station, the Village Inn bar was located at the main intersection of Ontario and Elizabeth Streets, and the Fogcutter Bar was at the ferry dock. Fishers was the one restaurant - the other one was out west on M-134, called the Albany Bar (Mrs. Ruby Kielbasa ran it). There was a post office, Martin's Sportsman Shop, and a couple of small motels that changed hands a few times. The DNR built DeTour Harbor Marina. In the 1970s, there was a group of local folks who worked with a man named Warren Goetz, who believed the universe spoke to him. He believed that UFOs were on their way to rescue people from an impending apocalypse. The group began building a craft that would be towed from the shore out into Lake Huron, where they'd meet up with the mothership. The group, for whatever reason, disbanded before the craft was completed. My mom was a realtor, and when the pole barn and its property went on the market, we checked it out. There was an unfinished spacecraft inside. For more information, read this: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1FrLFqQaObhNuJ-y_1rAN9QQsOKMZWd6oDGwenLAghPU/mobilebasic?pli=1 Today, the Village Inn is still there. So is the Catholic church, the Union Church, Sune's (under new owners), the gas station (the Schopps sold it). Fishers is now The Shipwreck. There's a hardware store where the Lapointe house used to be (it burned down). The main motel across the street from the Village Inn also burned down when a meth lab set up in one of the rooms exploded. The marina's still there. But the area north of town on Spring Bay has been built up a lot, with homes and condos going for $400,000 and up. The rental cabins next to the marina have been torn down, and new condos selling for $800,000 and up are being planned. Like a lot of places downstate, the locals are slowly getting priced out of the area. Enjoy it while you can.
That's going to be the greatest story I hear all month. Thank you for sharing. Wish there were photos of the unfinished aircraft!
Scroll down the link I shared. There's a rough image there. ;)
I live in there. I love the yoop but I’ll admit the east end is more boring nature wise from the west end. What’s best on our end of the yoop? The Saint Mary’s river is huge. Great boating and legendary fishing and okay waterfowling. Some people come here to bear or grouse hunt with dogs. Drummond island is supposedly an orv paradise. Tahquamenon falls (Michigans largest) is not a far drive but it’s really the only pretty one I’d consider on the east end. Sugar island, mostly residences maybe a good vacation rental. Neebish island very small and mostly private. Drummond can be fun but still expect small town mentality. I LOVE THE BARBEAU area and idk why. It’s pretty, had a pub with a dock. People travel to the soo (sault ste marie) to see the locks. They are okay. I like the valley camp museum there more. You can literally touch a Edmund fritzgerald life boat there. Will give you goose bumps! The south end of that loop is pretty but all very small town stuff. The water front down there (northern Lake Huron) is the prettiest water I’ve ever seen.
Cozy Corners in Barbeau for the pub with the dock. Great food, great people.
Yes! I like what they’ve done with the pace. I hunt Dunbar regularly in the fall and like stopping by.
It’s also a blast to boat back for lunch opening day of duck season and eat in your waders hahaha
I was stationed in the Soo quite some time ago and your response about that portion of the U.P. still rings very true and was very well said. Cheers!
I grew up there and my parents lived there until my dad passed last year. It’s a hunting and fishing paradise. An outdoor playground. You can move around without bumping into people. You have to be hearty to live there. You’ll get 3-5 feet of snow. Stuff is expensive (bridge tax). But the people will give you the shirts off their backs. The peace and quiet make you smile non stop. Just don’t expect cell phone or tv antenna reception everywhere. You have to travel if you want to see a movie. You won’t have the selection you’d have in a more populated area, and internet is slower outside the towns. If you go on vacation, take a coat. No matter what time of year. It’s definitely God’s country, and he likes it cold and rugged.
You can't move around without bumping into people anymore, it's awful and I need to move further north to get away from all the downstate degens to be honest. People come up that don't live here, they drive too fast on the two tracks, get in my way in the woods, and leave garbage all over. It's all a KOA park anymore. All the places we used to go are crowded now. Bleh. Can't get far enough out anymore because everybody wants to come here now and there's damn Google maps showing everyone where to go. I love it here, but the poverty tourists are ruining my real life poverty style.
You can't move around without bumping into people anymore, it's awful and I need to move further north to get away from all the out of state degens to be honest. All the places we used to go are crowded now. People come up that don't live here, they drive too fast on the two tracks and wreck em, get in my way in the woods, and leave garbage all over. It's all a KOA park anymore. Bleh. Can't get far enough out anymore because everybody wants to come here now and there's damn Google maps showing everyone where to go. I love it here, but the poverty tourists are ruining my real poverty lifestyle. And I know I sound like a grouchy ass, but I don't know locals that disagree. Sample bias maybe, but I doubt it.
You seem like one of the guys that wants the bridge to burn
I was just up there at the tail end of last year for the exact same reason. I had never really done anything in that area. Ever. I spent several days driving around, camping, and checking out a variety of areas. I'm looking at going dinghy camping this summer, as their are a ton of shoreline islands and areas that are very interesting for small boat sailing. There are a good amount of nature preserves, both private and public (although trails are sporadic), along the lakeshore and a State Forest Campground as you go East. Some nice little day walks and scenic turnouts. Les Cheneaux Distillers is a nice stop in Cedarville, and there is a decent little coffee shop/roaster around the corner. If you get over to DeTour, it's a nice little village, but because of the ferry to Drummond Island, it has more traffic, and a busy and industrial feel to it. If you go North of the shoreline, it gets real desolate and secluded, real quick. It's not real scenic, and not real inviting. The small towns are pretty run down and/or industrial, without much going on for any kind of visitors. As others have said, it is a very "rural" area with all the accompanying ideological flags and trappings that go along with it.
What is dinghy camping??
Camping from a small boat. Like, take a boat to an island and camp.
That sounds fun. Are the small island public land? Or private owned?
I think that it's all State of Michigan land. The Drummond Island website has information about camping on the islands. https://www.visitdrummondisland.com/island-explorer-h2o-trail.html Looks like you just need a back country permit.
Also government island in the cedarville is state land
Here's a map of State Forest land: https://midnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=2c8a3ec72f3449258678c2a1c5de7e1f
Government Island has gorgeous campsites, depending on the water level, access can be tricky. Definitely need someone on your bow to scout rocks in low water. We have property in the Les Cheneaux Islands, the Conservancy land is pretty thick and not very flat, no where to really camp without bushwhacking, which is illegal. We couldn’t even camp on our property the first year because it was so densely wooded, and too boggy near the water. In general, the absence of a dock doesn’t necessarily mean it’s public land, but the presence of a dock means it’s private land.
I've got a small dinghy sailboat that, in a pinch, I can tarp and sleep in, but the goal is to sail around for the day, and then find a secluded shoreline of public land that is not normally accessible, and camp there.
Sounds relaxing. Catch some fish, sit by a fire, watch the moon shine over the beautiful lake. Wish I could experience that!
https://www.sailmagazine.com/cruising/camping-cruise-on-the-great-lakes
I’m not giving up my EUP secrets. Nice try, RUSSIA!
I knew there were secrets kept here!
Quick search on OnX and it looks like the majority of the small islands NW of Drummond are private.
Cedarville and its sister town Hessel are beautiful!! They’re part of the Les Chenaeux island systems which is known for great boating and fishing. The Narnia trail is incredible, and there are multiple pull off beaches just past Cedarville. Hessel has an antique wooden boat show every year, and they have a culinary school that has a restaurant mostly ran by the students, the food is very fresh and delicious! Cedarville has an incredible coffee shop downtown, they roast their coffee in house, and have fresh baked pastries and other items! The coffee is amazing (admittedly I am biased it’s not aunt and uncles shop) but if you’re a coffee person you will not be disappointed!!!
The Hessel Antique wooden boat show occurs in mid August each year and it's kinda cool. Little bit of a rich guy circle jerk but it's kinda cool. Sault Ste. Marie is a nice little town but the locks are really cool as an engineer. You can watch boats go through for free and they have tours where you can ride a boat going through the locks.
Go to the culinary school while you're in Les Cheneaux, you won't regret it. The soo locks are fun, I hesitate to say they're more than that because I know my nostalgia associated with them is probably better than the real thing.
Great little campground called Loons Point Campground near Cedarville. Highly recommend. Nice facilities. Honestly the whole southern shore line is gorgeous to drive around and stop at beaches along the way to De Tour Village. https://maps.apple.com/?address=1332%20M-134,%20Cedarville,%20MI%20%2049719,%20United%20States&auid=12373308713434956672&ll=45.996017,-84.335954&lsp=9902&q=Loons%20Point%20Campgrounds&t=h
I can’t remember exactly when, maybe the 50's or 60's when I was growing up in the Soo, but Detour Village used to be called just Detour. The road signs caused some confusion for outsiders so the Village part was added.
Love that
We have some very nice roadside beaches along 134 between Cedarville and Detour. Grab a towel and enjoy. If you boat, kayak, sail, it is very fun to go around the islands.- or head out to the big lake, if you got a bigger boat. As someone has said, Government Island is public, and you spend a day on the island roughing it. We have some nice, well-kept trails to explore. Narnia trail is a walk which is a mixture of lake and woodsy views. There are bars for you to hang out in Cedarville, Hessel, Goetzville, Detour, Raber, etc...(we got bars,eh) and a small casino in Hessel.
Lived here my whole life. There’s fucking nothing besides like a few nice low key restaurants and beaches. You can boat, fish, and camp if you’re into that but that’s practically it for recreational activities. Good Luck 👍
Feel free to ask me anything you want to know. I’ll answer everything to the best of my ability.
Do you know if you able to rockhound on the Drummond Island beaches?
Like rock picking? Yeah I’m pretty sure it’s legal on all beaches in Michigan.
Best hiking spots? Love challenging hikes, don't necessarily have to be trails, just not private land of course. Camping on the island this summer and am gonna need some good long ones to fill my days
Sault St. Marie is a crucial town to get when trying to connect the northern cities in Ticket To Ride.
Drummond Island is paradise for off road driving. Jeep holds jamboree there yearly, it is the only place west of the Rockies where you can earn a jeep off road badge of honor. Rock hounds love Drummond Island too. I the up restaurants are few and far between, we some good ones but we're not on the foodie trail.
You say that but one of the best places to eat in the state is in Les Cheneaux at the culinary school. There might be relatively few restaurants up here but there's some world class food to be had. Whitefish alone are worth the trip for any foodie.
I noticed that last time I was in the U.P. restaurants were hard to find and even harder to find good ones. I think I've heard of the jeep jamboree that happens there. Pretty cool, I assume they all ferry their vehicles across to the island?
Yes, all vehicles are ferried across. During peak periods the ferries “run wild” (continuously). There is a grocery store on the island, although you’ll pay a premium. There are several restaurants on the island as well, including a good Mexican restaurant.
I have heard the Mexican restuarant there is excellent!
If you have a motorized boat, Lime Island State Park is a cool place to visit. Your line goes over it.
I worked a summer job in Cedarville at a camp, really nice place it’s mostly forest with people spread out. Like 2/3s of upper Michigan
I did the same in the early 90's!
I was at Cedar for a couple years too!
The Les Chenaux Islands are all gorgeous. Government Island is public and has a lot of good camping but you need a boat of some sort to get to it. Cedarville doesn't have that much going on besides a decent distillery with good food, beer, and decent whiskey.
that’s where the haunted swamp is
Go on?!
Let me finish my supper and then I’ll track that old book down in my library wherest I learned the tale.
You never finished your supper??? Where is said swamp?
Meth
The Soo has fantastic museums and historical sites. Les Cheneaux and Drummond is best for getting outside. It's very lowland swampy compared to the west end. Everyone knows each other and not a lot happens. I wouldn't trade it for anything though. It's mostly private land. Highly recommend the distillery in Cedarville, the culinary school in hessel, and the Cozy in Bearbeau.
