I'm going to give you fair warning now, this post is going to have a lot of photos. There's just no way around it. When you visit somewhere as unique as this, you can't help but find yourself snapping copious amounts of pictures.
It's one of those cases where the photos kind of speak for themselves. When you go to an art gallery, do you spend your time talking about the works of art or do you just sit and appreciate them?
Okay, maybe some of you talk about them, but I think you get what I am saying.
Lakenenland is one of those roadside attractions that you pass a million times, but you are never quite sure if you should stop and check it out. It's a crap shoot a lot of times with these roadside tourist traps.
Sometimes they turn out to be something phenomenal, while other times they leave you wishing you hadn't wasted your time or the gas to visit them.
I'm happy to say that Lakenenland was totally worth it.
As soon as you turn into the driveway, you get the feeling that Lakenenland is going to be something really special.
Created by Tom Lakenen over 25 years ago, Lakenenland is a showcase of the more than 100 scrap metal sculptures that Tom has made over the years. As I said before, I have passed this way a ton of times, but I have never stopped to check it out.
To be honest, I never even gave it more than a second look. Honestly, if you aren't paying attention, you will likely blow right by it on the highway without even realizing it.
It was only at the recommendation of 
There is a lot going on at Lakenenland. When you pull into the parking lot, you are immediately met with two choices. You can drive through the park or you can walk through it. The walk is about a half mile, so it isn't too bad. I highly recommend taking the walk.
We polled our group and the boys decided they didn't want to walk. Which is funny because they ended up getting out of the truck to see the sculptures closer. They basically walked the whole thing anyway.
This is the part where we get heavy into the photos. There are sculptures on both sides of the road and
Some of the sculptures are whimsical, some are are political, but they all are pretty ingenious. You can tell that Tom put a lot of time and thought into the sculptures.
One of the benefits of walking through the park is the fact that some of the sculptures are interactive. Unlike a museum where the rules are absolutely hands off, here in Lakenenland, they don't mind if you touch the pieces.
The last photo above is kind of cool. If you look really close you can see that it was made out of industrial mixer bowls and the mixing ends.
For years artists have been using art to express their feelings and beliefs about a range of topics from politics to climate change, the economy, and other social issues. As I said, that is no different here in Lakenenland.
You might notice in the photos above the sculpture that calls out corporate greed.
Believe it or not, I am only about halfway through the photos. Although the primary draw to Lakenenland is the sculptures, they also have a pavilion, music stages, and other facilities on site.
In fact, while we were visiting, they had a YMCA youth camp on site so there were little kids and counselors running all over the place.
I've gotta be honest, some of the sculptures were outside of my understanding. I guess that is the cool thing about art, everyone sees it a different way.
What really impressed me about some of the pieces was the scale of them. They were just massive.
Given the iron ore and copper mining history of this area. I think Lakenenland really works in this part of the state. The park is actually located right across the street from Lake Superior. I think that is part of the reason I never really paid too much attention to it. I was always checking out the views on the other side of the road as we were driving by.
As I mentioned before, some of the sculptures are interactive. The slot machine in the last photo above is an example of that. You can actually pull the handle and the slot machine reels will move.
Remember I said some of the pieces were political? The last photo above is an example of that. There was a comment about the governor of Michigan being "That woman from Michigan". Made by one of the worst presidents we have had in the past several decades.
This sculpture is showing support for that governor. I thought it was pretty cool.
Additionally, some of the sculptures are tributes to local heroes like nurses, fire fighters, police officers and similar public service employees. It was pretty cool to see how thoughtful Tom was with each of his pieces.
Besides being entertaining, some of the pieces were also educational. If you look at the middle photo above, you will see that it talks about how much iron ore it takes to make one sheet of steel. It was pretty interesting to see that in person.
You might think that once you have seen Lakenenland once there isn't any reason to come back. I actually wouldn't agree. I would come back to this place again for sure. Even though we spent an hour or two here, there are still a couple of areas that I didn't see.
There is an additional walking path that has been recently added with an additional 600 feet of sculptures.
Along with that, there is a bog walk towards the front of the park that might also be interesting to see one day.
Finally, what tourist trap alongside the highway would be complete without a gift shop. We didn't go inside, but I had to get a photo of the building because it was pretty cool looking.
If you happen to be driving across US 28 in the northern part of Michigan's upper peninsula, I highly recommend you stop in and check out Lakenenland. Even if you only see one sculpture that you like, it is totally worth it.
Did I mention it's free admission? Maybe I should have led with that.
A little unique, a little out there, Lakenenland is a must see!
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or