[Paddlewise] Keweenaw Water Trail

Keith,
I get the digest version of paddlewise, and have been gone this weekend, so 
I'm a little late in replying to your inquirey.
I live along the Keweenaw water trail. The majority of the trail follows 
the shoreline of the Keweenaw peninsula in Lake Superior. Much of it is 
rocky shoreline, some of which is like what you see in the leftmost picture 
shown on the website you posted (http://www.keweenaw.org/watertrail.htm) 
and some of it more grandiose, with much higher rock walls topped by trees. 
It's very pretty. Other parts of the shoreline are either sand beaches or 
cobblestone beaches. The water is very clear, and you can see 20 or more 
feet down. The bottom varies from sand to large boulders to solid rock 
masses which sometimes plunge deep and then rise up again to within a few 
feet of the surface. The rest of the trail, as you can see from the website 
map, runs from the Portage Entry near Jacobsville on the southeast side of 
the Peninsula upward through Portage Lake and follows M203 to the northwest 
side of the peninsula, which is near Bear Lake on the websites map, but 
more importantly, is near  McLains State Park right on the shore of Lake 
Superior where the canal meets Lake Superior again. I don't know why the 
map shows Bear Lake, which is a lily pad covered, shallow lake and not 
really a paddling destination, and yet they don't show a very nice state 
park right along the waterway which may be of interest to some as an 
overnight or day stop.

The Portage Canal part of the trail is mostly developed, but a nice paddle 
nonetheless.  The Lake superior shoreline from Copper Harbor to Bete Gris 
(and possibly beyond to as far as Gay, though I'm not sure) is mostly 
undeveloped. There is an Island off the tip of the peninsula  directly out 
from Schlatter Lake. The island is called Manitou Island, and is about 3 
miles offshore. It has a lighthouse on it. The waters can be rough out 
there, so you will want to check the marine weather forecasts before trying 
a crossing. The rest of the Lake superior shoreline is dotted with houses 
or cottages, spaced about a quarter mile apart. I recommend you order the 
map they offer on the website. It shows launch areas, and lists highlights 
along the water trail, as well as areas to watch out for where there may 
not be good landing sites if the water is rough.

If you need more info, feel free to contact me.

Randy Ricchi
Hancock, MI
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