Porcupine Mountains Part 1

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With our two weeks working on a Habitat for Humanity build in Marquette complete, we headed further west in the Upper Peninsula to a private campground right outside of the Porcupine Mountains. It is just under 120 miles on paved but little traveled roads. While Union River Big Bear Campground has an address in the town of Ontonagon, it’s a good 15 miles outside of town and quite remote. Remote enough that neither our Verizon phones or T-Mobile hot spot have any signal - although the phones sometimes bump up to SOS mode. Good thing this campground has WiFi that reaches our rig and is reasonable.

The advantage this campground has is its proximity to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. The visitors center for the park is less than a half mile away. In fact this campground is surrounded by the state park to the east, west and south and Lake Superior to the north. I’m guessing that the property was privately owned and already developed when the land for the state park was acquired. Whatever the case, this should be a great spot to explore for the next 7 nights. We can walk from our spot, across the street and be at the sandy beach on the shore of Superior.

Welcome to the Porcupines

Bear Mascot of Campground

We had arrived early enough in the afternoon that we had time to take the short drive over to the visitors center before it closed. This way we can pick up maps and other literature to plan our stay. It was clear this place was new. First, the GPS didn’t even have the road leading there in its database. Inside, there were quite a few displays that were still under construction. I found the room that likely is going to be the theater with the hopes of getting an overview video of the park, but the wall where the monitor or screen should be only had some plugs. That didn’t stop us from talking with the ranger at the desk to ask about some of the hikes and other sights in the park.

Visitor Center Entrance

Inside New Visitor Center

Since it was only 5PM, we decided to to drive up to one of the more popular destinations within the Porcupines - Lake of the Clouds. This area is at the end of a 7.5 mile road on the north end of the park. It is actually the only road on this side of the park and it rises over 750 feet. From the large parking area, it is a few hundred feet up the paved trail to the top of the escarpment which overlooks the Lake of the Clouds 300 feet below.

Lake of the Clouds

Big Carp River Exits Lake

It’s a long and skinny lake - about 1.2 miles long by a quarter mile wide. Surprisingly it is only 10 feet or so deep but it is quite beautiful simply for its setting in the middle of thick forests that surrounds it. We walk along some of the paths that extend along the ridge and soak in the views before heading back to camp. We stop to take in a quick view of the beach near the campground which is now nearly deserted.

Walkway Along Overlook

Different View of Lake

Beach on Lake Superior Across From Camp

The next morning, we are able to get out fairly early for a hike. The Escarpment Trail starts from the same parking area we had visited yesterday to check out the Lake of the Clouds. It follows the ridge overlooking the valley below for just over 4 miles. As an out and back, it is 8.2 miles with 1653 feet of elevation gain so it isn’t a trivial hike but getting an early start should give us plenty of time. The trail starts out in a nearly manicured fashion with crushed gravel and wood edging and even some stairs for the steeper sections. That only lasts for a quarter mile or so but is still quite a nice trail surface.

Section of Escarpment Trail

The trail comes out onto large rock outcroppings all along the escarpment which provides for ever changing views of the lake and the Big Carp River which feeds it.

Rock Outcropping Along Escarpment

Carp River

There are a couple of named peaks along this trail - Cloud Peak and Cuyahoga Peak - with a valley in between that has some decent up and down to traverse. It’s been a pretty hike with some wildflowers blooming. By the time we get past Cuyahoga Peak, the trail is fully in the woods and would go down over 400 feet in elevation as it heads towards the park road. It was then that we realized that continuing to the “official” end of the trail wouldn’t provide for very good views and would only mean we need to turn right around hike back up to the ridge. So we decide to make the 3.2 mile mark be our official turn around point. I suppose if you have the ability to leave a car at each trailhead and simply do the hike in one direction that might be the ideal scenario.

Blue Bells in Bloom

Butterfly Lands

As it was, the return trip was almost like a different hike. The overcast skies we had for the first half of the walk with even a few sprinkles had changed to partly sunny conditions and made everything along the way look better. We found a nice overlook to enjoy our lunch and proceeded to the main parking area and the huge crowds that had now arrived to check out the lake. Our hike ended up being 6.5 miles with 1360 feet of elevation gain and was a beautiful route. We found a couple of geocaches while heading back to camp and took it easy the rest of the day.

Looking Back at Lake of the Clouds

Government Peak

One of the brochures we had picked up at the visitors center gave details about 45 waterfalls within the western Upper Peninsula. About a third of them are in the Porcupine Mountains while the rest are a decent drive. It is a very good guide since it provides the coordinates of the falls as well as how easy they are to access and how beautiful they are. We select a series of falls along the Black River Parkway. This area is only 25 miles as the crow flies but like many places in this part of the UP, it is a much further drive - about 60 miles. The good news is that all the roads are paved in our drive there. We start out at the southern end of the series at Great Conglomerate Falls. Rated as fairly easy access and very good beauty, we set off down the short trail from the parking area.

Map of Nearby Waterfalls

Limbo Under Tree

It was a pretty easy walk down to the viewpoint of the falls. There are twin falls - side by side with roughly a 30 foot drop.

Great Conglomerate Falls

Downstream of Falls

The next stop is for a pair of falls - Potawatomi Falls and Gorge Falls. There is a side road to the parking areas. Technically there are different parking lots for each one but they are less than a quarter mile apart with a section of the North Country Trail running along this side of the Black River. The views of Potawatomi Falls are minimal from the trail but it can be seen.

Potawatomi Falls Viewed Through Trees

Good View

There is a section of wooden stairs to a viewing platform. It was marked off with caution tape and looking down the stairs we saw the section of the walkway that was missing some boards. We decide to see if it looked safe for us to pass and decided that if we use caution we would be fine. The view is definitely better from this vantage point.

Better View of Potawatomi Falls

Heading Out of Damaged Walkway

We continue north along the NCT to see the Gorge Falls. We could hear the falls a short distance away but not really see anything through the thick brush and tree cover. We got to a similar set of stairs leading to another viewing platform. This one was also blocked off but with a board denying access. Since nobody was around, we snuck under the board and went far enough to see the damage that had this one closed. There were several stairs missing treads and from the looks of things, it was definitely questionable as to whether we could get over them and make it back up safely. Thus no pictures of Gorge Falls.

Jack in the Pulpit

No Gorge Falls for Us

The next stop is for Sandstone Falls. The trail to these falls has a bit more elevation change but that was good since it actually allows us to access the water level. The stairs going down have a bit of a tilt issue but apparently not so much that the ranger feels the need to close them.

Stairs Are Askew

The river was flowing quite nicely so the falls were good. There is a lot of dry riverbed that permitted us to wander around a bit to check things out from lots of angles.

Sandstone Falls

On the Edge

Some of the rock formations that have been carved away by water were very unusual. So far this one was the best falls experience of the day.

Wider View of Falls

Weird Rock

The last set of falls are Rainbow Falls. The view here is pretty intense. The viewing platform is just a bit below the initial drop 40 feet below. It was definitely interesting but we are almost too close to get a good view of the full falls experience.

Right Next to Rainbow Falls

About a half mile downstream of these falls is Black River Harbor. We planned to drive down there to check it out but since the North Country Trail heads there, we decide to do a bit of a hike instead. That may have been a poor choice since the trail and surrounding ground was very wet. Since we hadn’t planned on making it a hike, we had come without our trusty hiking sticks. We made it without falling or getting our feet too wet. Just off of the parking lot for the harbor is an old fishing boat - the Nancy Jean. Built in 1913, it was used as a fishing charter in the 1950’s. It was completely restored in 1991 and put on display. From the looks of things, the last 34 years have taken their toll and it could use another restoration.

The Nancy Jean

As we proceed through the park, we head over to the old suspension bridge that goes across the Black River. We had a geocache to find at an overlook on the other side so across we go. We were impressed with how good it looked since it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the late 1930’s but a sign informed us that it was reconstructed in 1968 and had improvements made in 2009. In any event, we enjoy crossing old swing bridges like this and it does provide for a nice view of the harbor and Lake Superior in the distance.

Suspension Bridge at Black River Harbor

The Black River Exits into Lake Superior

We managed to figure out which trails to take to make it up to the hiding spot of the cache. All along the stone staircase going up the hill were one of Chris’ favorite flowers. Blue False Indigo or Baptisia. It wasn’t just a stray plant but a full hillside of the stuff. It was in various stages of flowering and seed pods were already forming on some plants.

