Boekeloo Lodge

Boekeloo Lodge is a 716-square-foot historic log cabin in the woods near Lake Michigan, with a front deck facing a hand-dug pond. It began as a family homestead and later became a wilderness retreat; today, the National Park Service invites visitors to walk around and peek through the windows. This is a stop for people who enjoy old buildings and the landscape that grew around them, not a place to book a room.

Joseph Cooper's plan for a cranberry bog never came to fruition. Later, Miles Boekeloo had a pond dug where that bog was meant to go. The cabin faces east over the water, and the pond is what gives this modest cabin its setting. When the water is still, look for the cabin's reflection; that's the view the Park Service singles out.

Miles and Glea Boekeloo bought the property in 1945, and a rear bunkroom was added to the cabin in 1963. In 1980, the family sold the larger 365-acre property to the Park Service while keeping use of five acres around the cabin and pond until 2005. The Park Service describes Boekeloo Lodge as one of Michigan's last surviving mid-century wilderness retreats.

A trail leads from the cabin through woodland, wetlands, and dunes to Boekeloo Beach on Lake Michigan's northeast shore. It's a separate walk from the cabin, so allow for more than a quick look around if you want to reach the water. A picnic table is listed at the lodge.

From M-22, Boekeloo Road is about 8.5 miles south of Esch Road. Follow it west for about 1.2 miles; it's a narrow, unpaved two-track that ends at a gate and an entry path to the cabin. That makes this less of a casual roadside pull-off than the map pin might suggest.