Chippewa Bay

In the northwest corner of southern portion of Powell Lake you will find Chippewa Bay. Chippewa is well known for several reasons.

One, it has a large dock and booming area for loggers working north and west into the Bunster Hills. Logging equipment comes up the lake on barges and booms of logs are towed back in the opposite direction. If you arrive by boat, it's best to come on weekends when logging is less active and you can explore on your own.

Two, you will find a natural forestry museum up Museum Main. This logging road runs near two historic steam donkeys with lots of interesting items strewn across the forest floor. One is near the main, the other is about an hour hike from the road. If you arrive by boat, it's a long walk up to the first steam donkey. If you arrive by quad from Theodosia, it's easier. Well, relatively so. It's an all day ride over Heather Main, but well worth it.

Three, in the summer Chippewa Bay is great for swimming with warmer water than the rest of the lake. This is probably due to the shallower depths and position away from the natural flow from the head to ocean. In the middle of the lake it's over 1000 feet deep, and that can keep it pretty cold all year long.

Four, CB CB'ers. What's that? Chippewa Bay Cabin Busters are strong northwest winds that often follow major storms. They swoop out of Chippewa Bay and blast down the lower lake, trying to level everything in their path, including unsuspecting float cabins. This is one reason you will find some of the heaviest protective booms around cabins in this area.

Up the Lake has a chapter about Wayne getting caught on the lake in a CB CB'er. Click here to read the chapter for free and find out more about life on Powell Lake. -- Margy