Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
entire Upper Peninsula. Nestled on the west coast of Green Bay, the city mushroomed into
one of the largest pine-shipping ports in the world in the last decade of the 19th century.
White pines towering to 150 feet were the glory of these forests. A single tree in those
days could furnish enough wood to build a five-room house. Although timber barons sav-
aged the pine woods in just a few decades, they left behind an unforeseen legacy: among
theremainingevergreensgrewoaks,aspens,andotherhardwoodtreesthatblazewithcolor
in autumn.
Pushing north on Rte. 35, which traces the Green Bay shoreline, the drive breezes
past J. W. Wells State Park, about halfway between Menominee and Escanaba. Here are
many cedars and some of the last virgin hemlocks in the area. You can enjoy their aroma
overnight, if you like, from one of the rustic cabins fronting Green Bay. Across the water
lies Wisconsin's Door Peninsula, pointing northeast like a great green finger. Its tip, the
ominously named Porte des Morts (“Death's Door”), is a treacherous channel whose un-
usual wave action and turbulent currents have sunk hundreds of ships. The bay is much
kinder to anglers; the 300-pound sturgeon that Indians used to catch are long gone, but
smallmouth bass, walleye, and brown trout still can fill the average creel.
2.
Hiawatha National Forest
Once past the bayside towns of Escanaba and Gladstone, the drive eases into the western
unitofHiawathaNationalForest.(TheeasternunitliesnorthoftheMackinacBridge.)The
forest, extending across the peninsula from Lake Superior to Lake Michigan, was named
for the Indian leader in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem
The Song of Hiawatha.
In its verses Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, is called Gitche Gumee, the
shiningBig-Sea-Water.”Andwater—notjustthebiggestkind—isarecurringthemeinthis
national forest. Itisdotted with tiny lakes, gorgeouswaterfalls, andcanoe trails suchasthe
AuTrain,wherepaddlerscanspyonsnappingturtles,muskrats,mink,andanassortmentof
waterfowlandsongbirds.FromthetrailsthatweavethroughHiawatha'swoodlands,hikers
may catch a glimpse of such creatures as black bears, white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, the
occasional moose, and wild turkeys.
3.
Fayette Historic State Park
Veering east on Rte. 2 at Rapid River, the drive pushes through the southern reaches of Hi-
awatha National Forest, skirting the tips of Little Bay de Noc and Big Bay de Noc. For an
intriguing change of pace—a look at Michigan's industrial past—head south on Rte. 183
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