Location: Canada Creek Ranch, MI

Canada Creek Ranch (CCR) is a CDP (census-designated place) in northwest Montmorency County. Its post office is in Atlanta, MI. Permanent population is 406 but many residents go south for the winter. There are about 400 homes and cabins on the property.

The Canada Creek Ranch Association is a private association of about 1,400 members/lot owners that manage a 22 square mile hunting, fishing and recreation area. CCR contains five lakes, a trout stream (Canada Creek), along with a 20 room hotel and restaurant, full service campground, beach, rifle, skeet and archery ranges and other amenities.

History: CCR was developed in 1934 by the Monteith Land Company of Pontiac MI, from land purchased from the nearby Black River Ranch. The approximately 22 square miles of property, which had been cut over by logging, was subdivided east of Canada Creek for a residential use. West of the creek was designated as hunting land.

CCR has always had vast sections of pine, and other soft and hard woods. Pine was harvested here in the 1880's and 1890's, with hardwood being logged into the 20th century. Today, the ranch has a forest management plan which includes logging of certain portions on an annual basis. Products are transported by truck.

There is no record of logging railroads on current ranch property and the area is rather hilly and not conducive to railroads. There is reference to using Canada Creek for moving of logs from the forest to mills in Tower (on the D&M) or Cheboygan in the (Cheboygan) Northern Tribune in 1884. It was noted that it took three days to raise Canada Creek (using dams) to a sufficient level for floating the logs north.

The nearest railroad to CCR was the Alpena & Northern (later D&M) Valentine Lake Branch, which came within about four miles of CCR at a place called McPhee (approximately 45.176059' -84.145099) during the late 1800's. The line was removed about 1903, thirty years before CCR was developed.

Notes

Time Line

1885. The Northern Tribune (Cheboygan) reports that Flack's camp, on Canada Creek, is getting out logs for the Cheboygan Lumber Company and broke up Tuesday. About 3,500,000 feet of logs were put in. [NTR-1885-0402]