Keweenaw Attractions
For over a century the rugged hills of the Keweenaw peninsula was home to a vast industrial empire, sustained by the wealth of its cast copper riches below the surface. This empire created a flourishing civilization out of the remote wilderness and became home to tens of thousands of people from all around the world. But when the inevitable collapse of the Copper Empire was finally realized, the great civilization was abandoned and left for ruin. The result is a region sprinkled with the ghosts of its past, from derelict mine sites hidden deep in the woods to empty towns along the highways. Thrown in for good measure are the dozens of houses, buildings, and cemeteries that remain to this day to tell the story of an empire that was.
Under the rule of a Copper Empire, the Keweenaw was stripped not only of its metals but its remaining natural resources as well. Forests were cleared, lakes were filled with tailings, and rivers were impounded. But after the empire's collapse, the mines and mills were abandoned. With the mines gone, nature was allowed to reclaim the land. Today the industrial landscape that was has been converted to a vast wilderness, returning the peninsula to its beautifully rugged and remote roots.
With the Copper Country's demise, the region was forced to find a new economic benefactor. For this they turned to tourism, and got to work creating a series of parks and recreation area's for tourists to enjoy. This process started as early as the Depression, when a faltering economy spurred the construction of several county parks on the government's dime. When the copper mines finally left for good their vast waterfront holdings and railroad right of ways became the property of local communities, which quickly converted them to waterfront parks and recreational trails.
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