Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Warm, humid, buggy, recent rain

Companions:

Katie, Logan

Vehicle:

Saturn Vue

I decided to start the waterfall project on my 23rd birthday. After doing a bit of research, the plan was to visit about four waterfalls, an abandoned Air Force Base, and maybe even the Jam Pot up in the Keweenaw. Going on the trip with me was my girlfriend, Katie, and our young puppy Logan, who was about three months old at the time.

We started off the trip by heading to Rice Lake out of Lake Linden. While Rice Lake looked pretty and we were tempted to stop, there was a surprising amount of families fishing along the shoreline. It was obvious that most of them were tourists, so we passed Rice Lake and stopped at a burned meadow just past it. Katie learned in one of her classes that this place was a blueberry field. When the owner tried to manage the property about three years ago, a fire he started began to burn out of control, resulting in the damage we saw. The ground was wet and marshy, and Logan had a fun time jumping from one high spot to the next. Also, the flowers growing near charred stumps made for some cool pictures.

After passing the Gay Bar, we stopped at Tobacco Falls on the shoreline. The park was small enough to miss on the first pass and we had to double back.
In order to get to the falls we had to walk under the bridge along the foundation, and crossing the road above seemed much easier and safer.

While the falls were not impressive, the dark red color of the water was striking and unique. Other attractions at the park included an old dock near the mouth of the creek and a decaying foundation near the road.

After playing with Logan in the sand, we headed further north along the Gay/Lac la Belle Road and enjoyed the views off of the shoreline. While the road was in mild disrepair, the views were great and we had pavement for the entire drive up. When we hit Lac la Belle, the Haven Falls roadside park caught us by surprise: I hadn't found any information about it.

We stopped at the park and headed to the falls. The creek was small enough to jump over, but we used the wooden bridge for the puppy's sake. All three of us then attempted to climb the bluff on the right side, but Katie and Logan only got half way up. After climbing the cliff (ignoring the crying puppy below), I ventured upstream a bit to find no additional falls. Taking a few pictures of the top of Haven Falls, I headed down to a happy dog and we drove off to Bete Grise and Montreal Falls.

The drive got a bit confusing after getting out of Bete Grise. We figured out the right road to turn on, but we took the left fork first, leading us to a very rough incline with nothing special on top. We turned around and headed up the sandy logging road. The Google directions told us to turn right at a point, and with the large amount of logging side-tracks, we ended up on a very nasty road in a short amount of time. Finally heading down the correct route, we enjoyed the views along the last mile and found several vehicles parked at the end of the road.

We weren't expecting a long hike, so we took our time walking to the falls. The dog and I went down to the beach a few times to play with the waves, but the rocks often cut off this route, and we had to climb back up to the trail before long. After reaching the falls, we monkeyed around a bit, taking pictures and exploring, but didn't go too far up the river. All of us were tired after the hike out there and wanted to head back and eat dinner.

The flies came out in full force during the trek back, causing both Katie and Logan considerable distress. Also, my incomplete root canal was throbbing, making the return trip very uncomfortable. After making it back with only one wrong turn in the car onto the Mandan Loop (which we doubled back on rather then attempt that adventure), we stopped at Calumet for Excedrin and Burger King before heading home.

Overall, this was a good way to start off on my waterfall quest. We only visited about half of the sites that we planned to, but Lower Montreal Falls alone was worth the trip. The puppy got to get out of the house for awhile and I got to enjoy the BK Lounge with Katie on my birthday.