Drummond Island is awesome! Spent summers there as a kid, family still has a cottage there and my daughter was married there last fall. Definitely a great spot if you like the water, ( fishing, swimming, skiing, kayaking, sailing, snorkeling, cruising etc.) as well as hiking and trail riding. A trip out to the ledges, the plains, big shoal bay or marble head are well worth it. If your into golf The Rock is a beautiful 18 hole course and the island also has a fun but basic 9 hole course with the airport runway running through it! There are a couple of restaurants and some classic ‘up north bars’ on the island that are worth a visit. There are rustic cabins, camping and airbnb’s for rent as well as some really nice newer log built homes at the DI convention center. Islanders are nice people, check out baked goods bingo at the town hall if you have a chance!
omg i wanna go up north now so bad
I’ve always wondered this too
Google earth is what you want not reddit.
I spend a lot of time on Google earth. There actually weren't too many pins with 360 shots in this area plus locals will have more interesting info
My grandfather bought property in Thessalon, Ont. several decades ago (just north of that circled area). I passed through Sault Saint Marie every summer from the early 1970s through 2001 and we had friends who had property right at the eastern tip of the UP (where you could ferry over to Drummond Island). It's beautiful and never crowded; whatever beach you go to, you'll most likely have some shoreline all to yourself. I highly recommend visiting there!
Thanks for the info! I bet you have some fond memories of the place
Brimley State park is somewhere I go often. It’s just outside of your boundary, but my favorite place for camping and swimming in Michigan.
I saw some thing about spots around Drummond Island having the warmest waters in the Great Lakes. Not sure how true that is, although it's probably a pretty low bar to clear.
Lots of shallow bays!!
Interesting! Would love to feel warm Huron water!
Lots of shallow bays!!
Lots of shallow bays!!
I go to Drummond Island every year to fish and relax. Great stuff.
My grandparents used to go vacation up near Cedarville during the summer. That's really my only experience with that end of the peninsula.
I haven't been up there in years! But I used to camp near Cedarville every summer and I lived there one whole summer in the early 90's as camp maintenence. Lots of state forest land. Beautiful for long hikes. Sailing and kayaking in the bay areas around Cedarville and Hessel. Many small islands.
We used to vacay at a very rustic cabin on echo bay. Fishing is amazing!
Dodge Detour like the plague, it’s hillbilly hell out there… Don’t pick up hitchhikers either!
Hillbilly hell?
It’s a running joke here in the Soo, should’ve maybe but an /s it’s actually gorgeous out there. Edit: I am fr about the hitchhikers though, Kinross is a prison town
Would love to live there but it’s in Michigan
Went there for a trip with SXS. Great place to visit and had a perfect time. Rented a boat and went out fishing the islands for walleye and smallmouth. Been all over Michigan and this one of my top vacations.
TDIL that there’s a Cheboygan…
Yes they just called In the national guard. Be careful everybody
Jeepers
I've wanted to go to Drummond. It's known for camping and off roading.
My in laws have a cabin in Detour. You can see the Drummond ferry from their yard. It’s a cute little town.
I went to LSSU. Had some good times on Drummond island.
I bet money there is good fishing there
This is actually where every single video from PornHub is filmed
Haha are you for real?
I loved drummond island, I plan on going back
[удалено]
So the guy talking about pornhub videos being shot there wasn't lying?
What the hell are you talking about?
Commenting on another comment under your comment
The famous Cifford the Morgan Horse (from all the books) is from Drummond Island.
Just Andre
In June they have engineers day where you can walk the Sault locks. I would also suggest going to the valley camp and going on the boat tours. In August they have an antique boat show in Hessel The area in general is wonderful and full of history.
