It’s impossible to visit the Keweenaw Peninsula and not see constant reminders of the area’s mining history, but few visitors know that the remains of a former Cold War era Air Force station sit just off the beaten path. The Open Skies Project purchased the Calumet Air Force Station property in 2021, and have some amazing plans to clean up, restore, and revitalize the property for public use. They currently offer tours of the base, and I made sure to include this is our 2024 plans when we visited the Upper Peninsula. Our visit took place on a very rainy day in June, but despite the weather we were treated to an amazing tour of this historic site. Today we will share some pictures from our visit and pass on a little bit of what we learned. If you’re visiting the Keweenaw, this is definitely a tour you need to consider adding to your trip!

Our tour started in an old garage, where old radios and communication equipment are displayed. There’s also a map of the base, showing the layout of houses, dorms, community buildings, and other structures. After layering up on rain gear and grabbing our umbrella we headed out to explore.

We first visited the rows of houses that families had once called home when this base was operational. We learned how after the base had shut down, the Keweenaw Academy had used the property to house students as part of a youth correctional facility. Most of the houses here are in various states of disrepair after years of neglect, but it was possible to visualize the potential for the future. After passing through the neighborhood we were able to go inside one of the houses. These homes had everything a family would need to live comfortably here on base.

After passing through the neighborhood of houses we got an up close look at one of the sets of metal towers that had been part of the Ground Air Transmit Receive system. The radar systems here worked to identify aircraft, determine if it was friendly or hostile, and pass information on to the K.I. Sawyer base south of Marquette as well as the one in Duluth. Those bases would then be able to launch aircraft to intercept if needed.

As we looped back around to near where had started we saw other buildings like the dorms, rec center, machine shop, commissary, hospital, and more. Most of these buildings appeared structurally intact, though decades of neglect has left them with some damage and plenty of graffiti. There is even a baseball field!

We headed up the hill to explore more of the buildings that would have served as the heart of the operations here when this base was operational. Here on the top of Mt. Horace Greeley, the highest point in the Keweenaw, there were two radio control towers, an operations center, and an underground bunker.

It was cool to see the inside of the operations center, especially the old theater. The next stop was the highlight for us as we got to go in the underground bunker.

After visiting the fallout shelter we got the chance to take in the views from the top of the tower. The rain and the fog kept this from being the stunning view it could have been, but it was cool to see the whole base from up here. On a clear day you would be able to see Lake Superior quite well from here, and from talking with our guide my suspicions were confirmed that this is a great spot for night sky and northern lights viewing.

This was an amazing tour and I’m glad that we were able to still go on it despite the weather. We can’t thank Ian enough for sharing his knowledge of the base and the Open Skies Project’s vision for all the future potential this historical site holds. You can book a tour of your own (Wednesday, Saturdays, select special events) online and if you follow along with the group on their Facebook page you can see all upcoming events as well as photos of progress at the site. Tours are free but donations are accepted, and an online store offers shirts and other items for sale to help fund all of the projects here. You don’t want to miss an Open Skies Project tour on your next visit to the Keweenaw! We’ve added a gallery of some more of our photos below: