Boekeloo Cabin

Log cabin with white chinking and red roof, windows, and front door sits on the edge of a pond
Boekeloo Cabin on a former cranberry bog

Susan Pocklington, Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear

The Boekeloo Lodge is located on Boekeloo Road about 8.5 miles south of Esch Road on M-22. The road is a narrow 2-track that goes west about 1.2 miles from M-22.

When you arrive at the end of the road, the first thing you notice is the quiet beauty of the pond and surrounding forest. The reflection of the cabin on the still water of the pond makes you want to sit right down and enjoy the natural setting.

 
Log cabin with thick, light chinking, red-trimmed windows and red letters that spell out Boekelodge on the peaked roof
Boekeloo Cabin exterior restored by Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear 2012-2013

Susan Pocklington, Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear

The pond is actually a cranberry bog dug out by Boekeloo in the late 1940s. They dug a canal to the Platte River to fill the bog. There are no cranberries any more, but there is still evidence of the canal. The lodge was built as a homestead cabin by the Cooper family, who hunted, trapped, fished, and tended a garden to survive on the sandy soil of Platte Plains from 1932 to 1935.

When the Boekeloo family acquired the cabin in 1945, it had been abandoned for ten years. They repaired and modernized the cabin and used it as a wilderness vacation spot until the property was acquired by the NPS.

Walk around the lodge and peak in the windows to get a glimpse of vacation life in this little cabin in the woods. If you’re up for a hike to Lake Michigan, follow the trail about 1 mile through the woods and beach dunes to a secluded beach. The trail from M-22 to Lake Michigan is ideal for cross country skiing or snowshoeing in the winter.

Last updated: August 26, 2021

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

9922 Front Street
Empire, MI 49630

Phone:

231 326-4700

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