Iron Mountain, Crystal Falls, Ottowa National Forest | Michigan Anniversary

For our three year anniversary, we took a trip to Iron Mountain, MI. Iron Mountain is a cute little town situated close to the Wisconsin border in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It hosts a few points of interest such as the Millie Hill bat cave, The Cornish Pump, and is located adjacent to Pine Mountain ski jump and resort, one of the largest artificial ski jumps in the world. Iron Mountain is also known for its pasties, Bocce Ball Tournaments, World Cup Ski Jumps, and Italian cuisine.

We drove through the night and pulled off at Gladstone Beach along the road to catch the sunrise. Bright and early, before everything was open, we arrived in Norway, MI. First thing’s first, breakfast! We went to Mike’s on Main for a nice, home-style breakfast. The restaurant doubled as a bowling alley, but the restaurant was quaint and decorated with local art. After breakfast, we hit our first hike at Piers Gorge Falls. The hike was beautiful and we were able to see some rafters traveling the falls. We arrived so early that we were the only ones on the trails until we were on our way out. That trail was about 3 miles round trip.

After our hike, we headed back into Norway because all of the shops would be open now. Our first stop: Jeri’s Quilt Patch. The whole bottom floor is filled to the brim with various quilting supplies and fabrics galore. We picked out some Le Petite Prince fabric, we would figure out what to do with it later! The top floor had so many wonderful and unique antiques. It was a quaint little shop to stop in. We then went to the Norway Spring, where many locals were filling up their water jugs. Opposite of the spring was the City of Norway Viking Ship, of course we had to see that! Afterwards, we saw the alpacas at Rainbow’s End Alpacas and headed for the Fumee Lake Natural Area. The trail we took circled the lakes and it was nice and flat. A very easy trail for those just looking for a relaxing walk. I do wish we would have went earlier in the day though because we didn’t see much wildlife!

Finally, dinner time! We headed back into town and stopped at the Maple Creek Restaurant. All of their choices were local and oh-so good! To walk off our dinner, we walked the town. They were having their annual Oktoberfest, but neither of us are beer drinkers so we just observed from the streets. Then we swung into Greenway Books. This was a quaint little bookstore with a wonderful owner. It housed both new and used books, so you never knew what you would find! The decorations were also art from local artists and schools. It was about time for sunset, though it was so clouded that we didn’t get to see it. We still headed to Iron Mountain City Park and did a drive through to see the cute cabin rentals, then up the mountain to Pine Mountain Overlook. Despite not seeing the sunset, Michigan was still pretty from the overlook.

Our housing: Iron Mountain Red Cabin

Day 2:

Bright and early (again), we hit the road! Our first stop was the Horse Race Rapids Nature Trail. The trail was inclined and rocky, so wear your hiking shoes when visiting this trail! The trail was short and sweet, so we headed to brunch after enjoying the view. We stopped at Fob’s Fine Food. The food was just okay, but the desert and hot cocoa were wonderful! Our next trail was the Chicagon Falls trail; however, our drive to the trail got cut short because of numerous trees down across the road! We were fine with the extra long walk, and Kyra wanted to be out of the car anyways. None of these trails prepared me for the next set of falls Charlie was taking me to see though, the Bond Falls were breathtaking! The Bond Falls have a paved walking path with stairs and bridges for views from all angles.

On our way to the next falls, we had a quick detour because we came across a baby turkey stuck in the middle of the road. Charlie tried to convince me to bring the turkey home, but there was no way Kyra would allow an unsupervised turkey to join out vacation. A neighborly gentleman saw Charlie walking around and reassured him that the mother hangs out here often and is just in the woods waiting for her baby. So the turkey was placed into the ditch to be soon reunited. Onto the next set of falls!

The next falls we hiked were the Agate Falls Scenic Site, Jumbo Falls, and Duppy Falls. Agate Falls Scenic Site was paved with a fence along the trail. At the end of the pavement, you could see where people went under the train bridge and down into a dirt trail to the falls. Naturally, we followed the dirt! The trail was steep and the dirt easily slid beneath our feet. So take caution if you decided to follow the trail off the path. We arrived to Jumbo Falls just at dusk and didn’t get to explore much. The real adventure began on our way to Duppy Falls. It is now pitch black and our dirt road has turned into two-tracks. We were so nervous as to where we would end up and the drive took a half hour for maybe a mile! The Jeep drove beautifully though and came out with unnoticeable scratches!

Day 3:

Reluctantly, we packed the Jeep for our trip back home. We swung back into Norway to visit the Swedish Passport gift shop before heading home. We drove to Escanaba, MI for brunch. We walked downtown before our noses lead us to the Swedish Pantry. The restaurant was full of clock decor and filled with the smell of home-made cooking. Every recipe had been passed down in the family and was made from scratch! Our bellies were so full and happy by the time we left. Our goal for the trip home was to catch as many lighthouses as possible. Our first lighthouse was the Sand Point Lighthouse, then the Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse, and finally the Seul Choix Point Lighthouse. Before heading into the lower peninsula, we stopped at a roadside gas station/cabin for some fresh U.P. smoked fish!

Iron Mountain, though small, is full of wonderful trails and many things to explore! You don’t have to visit the area for the wonderful trails either. As you can see, it is full of quaint stores and wonderful family owned restaurants to visit.

As always, I love to hear from you! So if you made it through all of the pictures, leave a comment so I know I’m not talking to myself!

Thank you,

XO Searra (313 Studios Photography)