Baptisia with Blooms and Seed Pods

Just Starting to Bloom

We did find the geocache but the so called overlook wasn’t so impressive. The trees and brush have grown enough to nearly eliminate the view of Superior. Coming back across the bridge, we decide that we are going to walk back to the car by simply walking along the road. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of traffic and should be significantly drier than the NCT was. It was about noon when we got to the car so we had our lunch in the parking lot while making our next plans for the rest of the day.

So-So View of Lake Superior

View of Suspension Bridge

There are a series of waterfalls on the far western edge of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness along the Presque Isle River. Since they are only accessible from the south end of the park, it would make sense to fit them into our waterfall drive today instead of taking a second day later in our stay here. With that in mind, we pick a route back to the park that will take us past one other set of falls that have an outstanding beauty rating. Gabbro Falls has two different viewpoint options. These falls are right next to a ski resort and at first we didn’t realize that there was a road up the hill out of the huge parking lot. But once we figured that out, we drove to a small pullout with about a hundred foot walk to the overlook. This is definitely a spectacular view and quite easy to get to but there isn’t a platform - just a rock outcropping to stand on - so watch your step! It is about 40 feet tall with two distinct drops and was making a lot of noise.

Empty Ski Resort

Gabbro Falls from Upper Viewpoint

The lower viewpoint is a bit more difficult to get to. From our map, we knew it was on the other side of the river but the trailhead isn’t very well defined. But once we park back at the ski resort parking lot and walk over the bridge, the faint footpath down along the river is more apparent.

Crossing Over Black River on Way to Trailhead

It was a bit of a walk through brush to get to the base of the falls and there were plenty of wet and muddy sections of trail but we followed the sound and found the falls. We could see where we had been standing 20 minutes earlier and could see the falls we had looked at but hadn’t realized that there were twin falls about 150 feet apart. The upper viewpoint doesn’t really allow these falls to be seen so going to both spots was worth the effort.

A Different Perspective of Gabbro Falls

We work our way back north and into the state park. There is a parking lot adjacent to the entrance booth that worked out well to park for our walk over to the falls. We hadn’t done any real long hikes today with the walk around the Black River Harbor coming in at just over 2 miles. But it had been a long day so we planned to just walk along the western side of the river and check out the three named falls - Nawadaha, Manido, and Manabezho Falls. It was a beautiful afternoon and the place was much busier than our stops along the Black River this morning.

Nawadaha Falls

After checking out the Nawadaha Falls just a bit south of the parking lot, we start down the trail to the north. As we get to various viewpoints, we see lots of people on the other side of the river getting completely different perspective on things. We knew there was a 3 mile loop trail that crossed the river on the north and south ends at bridges. Even though we weren’t planning on doing the loop, it just looked too enticing - and what’s another 3 miles? At Manido Falls, you have the option to take a long staircase closer to water level.

Stair down to Manido Falls Viewpoint

Manido Falls

After coming back up the stairs, we continue on to Manabezho Falls. These were the most impressive of the three here.

Manabezho Falls

A bit further north is a suspension bridge to cross. This one has a capacity of 65 people - fortunately there weren’t that many people standing on it as we crossed. It does provide for a nice view of the river.

Suspension Bridge Over Presque Isle River

Approaching Suspension Bridge

View from Bridge

The view at the end of the river flowing into Lake Superior was pretty nice. There were a fair number of people out on the shore here so we walked a bit to check it out.

Presque Isle River Exits into Superior

There was a large lagoon just east of the river. The water appeared to be fairly shallow and kids were playing in it. It seemed a bit strange as to why this was here. The trail on this side of the river starts back to the south and when we got about a quarter mile up, we realized how this lagoon is formed. There is a shallow spot in the riverbed that was dry right now, but at times of high water flow, a portion of the river must flow over and down to the lake.

Lagoon Next to River

High Water Overflow Route

Other End of Lagoon

It was interesting to see the falls from this side. Some of the access points down to the water level where we had seen people earlier looked a bit too steep and challenging for us to attempt - at least this late in the day. So we stayed on the main path that overlooks the river and continued to the bridge that takes the South Boundary Road over the river.

With all of our diversions on this loop, we got in closer to 3.3 miles but it was worth it. I can see why this place draws such a crowd. From here, we can take the South Boundary Road back through the park, past the visitor center and to camp. It was a long day of waterfalls.

Crossing Back Over River on South Boundary Road