Cliff Drive
While on our way to explore the northern outreaches of the Keweenaw Peninsula, I noticed a little road branching off US-41 called Cliff Drive. I remember my friend Roman had recommended taking that road north, so we pulled off the main drag onto the bumpy drive and began heading northeast. We passed over the Gratiot River twice, got out of the car to explore Beatrice Falls, and slowly, but surely Cliff Ridge began to rise to our left.
As we got closer, I noticed the Eagle River was winding alongside us and becoming swampier and swampier as we approached the ridge. The river eventually turned into a boggy mess just after the parking area for the ancient Cliff Mine. The Cliff Mine was first drilled for copper in 1845 and was one of the largest producers of copper in the early period of the Keweenaw’s mining history. Most of the viable copper had been extracted by the 1950s, so the ridge was left alone.
The cliffs jut out from densely wooded areas, and if you were to climb the steep slopes of the ridge, you would run into the ruins of the original Cliff Mine and all of the operations that followed. The opposite side from the cliffs is littered with old mining and logging roads, which makes exploring further into the depths of the woods via truck or ATV possible.
After passing the cliffs and boggy mess I mentioned before we were ushered back onto US-41 and headed towards Copper Harbor once more. Cliff Drive doesn’t add much driving time, but seeing that it gives you access to winding rivers, waterfalls, ancient cliffs, nearly two-century-old mining ruins, and a system of trails, I would plan for a little extra time to explore here!
