Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Warm, cloudy, some recent rain

Companions:

Katie, Logan

Vehicle:

Saturn Vue

It was slightly cloudy today, and while there was some rain earlier in the week, it was pretty dry and warm around Houghton. I was only going after two waterfalls, both of them very close to Houghton, so I invited my girlfriend along. The first stop was Ripley Falls, right past the bridge by Mont Ripley, and only took a few minutes to drive to.

I wasn't sure how to get to Ripley Falls, so we went straight up Mont Ripley on the far east side of the ski hill along the wood line. After climbing about 1/4 of the way up the hill, we came to a steep gravel road that ran east to west that we followed, still heading slightly uphill. After a short distance along the road, we could hear the falls in the woods below us, but the hill was steep and littered with freshly uprooted trees, making it dangerous for us to go down. We circled back the way we came and ended up going downhill almost all the way before hitting Ripley Creek.

We finally hit the right trail, and followed through what appeared to be someone's back yard (complete with benches and a firepit) until we hit the falls. Feeling uncomfortable because of the proximity of private property, I only took a few photos and didn't get to the top of the falls, but was still amazed at the steepness and waterflow of these small falls. The area was nice too, with large trees and huge, moss-covered boulders surrounding the falls. You don't even see the creek when you're going on M-26: it must flow sneakily under the road along some old culverts.

Heading out on the right trail, you could obviously see that the proper way in was near the huge, red-brick apartment in Ripley that's visible from Houghton. There's a small trail that you can barely see from the parking lot, but what's you're on it, it goes straight to the falls.

After getting back to the car, Katie and Logan decided to head back to the house, so I went with them to get my car so I could hit up Quincy Falls. Quincy Creek crosses M-26 near the dredge on the way to Hubbell, but other than that, I had no idea of where the actual falls were.

There was road construction going on when I visited, so the I got to park next to some large equipment. I headed into the woods along a well-trodden trail just east of the large old mining building on the north side of M-26, which lead to some smaller mining building before petering out. I tried to follow the creek, but it went through several semi-collapsed cement culverts under hills and railroad grades, so I ended up heading roughly north until I passed the last ATV trail and was able to stick with the creek. The first of the series of falls was right after the trail, and the going was pretty rough after that.

The entire gorge was very pretty. The walls were high and covered with undergrowth and the creek itself has moss covering red-stained sandstone. Each of the small falls was a new delight, and even the small rapids and natural dams were quaint. By the time I finally decided to head back, my feet were soaked and it was getting quite dark.

I made the mistake of attempting to head due south through the woods instead of following the creek back. I ended up going more east than anything, and got really disorientated before I finally hit the ATV trail that marked where I first entered the creek's gorge. The going was nasty through the woods, with both tall grass and thick forests to hack through.

On the way out, I took more time to check out the trail and the mining buildings. The trails were along an old railroad track, and you could walk between the giant rock 'hallways' that cut through the hills for the trains. The buildings were in pretty rough shape, but that didn't stop locals from covering the walls with graffiti and the likes. I wouldn't mind going back there just to catch some pictures of the those buildings, and maybe even sneaking over to the dredge across the road.

Overall, the trip lasted about 4 hours, with 3 of them involving Quincy Falls. Even though both of the falls were small and difficult to get to, it's cool to see how many neat little sights are so close to Houghton.