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Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Warm, partly cloudy, buggy, heavy recent rain

Companions:

Solo Trip

Vehicle:

Ford Taurus

After the huge amount of rain earlier in the week, I planned on heading to some unfamaliar territory over the day. I left alone a bit late in the morning towards the Herman-Nestoria road with the hope to finish the planned trip from the day before (finding Upper Sturgeon, No Name, and Upper Silver Falls). I didn't find any of these, though - each of my planned routes ended up being extraordinarily difficult. The road to No Name Falls was flooded and a hike near the area showed thick swamps and a large hunting cabin and a road leading towards Upper Sturgeon was recently logged to the point of being impassable. Disappointed and hungry, I headed to L'Anse for Subway without seeing a single waterfall all morning.

After a sub to cheer me up, I headed due east to a new adventure - the Huron Mountain area past Skanee, MI. The first waterfall along the route was Big Erick's, with a campground of the same name along its shore. These small falls were very close to the road and well-visited, and I didn't spend much time here. Continuing on, I headed to a more remote waterfall on the Huron River.

The Huron River splits directly upstream from Big Erick's Falls into the east and west branches. There are two falls on the east branch, East Branch Huron River Falls and Big Falls. I planned to get to the river near these falls by following Erick's road about two miles to an unnamed tributary, following that creek from the road to the river about a half mile, then hiking upstream another half mile to East Branch Huron River Falls. Big Falls is located about another mile upstream through a deep canyon. This route ended up being a very bad idea, as there was a hunting blind and no trespassing signs along the north side of the creek. I continued on, though, staying on the south side and pushing through thick underbrush until reaching the falls. It was nearing two by the time I reached them, and anxious to return to get further into the Huron Mountain area, I headed out without seeing Big Falls.

Driving further on Erick's road to the Cliff Falls Hunting Club turn-off, I headed on a very rough two-track past the club's cabin and through some recent logging area. Cliff Falls, my next stop, was located within sight and hearing of the two-track. There was a small camping spot right above the falls with pots and pans hanging from the trees, too.

After taking plenty of photos, I headed out the way I came in and continued to the Northwestern road. This road was also fairly poor, with creeks running across the road and large ruts in places. It was along the Northwestern that I ran into a young local from Skanee who was headed to Cedar Falls, my next stop. After a brief talk, I followed him to the two-track that followed Cedar Creek north. This road was obviously suited only for mud-bogging, so I jumped in his Jeep and we drove through the puddles and mud to a parking area. It wasn't until we reached the area that the Huron Mountain Club signs were visible.

I've heard that Cedar Creek actually has several falls along it, one being a short distance from the Northwestern road. The ones that we visited, though, was a distance from the road and within the club's property. We didn't spend much time here, staying just long enough to enjoy the ancient woods, mossy rocks, and cascading water before heading back out. The young man was heading further along the Northwestern road, persumably to Dodge City or further, so I thanked him and drove back towards Skanee. Cedar Falls was enough excitement for this area in one day.

I headed back past Big Erick's bridge to Black Creek road, which runs south roughly along the west branch of Huron River. My next stop was Erick's Falls, which is a bit taller then any of the single drops at Big Erick's, but is only one drop. This waterfall was also right below a bridge and easy to get to, so after a short while I headed south on Leatherby Falls road to find the three Leatherby waterfalls.

The road splits a few times and has plenty of two-tracks leading off of it, making it difficult to use my maps or odometer as guides. After awhile, I simply parked at an orange gate and hiked into the woods. It was obvious that I was near the river from the sound and slope of the area, and I soon hit a small waterfall located in a picturesque setting. From it's location, I later guessed that this was Lower Leatherby Falls, though some maps mark Erick's Falls as being Lower Leatherby.

It was now pretty late in the afternoon, but I continued down Leatherby road in hopes to find the other waterfalls. I picked a two-track that headed west and drove down it until it hit the river. Parking and hiking first downstream, then upstream, I found myself walking through some fairly clear cedar woods. There was a few times where I had to ford the river to easily continue onwards, but it was fairly easy walking without paths.

I eventually hit another small series of waterfalls and guessed it was Leatherby Falls. The uppermost falls, which I would find several weeks later, dwarf both of these drops and are considered by locals to be Leatherby Falls. I'm not sure which drop is which, but based on their relative positions and the semi-dependable maps of the area, I'm guessing that the upper falls are the main ones and the other two that I had seen that day were Leartherby and Lower Leatherby Falls.

After hiking out around seven in the evening, I decided to call it a day. I did continue further on the road, though, just to see what the area was like. Surprisingly, I ventured out of the thick woods into a large clear-cut area. It was here that I noticed a yellow crab spider had been hitch-hiking on my car since Leatherby Falls. Turning around in the field, I drove back to Houghton. While I had visited over half of the waterfalls along Huron River and several remote ones on the northern edge of the Yellow Dog Plains, it was a bit of a disappointing day. The rain hadn't flooded this area as much as I anticipated, and most of the falls were quite small. I spent most of the drive back to Houghton planning return trips to both the Herman and Leatherby areas, hoping to find larger waterfalls in the future.