25 1/2th Pit Stop - Lakenenland Junkyard Art (Marquette, MI)

Blog Post #34 - Written October 13, 2025

Pit Stop on July 8, 2025


On our drive over to the Porcupine Mountains in the western part of the UP, we stopped at Lakenenland sculpture park, one man's 37-acre scrap-iron junkyard art collection in Marquette, MI. The owner, Tom, has created/welded hundreds of works of iron art over the past 20+ years. It's completely free and open 24/7/365. And the parking lot was big enough to fit our 36' trailer. It was a fun pit stop to break up the drive. Reminded me of the old Swetsville Zoo in northern Colorado. I've always thought it would be fun to learn how to weld and get into making junkyard art. 

We had a picnic lunch and then hiked around exploring and admiring the amazing metal sculptures.

Enjoy all the pics and videos  :)






 


Tom likes creating funny sculptures to make a statement against big government and big money. 



Tom also has a couple fishing ponds and even provides a couple poles to borrow so you can catch a fish...if the dinosaurs left any!


I found this very specific 'No Trespassing' sign hilarious. Sad that some annoying government peoples feel it necessary and appropriate to pester people like this, but Tom's response was great.


Below is a 3-picture series showing the process of creating steel from ore.









Video: I tip the scales a bit more than Z+Q


Video: D hitting the slots! Start 'em young ;)


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