The Fox River

In 1919, Ernest Hemingway stepped off a train in Seney [1], asked for directions to a good trout stream, and was directed up an old railroad grade to the east branch of the Fox. Where truth meets fiction we’ll never know, but Hemingway’s U.P. [2] travels resulted in “Big Two-Hearted River,” his Nick Adams tale about fishing on what was really the Fox. (The more lyrical Big Two Hearted [3] actually flows about 25 miles to the northeast.) Consequently, the Fox has always carried a special cachet in the U.P. and among trout fishermen.

The Fox River Pathway was no doubt prompted by perennial interest in Hemingway’s river. The route stretches 27 miles from Seney north to just shy of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore [4] and, by U.P. standards, is really nothing that special. Its most appealing stretch—especially for anglers looking for fishing access—is the southern end, where the trail parallels the main river for 10 miles.

Farther north, it follows the Little Fox and the west branch. Heading north, the trail traverses the Kingston Plains, where loggers left behind “stump prairies.” Markers along the route provide information about the area’s logging history.