Gogebic County

County in the northwest Upper Peninsula of Michigan; area 2,862 sq km/1,105 sq mi; population (1990) 18,100. It is bounded to the northwest by Lake Superior and to the south and west by the state of Wisconsin. The Ontonagon, Presque Isle, and Montréal rivers flow through the county. Its administrative headquarters is Bessemer. The county has many small lakes and waterfalls and abundant hunting and fishing. Resorts are numerous, particularly at Lake Gogebic. Ottawa National Forest covers much of the county, which depends on lumbering and the raising of fruit, livestock, and vegetables.

Manufacturing at Ironwood and Bessemer is largely due to vast iron ore deposits in the Gogebic Range; ore was first discovered here in 1848. The range is 0.8–1.6 km/0.5–1 mi wide and 129 km/80 mi long. It extends west from Wakefield, in east Gogebic County, into Wisconsin's Iron, Ashland, and Bayfield counties. Main extraction centres are Ironwood and Hurley, Wisconsin. The westernmost section is sometimes called the Penokee Range.