Ironwood sits at the western end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and the drive north out of town ends at Lake Superior. That is the whole shape of a road trip here. You leave a small mining town, you climb through forest, and about 20twenty minutes later, you are standing at the edge of the largest freshwater lake in the world.
The four stops below are all inside a half-hour drive of Ironwood. High Profile of Ironwood is on Cloverland Dr, open to any adult 21 or older with a valid government-issued ID.
This is the road the rest of the trip hangs off. The byway runs north from Ironwood through the Ottawa National Forest and finishes at the water. T, and there are five waterfalls along it, each one dropping toward Lake Superior.
The waterfalls are the reason to drive it slowly. They sit at separate pullouts with short walks in, so the byway is less a route than a series of stops with driving between them.
Practical note: The byway starts about 13 miles from the store, roughly 20 minutes. Budget two hours if you want to walk in to more than one of the falls.
The byway ends at Black River Harbor, about 19 miles from the store and a little less than half an hour. There is a beach, a campground, and hiking that runs along the shoreline from the harbor.
It has no gate and no posted opening time, which makes it the easiest stop on this list to fit around whatever else you are doing.
Practical note: This is the far end of the byway, so treat the drive up and the harbor as one outing rather than two.
Copper Peak opens on Sundays only, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Read that before you plan around it. Six days a week, the drive out is a locked gate, and it is the single most important fact on this page.
It is worth arranging a Sunday for. Copper Peak is the only ski flying hill outside Europe and the largest ski jump on the continent, standing about 1,000 feet above Lake Superior on the Black River Parkway north of town. The Adventure Ride takes you up by an 800-foot chairlift and then a 26- story elevator. From the top, you can see three states, and on a clear day across the lake into Canada.
Practical note: Iit is about 14 miles from the store, roughly 20 minutes, and it sits on the same road as the waterfalls. A Sunday lets you do both in one run.
Little Girls Point is a Gogebic County park on Lake Rd, about 16 miles from the store and around 25 minutes out. It is a shoreline park, and the beach is known for agates.
The park is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, which is the widest window of anything here and makes it a reliable option when the rest of your day has already gone sideways.
Practical note: Agates turn up once a blow has moved the stones around, so a windy week is a reason to go rather than a reason to stay home.
Sunday is the only day that makes all four possible, because of Copper Peak. If you are not tied to the ride to the top, any day works and the byway is quieter midweek than on a weekend.
Seasons matter more here than they do further south. The harbor and the beach are summer stops, the forest turns color in fall, and winter closes some of this down entirely. Check before you drive out between November and April.
Distances below are measured from 100 W Cloverland Dr in Ironwood.
Three of the four sit on the same road north, so the natural version of this trip is one drive with stops rather than four separate outings. Little Girls Point is the exception and heads north on its own route.
Fuel up in Ironwood. Services thin out fast once you are into the forest, and cell coverage goes with them.
High Profile of Ironwood Dispensary is at 100 W Cloverland Dr, Ironwood, MI 49938. It is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Any adult 21 or older with a valid government-issued ID can shop the recreational menu.
You can see hours, directions, and the current menu on the High Profile of Ironwood store page.
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