About the Area

Faculty and students in the EP program typically get together a couple of times a year for parties. Because we are a small program, we tend to be pretty close as a group. A long standing tradition has been “Winter Fun Day” (named by one of our students). This involves snowshoeing and cross country skiing at the beautiful, recently renovated, national class MTU ski/snowshoe trails and a chili potluck dinner afterwards. We also usually get together for meals or snacks on campus or at local restaurants at least once a year. During the course of any academic year, we generally bring in speakers with international reputations to discuss various aspects of environmental policy making.  Students and faculty are expected to attend all of the EP graduate defenses that they can. This provides another rewarding setting for collegial interaction between students and faculty.

The Keweenaw Region features a rich array of cultural events and recreational opportunities. It has been featured in a number of national magazine articles as enjoying high quality small town living and outstanding skiing, kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, running etc. If you like racing, the area boasts at least many different running, mountain biking, and cross country ski races every year.  We are one of the few universities in the country to have a national class, groomed cross country ski trail system on campus and this is a wonderful area for running, hiking, and mountain biking when the snow is gone.                                                                                                               Photo: Lake Medora on the tip of the                                                                                              Keweenaw Peninsula  (Photo by Dianne Sprague)

We have four bookstores in the area, three of which are independents. Local coffee houses (and one teahouse) provide lots of options for a place to hang out (and yes, we have a lot of bars too). Every year the University’s Rozsa Center features an international array of musicians, theatre, comedians, and speakers. The Pine Mountain Music Festival takes place every June and includes opera, bluegrass, and classical musicians of national fame. The beautiful and historic Calumet Theatre ten miles from Houghton also features regular musical and dramatic events throughout the year.

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