Choose your own adventure with several hike options based on your experience level. However you get your steps in, sensational views and more waterfalls are in store, with several delicious meals throughout the day.
It’s time to get your steps in! This Hiking Lac La Belle Trip Guide leads you to sensational views, more waterfalls, and delicious local meals.
Put on your sturdy hiking shoes and BYO snacks and drinks for a picnic at the top of Bare Bluff Trail. The first stop is building a good hiking base with a hearty breakfast! (Oh, and grab your suit for a hot tub and sauna session at the end of your day.)
Breakfast in Copper Harbor: The Tamarack Inn and Lake Effect Bar and Grill are both great greasy spoon options. Or go back to Jamsen’s, cuz once wasn’t enough. Give yourself up to 45 minutes for breakfast. Gotta build that base!
Birdwatching Bare Bluff
Bare Bluff features hands-down the best view in the Keweenaw (some say in the entire Upper Peninsula), but you’ll have to work for it. This 1,100-foot elevation hike starts off tame enough with your choice of two routes beginning at the base of the climb.
Allow 3-4 hours, depending on how you hike.
Hike Montreal Falls + Bare Bluff Trail: Just a couple of miles apart from each other, these two hikes pair nicely together but also serve up well on their own if you only want to do one. Montreal Falls is a short, beginner-rated walk whereas Bare Bluff is a long, difficult hike that can catch less experienced hikers off guard.
Montreal Falls: Montreal Falls is a rugged, beautiful cascade over blocky volcanic rocks with incredible views over Lake Superior. The hike to the falls is about a mile, but you can continue on the trail upstream to reach the upper falls. 30-45 minutes here is great.
Bare Bluff Trail: Grab your picnic for the top! Located in the Russell and Miriam Grinnell Memorial Nature Sanctuary, the intermediate/difficult-rated Bare Bluff Trail trail is a three-mile forested loop with breathtaking vistas of Lake Superior. You have a couple of different options depending on how hard you want to work for your views. When you get to the fork in the trail, veer left (clockwise) for an easy ascent to the bluff through a well-groomed forested trail; or you can take the trail right (counterclockwise) for a much more challenging ascent to the cliffs with scrambling and some easy climbing. Either way, you’ve earned a picnic! Allow 3-4 hours, depending on how you hike.
Beach/Swim Bête Grise
Bête Grise refers to a beach, a bay, and a nature preserve, all located just below the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The beach is the longest in the Keweenaw and one of its most popular destinations in summer, thanks to the pristine white sand that extends along the lake floor.
Relax at Bête Grise Wetlands Preserve: Relieve your tired tootsies with a cool Superior soak. Along with the beautiful sand dunes and wetland habitat, this preserve boasts nearly one and a half miles of sandy beach along Lake Superior, possibly the longest in the Keweenaw. A 30-minute soak before dinner is perfect.
Wood-fired pizza dinner at The Log Cabin: Located at the base of Mount Bohemia, this is the perfect place to end a day of hiking. Pizza made with homemade ingredients, a killer bourbon menu, and a hot tub and sauna… this place has it all. It’s easy to spend several hours here. Treat yourself—you’ve earned it!
Sunset bonfire at Fresh Coast: Head back to home base for sunset and a bonfire on the beach, our favorite way to end a day exploring the Keweenaw. If it’s Friday night, join the weekly drink exchange with guests around the fire. The rules are simple—bring your favorite canned or bottled drink to swap and tell us why you love it!
Keweenaw Peninsula Trip Guides were curated by Fresh Coast Cabins + Friends. Collectively, we have over 20 years of time spent on these roads, in these woods, and supporting this community.