Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Sunny, very wet, humid, very buggy, recent heavy rain

Companions:

Solo Trip

Vehicle:

Ford Taurus

After a heavy rainfall (over four inches in the Huron Mountains) the night before, I decided to take Friday off of work to go waterfalling. I had a big day planned out making a loop that would stretch out to Covington and back through Herman and L'Anse and covering over a dozen waterfall sights, including several that had no reputable directions online.

Starting early in the morning, I headed down to Canyon River Falls. While I had visited there only a few weeks earlier, I wanted to see the main falls after a heavy rainfall as well as make my way down to all three of the waterfalls along the canyon. I was not disappointed, as even the 'Bacco Creek that ran along part of the trail down was flooding the path. Sturgeon River was quite full, making each of the smaller drops along the path seem several times larger then usual. The main falls were very impressive, crashing over the ledge into the gorge with incredible force.

I wandered down further into the canyon and soon found middle falls, which is right near the infamous 'cliff-jumping' spot that many Michigan Tech students enjoy. These falls were fairly impressive, but it was hard to get a direct shot at them with the sheer canyon walls. There was also a small creek on the right side of the falls that had some small falls right above its entry into Sturgeon River.

The last falls, known as 'Upper Falls' on some maps, is found right where the river exits the canyon. They also looked impressive swollen, although I wasn't able to see the right branch from the bank. With the river so full, I didn't dare ford the left branch for a better view, so I headed out after a bit and made it to the car after about an hour.

The next falls were actually back north near Alberta. I had talked to a few people from the area, and no one seemed to know quite where Plumbago Falls were, though I had heard that they were simply upstream from Plumbago Lake. I parked at the south park (known as Preacher's Park) and headed along the shoreline along a rough trail used by the forestry program at Tech. While the path wasn't too bad, recent lumbering of the area made the going tough.

At the very end of the visible lake is a very swampy area thanks to a lot of beaver dams. The path was more or less gone at this point, which made the going tough: either slide along the wet hill a few dozen feet above the beaver-made swamp or walk in the swamp. It was in this area that I slipped in a makeshift bridge and damaged my knee and hip for the next month or so.

The water flow picked up after this swampy area, but only for a short while. Another beaver swamp reared up, causing a considerable detour for me and more doubt there Plumbago Falls even exhisted. However, after this swamp area, I found myself following a quick moving creek surrounded by a tall gorge, which looked much more promising for falls. Thanks to the gorge walls, though, I did have to ford the creek a few times in order to continue.

Finally, after almost two miles of hiking, I found Plumbago Falls. These were more or less rapids, but thanks to the heavy rainfall, they looked fairly impressive. After only a few pictures, I headed out followed by a cloud of black flies. Instead of following the water back out, I headed straight up the hill and bumped into a service road, which got me out of the woods in a much quicker fashion. It did go through a rifle range, though, so I don't plan on taking this route again. Also, it happened to be gated off before it hit the highway, though it was only a few dozen yards from where the park where I first started on the trail.

It was getting close to noon by now, but instead of heading back up to L'Anse for food, I set out south to Tioga Falls. There was actually two separate falls to visit: the roadside park ones and the true Tioga Falls that were a considerable distance north of roadside park. I was pleasantly surprised by the park falls, as there were two separate falls with the upstream ones being quite swollen and impressive.

Heading upstream directly across the road for the true falls ended up being a mistake. Swampy ground and thick brush soon surrounded me on all sides, so I turned around and headed back out. On the way back to the road, though, I found an ATV trail that headed due east towards a road on my topo map. I followed it and soon found the road, which I happily took north.

The road was a narrow two-track that had some decent mud puddles, but nothing that I wouldn't have driving my car through. It wasn't bad for views either, with at least one large meadow that gave you the glimpse of tree-covered hills surrounding you in the distance. A truly incredible number of black flies was the only negative part of the walk.

After a good long distance on the road, I finally bumped into something - a no firearms or trespassing sign at the Youth for Christ retreat center. By this time, the sun was high and my hip was aching from the previous fall, so I ventured past the sign in hopes to talk to the owner about a glass of water and maybe a ride back out. No one was home, though, and with the falls roaring just past the cabin, I snapped a few pictures of the medium-sized falls and limped out.

The road ended up being a driveway with an address posted right on the highway, but there was no signs along any part of the route. While I don't plan on visiting again, I figure you could follow the road until you hit the sign, then veer to the left until you hit the river. By following the river from this angle, you could avoid trespassing and most of the swampy area. I was completly worn out after this four plus mile hike and headed straight out without checking this route, only stopping at Burger King to grab food before taking a nap for the afternoon.