Thirty miles northeast of St. Ignace is the 36-island archipelago – the Les Cheneaux Islands. Here you will find one-of-a-kind places, friendly faces, and a sense of time that will slow your paces!
The Les Cheneaux Culinary School & Restaurant in the heart of downtown Hessel prepares individuals to work as professional chefs, sous chefs, and culinary experts. The year-long program focuses on farm-to-table fine dining, with all products sourced from local farmers and purveyors where possible. The school’s fine-dining restaurant overlooks Hessel Bay and the Les Cheneaux Islands and can accommodate 80+ guests. During the summer months, culinary students complete their education, showcasing what they have learned by creating menus, preparing food, and operating the restaurant. For restaurant hours and menus, visit www.lcculinary.org, or visit them on Facebook for information about special wine-paired dinners. For reservations, call (906) 484-4800.
The creative heart of this lakeside village beats strongly in the old Hessel School House. Built in 1937 through the Works Progress Administration, it operated as a school until 1959. Today it continues to serve the community with an extensive offering of educational programs throughout the year that include lectures, workshops, and art classes for both children and adults. Also on the property is the Story Book Trail that features a selection of books displayed along the trail and are available for purchase in the gift store. Sales help fund Hessel School House–Avery Arts and Nature Learning Center programs, such as the annual Aldo Leopold Festival, which honors Aldo Leopold, one of America’s most influential naturalists.
Beginning in May and running through December, unless otherwise indicated, the Les Cheneaux Farmers & Artisans Market meets every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hessel School House. For more information about Hessel School House programming visit www.hesselschoolhouse.org, Facebook, or call (906) 484-1333.
The Les Cheneaux Islands Antique Wooden Boat Show and Festival of Arts has been a major attraction in the Les Cheneaux Islands area since it began in 1978. Featuring antique and classic wooden boats, some more than 100 years old, the show attracts about 150 boats annually. Many vessels are owned by residents of the Les Cheneaux Islands and are still in use, cruising through the Islands during the summer season. The show is always the second Saturday in August in the Hessel Marina. E. J. Mertaugh Boat Works, which anchors the eastern end of the boat display area, had the first Chris Craft franchise in the United States. For more information, visit www.lciboatshow.com or find them on Facebook.
The Marquette Island Nature Preserves is comprised of the Aldo Leopold Preserve, the Sheppard-Hardy Preserve, the Catherine Sieberling Stewart Preserve, the Kathy Bricker Nature Lover Preserve, and Wilderness Bay for more than 2,000 acres of protected lands and five miles of Lake Huron shoreline. This northern shoreline of Lake Huron was designated a “Last Great Place” by The Nature Conservancy, a global leader in natural land conservation, in 1973. The preserves feature critical habitats that support a variety of flora and fauna, including aquatic plant species, insects, fish species, and migratory birds.
The Marquette Island Nature Preserves are accessible only by boat (or over the ice in winter). The easiest access to the Aldo Leopold Preserve is at Leopold Landing at Duck Bay. Trails are not regularly maintained, and in many places, they go through dense conifer forests with seasonally wet sections. You will find trail signs for a trail loop about a mile-and-a-quarter-long near Duck Bay, but you can go further up the preserve following old two tracks. You can launch your boat from either Hessel or Cedarville to reach Marquette Island. For more information, visit www.landtrust.org or visit the Little Traverse Conservancy on Facebook.
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