Monocle Lake

Monocle Lake

The centerpiece of this attractive natural area in the Hiawatha National Forest is 172-acre Monocle Lake. It's stocked for fishing with walleye, bass, pike, and perch. There's a beach, boat launch, and picnic area with charcoal grills. Lots of improvements, including a floating fishing dock and hard gravel paths, make Monocle Lake outstanding for handicapped people.

A two-mile hiking trail loop starts at the picnic area and goes through natural hardwoods intermixed with some very old white pines and hemlocks. The trail's first 1,100 feet are fully accessible, including the boardwalk carrying the trail across a wetland and beaver dam. The industrious beavers, which grow to 40 to 60 pounds, make use of the boardwalk, too. Northwoods Wildlife says that beavers "are quite punctual, leaving the lodge every day at dusk to feed. Most of their work is done at night, except in the fall, when they may be seen during the day catching their winter source of tree limbs by the lodge." Beaver lodge entrances are underwater to avoid predators.

Ospreys (also called fish hawks) have a nest in the area, so it's not unusual to see them catching fish in the wetland shallows.

When the trail comes to a bench in a quarter mile, a spur leads left up the bluff overlook for a grand view of the shipping channel. See under Brimley-area camping for campground description.

From M-28, take M-221 to Brimley, go west on Lake Shore 7 miles. Monocle Lake is 1 mile east of Point Iroquois. (906) 635-5311. Free day use. Wheelchair-accessible.
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POINTS OF INTEREST

Mission Hill/Spectacle Lake Overlook. A delightful, easily missed spot with memorable scenic panoramas of the Point Iroquois Light, occasional freighters, and the Soo Locks. ... more

Monocle Lake. A well-stocked 172-acre lake with a beach, floating fishing dock, and 2-mile hiking trail. ... more

Point Iroquois Light Station & Museum. Memorable 1870 lighthouse museum with furnished keeper's quarters, displays on lighthouse technology, navigational aids. Up from a beautiful beach. Climb the lighthouse tower for a great view of lake, shipping. ... more

Big Pine Picnic Area. A local favorite picnic site with huge pines, a fine Lake Superior beach with colorful stones ... more

Bay View Beach and Campground. You'll often have the sandy Lake Superior beach here to yourself ... more

Pendills Creek National Fish Hatchery. See the hundreds of thousands of lake trout growing to 5" to 8" when they are released in Lake Michigan and Huron ... more

Indian Fishing Historical Marker & roadside park. On a site with a sweeping Lake Superior beach, a marker tells the story of a Bay Mills fishing case ruling on the the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Indians never signed away their right to fish for a living. ... more

North Country Trail Segment. Enjoy a short walk on the multi-state hiking trail, traversing a swinging bridge and reaching Tahquamenon Bay ... more

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