Lakenenland

One-man sculpture park of recycled-metal figures along a wooded loop

Lakenenland is a free, open-air sculpture park about 15 miles east of Marquette, where ironworker Tom Lakenen has installed more than a hundred whimsical welded-metal figures along a wooded loop trail. The work ranges from satirical political pieces to dinosaurs, mythical beasts, and tributes to local working people.

You drive a one-way road through the property at slow speed, with frequent pull-outs to walk among the sculptures. It's open 24 hours a day, every day of the year — Lakenen lights the trail in winter — and there is no charge. Allow an hour, longer if you want to read every plaque.

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A story
Tom Lakenen, a former union ironworker, started welding scrap-metal sculptures in his backyard in the 1990s. After neighbours complained, he bought a tract of forest east of town and turned the whole thing into a sculpture trail — more than 100 figures now, free to visit, his only condition being that no entry fee is ever charged.

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