Ellen Creager / Detroit Free PressJessie Hadley, owner of Woods and Water Ecotours in Hessel, Michigan, knows the Les Cheneaux islands are one of Michigan’s best paddling destinations.

HESSEL, Mich. — Jessie Hadley knows the Les Cheneaux inside out — its islands, its secrets, its secret marshes.

“The Les Cheneaux is an opaque place,” says Hadley, owner of Woods and Water Ecotours. “It is word of mouth or a connection. You have to have the veil lifted, the secret passed.”

So let’s just say that I’m about to rip off the veil.

Many in Michigan have never heard of the Les Cheneaux, much less visited it. Pronounced Lay-Shen-O, it is a group of 36 small islands plus two small towns, Hessel and Cedarville, that hug the Lake Huron shore in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Drive across the Mackinac Bridge, turn right at M-134, and about 20 minutes later, you’re there.

In French, Les Cheneaux means “the channels.”

Says Hadley: “It’s not a cookie-cutter place.”

But what’s here? It is an incredible paddling and classic boat destination along 12 miles of Lake Huron shoreline. Visitors also will see some glamorous, rustic family homes passed down through the generations. The area has two golf courses, a small native casino, some tiny grocery stores and shops, extremely decent ice cream, and lodging that is mostly old-fashioned, pine-paneled Upper Peninsula-style motels and cottages.

Since you can’t invite yourself to an island home for a vacation, I’d recommend three ways that a stranger can get a feel for this place: go kayaking, take a boat-building class, or visit the Antique Wooden Boat Show and Festival of the Arts in August.

Kayak with a guide

Hadley began her company in 2000 after working for the Michigan Department of National Resources in the area for many years. She takes families, individuals and groups on kayaking excursions ranging from two hours to a week. Some trips include overnight camping on nearby Government Island or sunset paddles.

Kayaking entered the Great Lakes about 30 years ago, and the Les Cheneaux is perfect for the sport, Hadley says, because the islands protect small craft from the open waters of Lake Huron. Many marshes are tucked into small spots where kayaks can silently slide, unlike other boats.

“It’s a sheltered channel, and the bays and islands are protected. If you feel like you want to go around an island, you can,” she says.

Hadley does kayak training for groups, but she also is getting more families with children about age 10 to 16 who want a day paddle, plus more groups of women, who want a weekend of paddling plus good food and pampering while they’re at it.

One afternoon I go out with her for three hours. The party includes her two assistants and another customer. After giving a safety and paddling technique briefing and making sure we have the right life jackets and gear, we set off at Hessel Beach and paddle eastward, passing cottages and turning into a quiet marsh, where blue herons perch in the reeds. Then it begins to rain lightly.

I suck in fresh air. I listen to the hypnotic sound of our paddles slicing through the water. I feel the rain pattering on my head. And you know, I feel good.

Learn to build a boat

In Hessel, I meet Margaret Robinson of Shorewood, Wisconsin. She has come all the way to the eastern U.P. to take a 5½-day class at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville.

“I’m building my own kayak; it is two-thirds of the way done,” she says, adding she is using something called the stitch-and-glue method. “I wanted something light enough for me to pick up,” says the retiree.

Boat-building workshops teach participants how to build their own paddleboard, kayak, dinghy, canoe or other types of boats. It also has two-year programs for future boat-building professionals. The Les Cheneaux is famed for its wooden boat heritage, so this is a natural fit and a unique offering.

Classic boats are a draw

The Les Cheneaux features one unusual sight: small wooden mahogany boats from the early 1900s to 1930s that are regularly used by families to get from their island homes to the mainland and other islands. The nation’s first Chris Craft dealer opened in Hessel in 1925. The area still is a premier spot for classic boat owners to have their boats babied.

One way the public can get in on the fun is to attend the 39th annual Antique Wooden Boat Show and Festival of Arts on Aug. 13. Featuring about 150 classic and antique boats, the show also will have a juried art fair with about 70 artists. The show has been a huge draw to the area since 1978.