For years, the first thing you saw when you stepped out the front door of the Lodge building was a row of parked cars. This year, that changed. We are repurposing the parking lot around the Lodge building into a natural area, so that what you see from the entrance is a fox trotting by, the glow over Brockway Mountain, and a sky full of stars, rather than bumpers and headlights.
Why we are doing this
The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge exists to get people closer to nature. A parking lot wrapped around the Lodge building works against that in three ways.
Cars block the view. The Lodge building looks west toward Brockway Mountain and the West Bluff, one of the best views on the property. With vehicles parked between the entrance and the golf course, much of that view was a windshield. Now the line of sight runs clear from the front steps to the ridge.
Cars push wildlife away. Engines starting, doors closing, and people coming and going all day keep animals at a distance. Since the Lodge went cabin-guests-only in 2024, the grounds have grown quieter, and the wildlife has noticed. This August, a red fox walked right past the benches at the entrance in the morning light, close enough to watch from the window. With the cars gone, we expect to see more moments like that, not fewer.
Headlights and dark skies do not mix. The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge is the headquarters of the Keweenaw Dark Sky Park. It takes your eyes roughly 20 to 30 minutes to fully adjust to the dark, and one set of headlights sweeping across a parking lot can undo all of it in a second. Taking cars out of the area right outside the Lodge building means you can walk out the door, let your eyes adjust, and keep your night vision while you look up.
This is also aligned with our neighbors, the Nature Conservancy, the Michigan Nature Association, and Grant Township, who have land that border the Lodge property. [ Learn more about the Keweenaw Heartlands and the Michigan Nature Association’s James Dorian Rooks Sanctuary ]
What we did this year
This year we closed off the parking lot next to the Lodge building, an area of roughly 17,000 square feet. Here is what is there now.
- Stumps instead of gates. Rather than gates, posts, or concrete barriers, we used stumps to block the lot to vehicles. They do the job, and they look like they belong in the north woods.
- Picnic tables, benches, and planters throughout. The open space is now set up for sitting, not parking, with picnic tables, wooden planters, and Adirondack chairs gathered around small tables across the former lot. Bring your breakfast burrito and coffee from the Little Cabin Café out to a picnic table, sit on a bench and watch the evening light fade over Brockway, or simply sit still and see who wanders by.
- A new welcome at the entrance. Under the entrance canopy of the Lodge building, wagon-wheel benches and barrel planters now sit where cars used to pull up, lit by a warm, low light that keeps the evening dark around it.
So where do the cars go? Since the Lodge is cabin-guests-only, most guests park at their cabins and walk up to the Lodge building, which is part of the experience. For anyone who needs it, there is still a parking lot just east of the Lodge building.
What you will see
Stand under the entrance canopy at dusk and the view is framed by the log posts and the roof line: the picnic tables in silhouette, the Keweenaw Dark Sky Park sign glowing softly by the trees, the first fairway, and the sky turning from orange to deep blue over Brockway Mountain. Come back after dark and that same open space is a place to watch the stars come out, without a headlight in sight.
And if you are up early, keep an eye on the walkway. You may have company.
Where this is going
This is a first step. The plan is to remove the asphalt around the Lodge building altogether, so the area becomes a true natural area rather than a hard surface and a parking lot. We will keep working toward that in the seasons ahead. It is one more way we are marrying history with the future to get to a vibrant and progressive present: a 1930s lodge, surrounded by nature, with nothing parked in the way.
What will it look like? Picture stepping out from under the entrance canopy onto a stone path that winds through tall grasses and wildflowers. Adirondack chairs and picnic tables sit out in the open, wooden planters line the way, and low path lights mark the route without washing out the sky. Out in the meadow, a stone pad is set up for telescopes, so on a clear night you can walk a few steps from the Lodge building and be looking at the Milky Way over Brockway Mountain. In winter, the same path is cut through the snow, the picnic tables wear a fresh layer of white, and the telescopes are still waiting under the stars.
You can follow the project, and see AI-generated images of what the area could become, on our special projects page: Repurpose Parking Lot Around the Lodge Building.
