9/29/2013

Copper Harbor Michigan

View From Brockway Mountain Above Copper Harbor

Copper Harbor is a very small town at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Like most of the other towns on the Keweenaw Copper Harbor was settled by people engaged in the extraction and transportation of copper during a mining boom that began in the 1840s. Copper Harbor was primarily a port used to ship metal out and supplies in for the local mines. Copper Harbor is listed on the 1870 census as having a population of 359. This was likely it's peak population. Copper Harbor currently has 108 residents. Today Copper Harbor primarily provides services to tourists. There are a few inns and motels in town, a general store and a few small restaurants. Copper Harbor is the departure port for one of the ferries that serves Isle Royal National Park.

 

Copper Harbor At Dusk

Fort Wilkins State Park is just East of Copper Harbor and has a nice campground. The roads beyond Fort Wilkins to the very tip of the Keweenaw are unimproved and rough, possibly requiring a high clearance vehicle. It's about 10 miles from Copper Harbor to the tip of the Keweenaw. Most of the land between those two points is privately owned. Hopefully someday a public park will be developed in this area. There are several small parks on the Superior shore near Copper Harbor. Estivant Pines is a beautiful 508 acre preserve of virgin forest with hiking trails about two miles South of Copper Harbor. Near Estivant Pines on Clarke Mine Road are the ruins of the Clarke smelter pictured below. The Brockway Mountain viewpoint is 13 miles West of Copper Harbor and has incredible views of the Keweenaw, Lake Superior and Isle Royal.

 

Ruins of the Clarke Smelter

Ruins of the Clarke Smelter

 

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