Drummond Island Resort & Conference Center

Drummond Island Historical Museum. Items include items used by Indians, Finnish farmers, Yankee settlers, plus displays of a British fort, the lumber era, ferry boats, and commercial fishing ... more

Drummond Island Yacht Haven. A big marina with a variety of boat rentals (from fishing to pontoon boats), also guides, and lots of supplies and gear ... more

Turtle Ridge ORV Park

For years, Drummond tourism people and ORV enthusiasts have worked to create an adventurous attraction that can also focus ORVs and mountain bikers in certain areas to give the birders, kayakers, and hikers their space. Turtle Ridge's 400 natural acres include trails on large rock ridges and also through old-growth forests down below. These trails are laid out with beauty in mind by a champion biker.

Here are some popular backcountry destinations, arranged from southeast to north:
♦ GLEN COVE. This is a good camping destination for kayakers because the primitive road gets you right down to the water and a good swimming beach. From the ferry, go to the Four Corners (8 miles), then take Johnswood Rd. 7 miles left to Kreetan Rd. Go one mile, then right onto Sheep Ranch Rd./ Glen Cove Rd. At the intersection known as Corned Beef Junction, bear left and you'll soon be at Glen Cove Beach, a little to the left of the road's end. No ORV sticker necessary to go to Glen Cove Beach.
♦ MARBLE HEAD. Dolomite cliffs a couple hundred feet high descend to the North Channel in steps. View Canada's Cockburn Island across a narrow passage. The first 1 ½ miles are near the water. Then the road starts to climb. Hike or ride 2 miles to the junction to the left, to the flat limestone summit 150 above the water. Here you can look north 23 miles to the Canadian shoreline. To your east you can see Cockburn Island in Ontario.
Same directions from the ferry to Glen Cove Beach. At ORV Trail Marker 22, bear right. Well marked for ORVs. ORV sticker required if motorized equipment is used to get to Marble Head. Or— park your car at Glen Cove beach, hike the 4 miles (each way).
♦ POTAGANNISSING RIVER. South of the Maxton Plains, a kayak or canoe trip can take you into some remote areas where loons nest and wild rice grows. The river connects four lakes. The first lake, 2 ½ miles long, is covered with water lilies. Paddlers may have to portage over beaver lodges. Water levels, controlled by a dam, can be too low to be navigable. On a map, the chain of lakes looks easy to navigate through, but in fact it's full of false channels, complicated by heavy growth of summer vegetation. So it would be wonderful if you could find an informal guide to go back here, unless it's duck-hunting season, when heavy use makes channels obvious. There are no professional guides. People who feel they're expert paddlers have been known to get lost here. It's swampy and hard to get out of your kayak or canoe.
♦ MAXTON PLAINS. Here the limestone bedrock is right at the surface, almost like pavement in its flat expanse. Stay on the road! No off-road vehicles allowed north of Plains Road.
Plants lichens and mosses grow in the limestone cracks, creating four to eight inches of spongy soil on top that supports rare ALVAR GRASSLANDS and Alpine plants, in addition to uncommon dwarf lake iris, rare butterflies, and birds like bobolinks, Eastern meadowlark, and sandpipers. To survive here, plants must be alkaline and able to withstand sudden alternations from dry to soaking conditions. During fall, these boring-looking grasses can burst into bloom within a day, turning into a sight of great if subtle beauty. Flowers bloom in spring. Alvar grasslands exist in only a few places on earth, including Pelee Island in southern Ontario, nearby Manitoulin Island, and Latvia. Excellent interpretive panels explain how the grasslands evolved. (Essays on the Alvar grasslands are also on drummondislandchamber.com) The Nature Conservancy owns much of the plains. Mountain bikers are prohibited from biking on the fragile, thin soils.
From the kiosk, at the junction of Maxton, Plains, and Hay Point roads, if it's mid-May to mid-June, you can take a side trip and see the prairie smoke wildflower. Turn left, go 2 miles, and you will see fields of pink flowers swaying in the breeze.
From Drummond village, take Maxton Rd. east and then north into plains.
♦ FOSSIL LEDGES. Saltwater fossils, millions of years old, are commonly found in the exposed limestone of the eastern Upper Peninsula and the Straits-Charlevoix area. Fossils are especially abundant on the two miles of limestone beach at this point on Drummond's north shore. Do not drive off the road! See a good map from the Visitor Center. Take pictures, not souvenirs. From the ferry, take M-134 eight miles east to the Four Corners. Turn left onto Townline Rd. In 1 ½ miles, turn right onto Maxton Rd. Follow it 7 ½ miles to the very end, where it intersects with Hay Point Rd. and Plains Rd. At this juncture, turn right onto Plains Rd. In 2.8 miles, turn left onto to an unnamed road and drive 3.2 miles, bearing left until you get to the first right, after the swamp on your right. Turn right, go .1 of a mile to the parking area. Walk down to the beach.
♦ POTAGANISSING BAY and HARBOR ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE. Over 30 islands dot this protected bay. Kayakers and boaters can explorer the five state-owned uninhabited islands. A map is needed to tell which are public islands. The biggest, Harbor Island, has an old-growth forest and a big interior cove, seven feet deep, where boaters like to drop anchor and spend the night. Boaters like to swim, fish, hike its trails, pick berries, and see beaver lodges along the shore. Picknicing on the beach is permitted. Ask the Drummond Island Tourist Association for deer-hunting regulations. No campfires or camping are allowed here. Boots only—no bikes or other wheeled vehicles!