IF YOU GO
Hessel and Cedarville have many summer residents. In winter, it is mostly a retirement community.
Stay: Mostly old-fashioned cottages and lodges, such as the Lakeview Motel and Cottages, Hessel (www.cedarville.net/lakeviewmotel/, 906-484-2474.) On Hill Island is the Hills Point Resort (www.hillspointresort.com, 906-236-2449.)
Dining: The 1-year-old, nonprofit Les Cheneaux Culinary School and Restaurant trains chefs of the future and also provides summer residents with a high-end dining experience in Hessel (www.lcculinary.org). Locals like the less expensive Ang-Gios Restaurant on M-134.
Beyond: The Les Cheneaux Islands are about 25 minutes west of Detour where you can catch the ferry for Drummond Island.
For more: Les Cheneaux Islands Chamber of Commerce (www.lescheneaux.net), Les Cheneaux Islands Tourist Association (www.lescheneaux.org.)
HESSEL, Mich. — Jessie Hadley knows the Les Cheneaux inside out — its islands, its secrets, its secret marshes.
“The Les Cheneaux is an opaque place,” says Hadley, owner of Woods and Water Ecotours. “It is word of mouth or a connection. You have to have the veil lifted, the secret passed.”
So let’s just say that I’m about to rip off the veil.
Many in Michigan have never heard of the Les Cheneaux, much less visited it. Pronounced Lay-Shen-O, it is a group of 36 small islands plus two small towns, Hessel and Cedarville, that hug the Lake Huron shore in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Drive across the Mackinac Bridge, turn right at M-134, and about 20 minutes later, you’re there.
In French, Les Cheneaux means “the channels.”
Says Hadley, “it’s not a cookie cutter place.”
But what’s here? It is an incredible paddling and classic boat destination along 12 miles of Lake Huron shoreline. Visitors also will see some glamorous, rustic family homes passed down through the generations. The area has two golf courses, a small native casino, some tiny grocery stores and shops, extremely decent ice cream, and lodging that is mostly old-fashioned, pine-paneled Upper Peninsula-style motels and cottages.
Other than that, much of the Les Cheneaux is greenery — protected land owned by state, national forest service or nature conservancies devoted to keeping the “wild” in the wilderness. A new North Huron Birding Trail also was just established in the eastern U.P.
Since you can’t invite yourself to an island home for a vacation, I’d recommend three ways that a stranger can get a feel for this place: go kayaking, take a boat-building class, or visit the Antique Wooden Boat Show and Festival of the Arts in August.
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KAYAK WITH A GUIDE
Jessie Hadley began her company in 2000 after working for the Michigan Department of National Resources in the area for many years. She takes families, individuals and groups on kayaking excursions ranging from two hours to a week. Some trips include overnight camping on nearby Government Island or sunset paddles.
Kayaking entered the Great Lakes about 30 years ago, and the Les Cheneaux is perfect for the sport, Hadley says, because the islands protect small craft from the open waters of Lake Huron. Many marshes are tucked into small spots where kayaks can silently slide, unlike other boats.
“It’s a sheltered channel, and the bays and islands are protected. If you feel like you want to go around an island, you can,” she says.
Hadley does kayak training for groups, but she also is getting more families with children about age 10-16 who want a day paddle, plus more groups of women, who want a weekend of paddling plus good food and pampering while they’re at it.
One afternoon I go out with her for three hours. The party includes her two assistants and another customer. After giving a safety and paddling technique briefing and making sure we have the right life jackets and gear, we set off at Hessel Beach and paddle eastward, passing cottages and turning into a quiet marsh, where blue herons perch in the reeds. Then it begins to rain lightly.
I suck in fresh air. I listen to the hypnotic sound of our paddles slicing through the water. I feel the rain pattering on my head. And you know, I feel good.
For more: Woods and Water Ecotours and Outdoor Shop, 20 Pickford Road, Hessel, www.WoodsWaterEcotours.com. Paddling Les Cheneaux day trips, $75 to $120 per person. Also offers custom trips and longer paddling trips to Government Island and Isle Royale National Park. Discounts for children under 18.
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LEARN TO BUILD A BOAT
In Hessel, I meet Margaret Robinson of Shorewood, Wis. She has come all the way to the eastern U.P. to take a 5 1/2-day class at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville.
“I’m building my own kayak; it is two-thirds of the way done,” she says, adding she is using something called the stitch-and-glue method. “I wanted something light enough for me to pick up,” says the retiree.
Boat building workshops teach participants how to build their own paddle board, kayak, dinghy, canoe or other types of boats. It also has two-year programs for future boat building professionals. The Les Cheneaux is famed for its wooden boat heritage, so this is a natural fit and a unique offering.
For more: Great Lakes Boat Building School, 485 Meridian, Cedarville (glbbs.org.) Boat building workshops are offered through September. Tuition is about $800, plus the cost of the boat kit, about $1,000.
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CLASSIC BOATS ARE A DRAW
The Les Cheneaux features one unusual sight: small wooden mahogany boats from the early 1900s to 1930s that are regularly used by families to get from their island homes to the mainland and other islands. The nation’s first Chris Craft dealer opened in Hessel in 1925. The area still is a premier spot for classic boat owners to have their boats babied.
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