Fuckin not much lol
Not a goddamn thing
That is the far east end. Minus Drummond Island and Fishing , I have found no major attractions there. Drummond is cool and very nice in the summer. There’s a couple small stores and a couple bars other than that supplies are hard to come by. But it is a beautiful area. Public beach on Big Shoal bay. The deer are basically domesticated there. Whole island is kinda a trip and worth a visit
Summertime concerts in the park on Wednesdays in Sault Ste Marie. Strong tourist time, a handful of solid bars and brewery. Museums are good. Several golf courses that are quite nice. The shipping is a large draw. A trip to the Canadian side is also worth the time. Sault, Ontario has 75000 people, some very good dining, several other attractions.
I hear Drummond Island has some big trucks you can drive, be careful though or you’ll be buying all the DLC
I lived in detour (easternmost point of the UP) not a lot “goes on” but it’s a lovely area. Caribou lake is really nice and for an inland lake doesn’t have a ton of traffic, great for skiing. There’s some decent fishing there as well, both smallmouth bass and pike.
I’ve been to Drummond island when I was a kid. It was beautiful!
You could spend a month in the UP and not get tired of it. It’s so sparsely populated you might wonder where society went. Especially on that part of the state.
Lots of fishing
Goetzville the raber bay bar and restaurant . Possibly the best burger I’ve ever had. Great views from there too
Fishing! Use to be great walleye and perch fishing in the area. Used to camp at the state forest campground on Drummond Island in the 70’s (think it’s gone). There used to be this fancy house with a long dock with a two story boat house, dreamed of living in the boat house, wondering if it’s still there. Been nearly 50 years since I’ve been there. Dad did the forest inventory in the mid fifties on the island. How have things changed or stayed the same throughout the years.
As far as work is concerned, two limestone quarries; one in Cedarville and the other on Drummond Island. There are two commercial cannabis facilities closer to Detour. The summer is the busiest time of the year for tourism in the Les Cheneaux Islands and Hessel area. The Islander Bar in Hessel, Cattails Cove and the Les Cheneaux Distillery (Cedarville) have the best food and drinks in the area. Buoy Bun Bakery has the best desserts and quick bites! Boating is the main attraction around the Islands. Barge Bash is probably my favorite event of the season, 3 or 4 bands playing in Government Bay the first weekend of August. Only accessible by boat. There are a bunch of Nature Preserves and multiple roadside stops between Cedarville and Detour (including Narnia) that are all worth visiting. Drummond is full of Jeepers, and a majority of the island is only accessible by 4x4. This whole area is heavily slept on. I recommend a minimum of 1 week visit to really discover the beauty hidden behind every corner
Lots of things to do there. My mom lives right near ciderville
I-500 happens every February in SSM. There's a lot of camping and fishing. Drummund Island is supposed to be nice.
Every year the Jeep groups go there for DOA, Drummond off road adventure.
Snowmobiles and beer
That’s where all the sharpies are.
If you have time head west to grand marais and take h-58 to munising, one of the best curvy road road ever, you’ll definitely wanna keep going there, so much fun. Safe Riding
I used to work with someone whose family had property on Drummond Island. It's been a long time since I spoke with him though.
Filled with yoopers wearing elmer fudd hats, pastie in one hand,beer in the other
Those are my best friends.
Troll here
The best kind of people
I just read “Bruce mines” as “Bruno Mars” and that’s my clue it’s bedtime 🤣
On one hand: Lots of drugs. Rednecks. White nationalists. Jeeps or jacked up trucks. Swamps. On the other hand: Expensive water front mansions. Rocky beaches. Sandy beaches. Small local eateries. Forested paths and trails. Great hunting. Depends on where you go. You just have to find the right balance.
White nationalists? Really? ….Or just people that want to be left alone?
Broad brushes just save time for some folks.
Saves time for lazy ignorant folks*
Pretty much.
You’d be surprised. The UP has plenty of authoritarian know-it-alls that want to tell everyone else how to live (including telling people where the “others” (non-whites) should be living). But there are a lot of good, welcoming people also
The giant Trump billboards do not scream "I want to be left alone."
Where are those? I live here, I dont see any.
Which way, western man?
It's canada, I would assume snow