Summit Peak is located about 1/2 mile and 150 to 200 ft above the parking lot. The trail is not an example of rugged hiking; it's designed for people who are accustomed to driving in a similar sense as the Lake of the Clouds Overlook. At 1,958 ft, Summit Peak is the highest point in the park and within two dozen feet of Mts. Arvon and Curwood, the highest in the State of Michigan. A 40 ft tower gives a panoramic view which claims to include Wisconsin and Minnesota. Mostly, you can see the tree-covered ridges of other areas of the park.
From the tower, you can either double back to the parking lot to access the Beaver Creek Trail, or continue ahead an additional 1/2 mile downhill to the South Mirror Lake Trail. Before the parking lot and new trails were built, this segment was described as "Side Trail to Summit Peak" in the description of the South Mirror Lake Trail. It is more rugged than the trail from the parking lot. I don't think Summit Peak got as many visitors in those days.
The Beaver Creek Trail runs about a mile from the parking lot, downhill into a valley, following along a small tributary of the Little Carp River into a swampy area, until it reaches the Little Carp River Trail about halfway between the South Mirror Lake Trail and the Lily Pond Trail . I assume the small stream must be the Beaver Creek from which the trail derives its name, although neither the park map nor the USGS map indicate a name. The beginning part is forested hiking like that found on most Porkies' trails, followed by open swampland. Like the North Mirror Lake Trail just north of Mirror Lake, there is an extensive length of boardwalk which aids in navigating through the swamp without soaking your feet.
When Mike and Aimee hiked in this area in August, 1991, on our last Porkies' visit before moving from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania, we also completed the 2 1/2 mile eastern segment of the Little Carp River Trail by hiking west (really southwest) about 1 1/4 miles from the Beaver Creek Trail junction, past Lily Pond and the Lily Pond Cabin, to the Lily Pond Trail junction. We then doubled back northeast and continued past the Beaver Creek Trail junction an additional 1 1/4 miles to the South Mirror Lake Trail. This last segment follows the river closely and makes for interesting hiking.
Mike and Maria hiked this part (and more) of the Little Carp River Trail and the Beaver Creek Trail on June 14, 2001. Aimee had dropped them off at Little Carp River Road and it took them a bit over four hours to hike the Little Carp River Trail past Lily Pond to the South Mirror Lake Trail junction, to backtrack to the Beaver Creek Trail, and to complete that trail to the Summit Peak parking area. Maria covered all the ground beginning with Lily Pond on her own two feet, with Mike carrying her on the 1.5 mile backtrack. She completed two segments of 2.5 miles and 1 mile, respectively, to set a new personal best of 3.5 miles on a single day's hike. Mike carried her a total of 4 miles to complete the 7.5 mile hike that day.
Was there anything new that day? Well, as the picture shows, signage was added to indicate the Summit Peak Loop. We did part of the loop that day, but omitted the most difficult part, climbing Summit Peak itself.
The Little Carp River Trail segment is basically flat, and even though the Beaver Creek Trail is uphill from west to east (2001) or downhill in the other direction (1991), it is a moderate slope. Maybe I should say it seemed like a moderate uphill slope in 2001, with Maria stopping every 10 seconds (it seemed) to play with caterpillars. At one point shortly before returning to the parking area, the trail seems to follow the creek bed along an uphill segment.
One thing to remember: It's easy to cover ground on several trails by hiking in this area. In addition to the trails described on this page, the South Mirror Lake and Lily Pond Trails can be used as relatively short additions to loop hikes without ever traveling further than two miles or so (as the crow flies) from Summit Peak.
 Summit Peak is the
highest point in the park at 1,958 ft. Even so, it's difficult to see
beyond the other ridges in the park to the Lake Superior shore. In
most directions, all you can see are tree-covered hills. |
 This view of a
swampy area is typical of the Beaver Creek Trail. Much of
the trail follows along a stream -- I guess it's Beaver Creek -- which
eventually flows into the Little Carp River between Mirror Lake and
Lily Pond. |
 Mike poses near a
directional sign at the intersection of the
Lily Pond and Little Carp River Trails. On the Little Carp River
Trail, this is close to a halfway point between Mirror Lake and Little
Carp River Road, and it
marked a turnaround point for our hike in early August, 1991. |
 Maria poses in front of the Lily Pond Cabin on June 14, 2001. She and Dad had hiked three miles on the Little Carp River Trail to get to this point where they stopped for lunch. After lunch, Maria hiked on her own two feet for most of the rest of the day, making Dad quite happy. |
 History repeats
itself, well, not quite. Maria poses at the junction of the
Little
Carp River and South Mirror Lake Trails on June 14, 2001, after
completing
the 2.5 miles from our lunch stop at Lily Pond Cabin on her own two
feet.
About a half hour later, she completed the one mile distance of the
Beaver
Creek Trail for a new personal best of 3.5 miles in a single day's
hiking. |
|
|
From Lily Pond to
Mirror Lake, the Little Carp River runs generally in a
northward direction and closely follows the trail for about the last
mile
and a half. This is one of many views of the river along this segment
of
the trail.