michigan back roads

Lakenenland

The section of M-28 between Marquette and Au Train runs along the shore of Lake Superior with beautiful lakeshore scenery. About midway, opposite that lakeshore, a huge sign announces an unusual attraction, Lakenenland, “Junkyard Art”. To describe Lakenenland as a sculpture park is a bit misleading. Dozens of sculptures are scattered through 37 acres and a nice track allows access to a everyone. However, these aren't the high falutin works that usually come to mind when one thinks sculpture, you know, like Michaelangelo or something. No, these works of art are made from tons of scrap metal collected from sites all over the upper peninsula.

When you pull in you pass a small pond. Past that is the parking area. Next to the parking area is a large pavilion with seating and shade. From the parking area you can enter the sculpture section by walking, driving, cycling, whatever your preference. The scrap has been transformed into more than 80 installations that are true to the region, great fun to see, and in a beautiful wooded setting. There are depictions you would expect to find in the far north, like the two giant lumberjacks working a log with their crosscut saw or the Finnish Dog Sled. Others are a bit different, a helicopter, a Tasmanian Devil, a bar band, a UFO, and the ever popular, log with bowling balls growing out of the North side, where they always grow in the wild.

 

 

Lakenenland can also be reached on a snowmobile trail designated as #417. The park is open year-round and during the winter there is often a fire in the fireplace inside the pavilion. Lakenenland is described in the book Best Kept Secrets.