Lac La Belle ( ; French: "''Lake The Beautiful''") is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Keweenaw County Keweenaw County (, ; , ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, the state's northernmost county. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county. It is also the ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The town was originally the site of a stamping plant for the

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mines of the Keweenaw, specifically the Mendota Mine and the Delaware Mine. Copper-bearing rock was transported from the mines to the stamping plant, where it was processed and loaded onto freighters. The nearby lake of the same name is a typical "Canadian Shield"-type lake averaging approximately and empties into

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

at Bete Gris, by way of both a natural channel and a dredged

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

. The canal was dredged in the 1860s with funding from several

copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

companies, for use by

lake freighter Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. Since the late 19th century, lakers have carried bulk cargoes of ma ...

s, carrying

ore. The lake contains

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a p ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

, smallmouth bass,

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

, bluegill, sunfish,

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

, carp and an occasional muskie. The

Little Gratiot River The Little Gratiot River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed February 3, 2012 river in Keweenaw County on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. It flows ...

and several creeks empty into Lac La Belle. A small roadside park within the town contains Haven Falls on Haven Creek, which also empties into the lake. Lac La Belle has an active summer

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

industry, with many summer cottages and

resorts A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort' ...

. The area has many dense forests and small mountains. There are backwoods outfitters who guide hikers through these areas. In the winter, the nearby Mount Bohemia attracts skiers and snowboarders.

References

External links

* Unincorporated communities in Keweenaw County, Michigan Belle Houghton micropolitan area, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Bodies of water of Keweenaw County, Michigan Michigan populated places on Lake Superior {{KeweenawCountyMI-geo-stub

See also

References

External links