Michigan Lights - Lower Keweenaw Entrance Lighthouse

Lower Keweenaw Entrance Lighthouse

The drive from the Portage River Lighthouse to the Lower Keweenaw Entrance Lighthouse is short. Short enough we saw the same guy walking west on our way to the Portage River Lighthouse, then saw him heading to the Lower Keweenaw Light as we approached it.

The Entrance light is the second at this location, on a 2,000-foot cement pier. It replaced the front range light in 1920 and has been in operation ever since.

This location marks the entrance to Portage Lake and the river which takes ships to Houghton and Hancock. Originally, two developers in 1860 took it upon themselves to dredge the mouth of the river so ships could make the trip instead of having to stop and transfer goods to smaller boats to complete the journey.

The Civil War began a year later; in these upper reaches of Michigan, people were excited about copper and how to get it out of the ground because the mineral was abundant.

A view from the beach.

We parked in a sandy patch where the gravel road ended and made our way to the beach. The night before was stormy and rain was in the forecast but during our visit we had more sun than clouds.

After getting shots from shore, I climbed onto the cement pier which is on the east side of the Portage River passage to the cities of Hancock and Houghton.

It was a quiet morning. A couple dozen sea gulls were resting on the pier, bothering to fly only when one of us (the walker mentioned earlier or me) got close. That was fine as it provided movement in the photo (above left).

The light has been automated since 1920.

It's a beautiful light with a classic look and solidly built. It appeared to in good shape to me, however, it was deemed excess by the Coast Guard in 2014 and awarded to a local group in 2016 to care for it.

The story about the light at LighthouseFriends.com indicates that group wasn't active long and a new caretaker is being sought.

Originally, we were going to see the Portage River and Lower Keweenaw Entrance light before the rest on the peninsula but we missed our turn when we arrived Saturday.

If you visit, be ready to exit as soon as you cross the bridge from Houghton to Hancock, then it's a bit of a drive from Houghton because you drive around a lake to get to reach the peninsula where both lights are located. I rely on Lighthousefriends.com for directions covering the final few miles to the light.