Ontonagon, Michigan – Lodging, Travel and Recreation

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is 15 miles west of Ontonagon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The park’s 60,000 acres are one of the few remaining large wilderness areas in the Midwest. Towering virgin timber, secluded lakes, and miles of wild rivers and streams make a visit to the “Porkies” a trip to remember. As Michigan’s largest state park, planning your trip may require the use of various maps. Links to these important maps are provided below.
Mountain Biking Trails
Unit/Backcountry Camping Map
A printer-friendly listing of trail lengths and descriptions

The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park was established in 1945 by Michigan’s Legislature. Since then, many changes have taken place in the way we live; however, the Porcupine Mountains are almost unchanged. The remote interior with its towering pine and hemlock seems to defy time. The solitude of the park is mysterious and exciting. As Michigan’s only state designated wilderness, the Porkies is partnered with Leave No Trace ethics and has developed manuals for specific uses. For wilderness use manuals, please click the links below.
Rustic Cabin Use – Summer
Wilderness Camping – Summer
Leave No Trace Manual

A hiker to the interior of the Porkies must actually turn back the clock and call on skills that were second nature to our ancestors. One must appreciate the ways of a wilderness area to thoroughly enjoy backpacking the Porkies. Remember: the difference between tired feet and the satisfaction of an outstanding view is mostly a condition of the mind.

Lodging:
Kaug Wudjoo Lodge
Yurts
Rustic Cabins

Black bear are frequently encountered in the park. When backcountry camping, bear bags must be suspended at least 12 feet above the ground and far enough from the tree to prevent an animal from reaching or jumping on it. Never feed wild animals. Feeding wildlife damages their health, alters natural behaviors, exposes them to predators and other dangers, and causes them to lose their natural fear of humans.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
33303 Headquarters Rd.
Ontonagon MI, 49953-9087
906-885-5275

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While visiting the Copper Country we invite you to experience the best in underground mine tours: a tour through the historic Adventure Copper Mine.

Located in Ontonagon County at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula, the Adventure Mining Company in Greenland, MI is only a 30 minute drive from Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. We offer four guided underground tours of one of the best preserved copper mines in Michigan. Walk through part or all of the tunnels on the first level or try your hand at rappelling with a rope and harness to the second level of the mine…the choice is yours!

Also at the Adventure Mine site are miles of free-use hiking and mountain biking trails. Enjoy a hike or ride through the forest by old foundations and early prospect pits or even up to the top of Adventure Bluff on some of the most unique and challenging single-track trails in the Midwest. If you’re up to the challenge, be sure to join us in mid-July for the annual Miner’s Revenge Mountain Bike Race. The only race of its kind, you will first ride over the mountain and then ride through it! One third of a mile of the race course is underground in the Adventure Mine, so be sure to bring a light!

Whatever your vacation plans in the U.P. may be, be sure they include a stop by the Adventure Mining Company to boldly go where no underground mine tour has gone before!

Adventure Mining Company
200 Adventure
Greenland, MI 49929
906-883-3371

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Old Old Victoria Historical Site is a restoration of an early mining village, which includes a wealth of historical items, located in cabins depicting the early mining days.

A scenic trail along nearby bluffs offers a view of the area’s only hydroelectric dam. Nearby are the sites where the “Copper Boulder,” now housed in the Smithsonian Institution, was found.

Old Victoria host a Log Cabin Day Celebration on the 4th Sunday of June.

Old Victoria also holds a one-day craft fair on the third Sunday in August.

Old Victoria open dates for 2016 are June 11 – October 2.

Old Victoria Historical Site
25401 Victoria Dam Rd
Rockland, Michigan 49960

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The Ontonagon Lighthouse, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975, is open to the public six days a week and tours are conducted from the Ontonagon County Historical Society Museum located in the downtown section of the Village.

Visitors are taken up to the lantern room for a great view of the lake, harbor, and the unique profile of the Porcupine Mountains 20 miles distant. There are also historical maritime displays, and a convenient gift shop at the museum complex.

The light tower is three stories high, or 39 feet from the water to the focal plane, and is surmounted by an iron decagonal beacon house, which housed the fifth order Fresnel lens and light. Around the beacon house is a square, iron gallery consisting of a platform and rail.

In 1890 the 18 foot square, one story brick kitchen of similar construction was added to the south end of the house. In 1901-1902 the oil storage house was built.

While on your travels, make historical Ontonagon one of your many stops, visit our museum, and take a tour of the historic Ontonagon Lighthouse.

Lighthouse Tours 11:00 a.m., 1:30p.m., and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and by appointment.

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Ontonagon Lighthouse – Photo Gallery (Click on photos for captions & slideshow view) – (Photos Courtesy of Mountain View Lodges)
 

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Anyone visiting Ontonagon must visit the Ontonagon County Historical Society Museum. People are saying “This is the best small town museum I’ve ever seen.”

You’ll easily find the pink-doored, brightly colored building on River Street, which is actually the northern end of US 45, whose southern end is on the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile, Alabama.

The totally accessible museum complex (including restrooms) contains numerous displays and artifacts detailing the history of Ontonagon County.

The displays include the replica of the Ontonagon Boulder, a 3708 pound chunk of almost pure copper found on a branch of the Ontonagon River, in what is now Lake Victoria. The original boulder is at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. This boulder led to the Copper Rush of the 19th century.

At the same time as the mining hey day, the lumber industry was cutting the white pine of the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. The timber that was to “last a thousand years” was all cut and gone in less than 50 years, leaving a lot of rough semi-cleared land. The lumber companies took the timber and abandoned the land to the townships.

The mining in the area had brought immigrants who bought the abandoned land for back taxes and started farms and businesses. Many of their descendants are still here.

The Society has recently acquired the Ontonagon Lighthouse and is restoring it. Tours are available Monday through Saturday in summer. The light included a 5th order Fresnel lens, which is on display in the museum.

There are room displays of 18th,19th, and early 20th century life and many artifacts are arranged in cases for easy viewing.

We have ‘treasure hunts’ for children. These are lists of things, all in plain sight, for them to find and identify. We even have some for those too young to read.

Volunteers regularly greet and help our visitors, though there are no guided tours. You are free to look at your own pace and encouraged to ask questions.

Ontonagon Historical Museum
422 River Street
Ontonagon, Michigan 49953
906-884-6165

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