Shelldrake

Shelldrake is a ghost town sitting at the mouth of the Shelldrake River where it meets Whitefish Bay, in Whitefish Township, Chippewa County, Michigan — roughly 8 miles south of Whitefish Point. Before European settlers arrived, the site served as a seasonal fishing village for Native Americans, a use well suited to its riverside location on the bay.

The town's busiest era came in the 1890s and early 1900s, when sawmill operations tied to logging on the Tahquamenon River watershed made it a genuine working community. Repeated fires and the inevitable decline of the timber industry brought that era to a close by the 1920s. The site is listed on the Michigan Historic Register, a recognition of its layered history spanning Indigenous use through the logging boom.

Visitors today are coming to a true ghost town — expect a quiet, atmospheric setting along the river and bay rather than restored structures or developed facilities. The remote Upper Peninsula location means the most realistic visiting window runs from late spring through early fall, with winter conditions making access difficult.