2025-07-11 – Ironwood, MI
It rained off and on during our three hour drive back down the Keweenaw Peninsula, and across the Portage Canal Lift Bridge to our next stop, Ironwood, MI. It is in Ironwood that we changed into the central time zone. However, not all of our devices made the change correctly and we spent those days trying to keep track of which devices were correct.
We stopped at a MacDonald’s for a bite to eat but mainly for their free, fast WiFi. Bill posted some of our travelogue and we got to take care of a few business items that we’d been able to do from WiFi-free Copper Harbor. Then it was off to Curry Park Campground, a city-operated campground on the west end of town.
There was a farmers and artists market downtown, so we went in to take a look. It turned out that the market was only the artists and no farm products. We took the opportunity to explore the downtown area a bit.
There was a bus parked near the artist’s area and we stopped at it. Turns out it’s a kind of mobile carpentry school for young kids. The Slöyd Bus practices a Nordic tradition of using hand tools and traditional techniques to work with materials, often wood, to create functional and aesthetically pleasing objects.
One of the city’s sights was its 52 foot tall “Hiawatha” statue. Unlike most “road art”, its location is on the site of the an old iron mine well off the main road. Funded by a local car dealer in 1964, it was intended to entice tourists through the downtown area.
We stopped in at Cold Iron Brewing, one of several downtown breweries. They did not serve food and, although they had a decent IPA for Bill, they didn’t have any wine for Sandy. A bit of a disappointment.
Back at the campground we supplied our own wine and beer and made ourselves a nice dinner of sautéed shrimp and steamed broccoli.
2025-07-12 – Ironwood, MI
Breakfast out seemed like a good idea after a rainy night that lasted into the morning. Our choice was Contrast Coffee where Sandy treated herself to a gluten free strawberry cream crêpe while Bill went for the meat lover’s quiche.
The Black River flows north from the Ironwood area into Lake Superior. It has five significant waterfalls along the Black River Scenic Byway and, since the rain had finally stopped, we decided to check them out. They are named Great Conglomerate Falls, Potawatomi Falls, Gorge Falls, Sandstone Falls and Rainbow Falls. Trails lead to each one, several of which terminate in long stairways that lead to a vantage point. We saw several of them but Bill’s knees revolted and he skipped the 191 stairs to see Rainbow Falls but Sandy made the trek.
One of the ski areas, Copper Peak, touts the largest ski jump in the western hemisphere. Usually you can take an elevator to the top of the ski jump, but they were undergoing construction and the area was closed. We decided on dinner out at the Iron Nugget in Hurley. Bill got a veggie pizza that was excellent. Unfortunately, they didn’t have anything GF for Sandy so she settled for a baked potato with the fixin’s which, since she love potatoes, wasn’t too bad.
After dinner we made the short drive and walk to see Interstate Falls on the Montreal river. Beautiful waterfall!
