WaterfallsTag | Jacob Emerick's Blog

Ontonagon River

As the largest river in the Houghton area and a distinctive brown hue, the Ontonagon River is a well known river. Many of its branches are simply named as sub names under Ontonagon - West Branch Ontonagon, Middle Branch Ontonagon, etc. With its huge watershed, the Ontonagon is the primary drainage for most of Ontonagon and parts of Houghton County.

Middle Branch and Main Branch of the Ontonagon River

Starting from the southeast, the East Branch Ontonagon River starts from a series of marshes and ...

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• ottawa national forest
• river system
• waterfalls

Yellow Dog River

The Yellow Dog River has recently gained media attention as one of the two waterways endangered by the proposed Eagle Project sulfide mine. This mine would be located on the Yellow Dog Plains near the headwaters of the Salmon Trout River and Yellow Dog River, potentially threatening two pristine rivers of the Huron Mountain area. The river was well known before the proposed mine, though, as it has ample recreational potentials along its length.

Yellow Dog River's route

Starting with two main branches in the McCormick Tract, southwest of ...

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• huron mountains
• peshekee highlands
• river system
• waterfalls
• yellow dog plains

Sturgeon River

Winding through Baraga and Houghton County, the Sturgeon River is a large, well-known river system. Driving from Marquette to Houghton on US-41 brings drivers over the river twice, first at Canyon River Falls and then at the Sturgeon River Sloughs. These two spots, combined with the Sturgeon River Gorge, are popular hiking and adventuring locations for tourists and locals alike.

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• baraga plains
• nestoria swamp
• ottawa national forest
• river system
• waterfalls

A Few River Gorges

The Western Upper Peninsula has a unique geology compared to the rest of Michigan. Ancient bedrock creates surprisingly tall mountains and highlands that trap lakes, swamps, and wetlands hundreds of feet above Lake Superior. Throughout the geologic history of the area, glacial and volcanic events have both carved deep channels and helped confine the waters, eventually leading to rivers draining the land through gorges and over waterfalls. Here is a short list of the major gorges of the area, at least the ones I've had the opportunity of visiting.

Looking across Sturgeon River gorge

Sturgeon River cuts one of the more well-known gorges of this area through the flat, sandy Baraga Plains southwest of L'Anse. This gorge is heavily forested, and good lookouts over it are hard to find. The two highlights of this area include Silver Mountain, an ancient volcanic plug, and Sturgeon River Falls, both located in the Ottawa National Forest. Most of the gorge is simply a deep river valley (three hundred feet near the falls), though there ...

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• huron mountains
• ottawa national forest
• waterfalls

Silver River

While many people will claim to know of Silver River it's difficult to know which river they are talking about. After all, there are three Silver Rivers within fifty miles of Houghton, MI; one in the Keweenaw near Eagle Harbor, one near West Branch Sturgeon River near Alston, and the third one in Baraga County. The third one is the largest and, in my opinion, the most impressive in terms of both waterfalls in area.

Primary route of Silver River

Silver River, in Baraga County, does not flow by any population centers or industrial sites. It is not dammed along its route, and besides ...

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• nestoria swamp
• river system
• waterfalls

The Mulligan Area

There are several important pieces to the 'Mulligan Area' of Marquette County. Mulligan Plains is a long, narrow valley pointing from the western end of the Dead River north to Pinnacle Falls on the Yellow Dog Plains. Emptying the large and wild Mulligan Swamp into the Dead River is Mulligan Creek. Along the creek is a series of relatively unheard of waterfalls collectively called Mulligan Falls. All of these are wrapped around Silver Lake Basin, the uppermost dammed basin along the Dead River, located on the edge of the Peshekee Highlands.

The Peshekee Highlands are a large, expansive, and rugged plateau just south of the Yellow Dog Plains. The elevation here is surprisingly high, usually around 1600 feet above sea level. Much of the plateau is swampy and sprinkled with lakes; the hard rocky outcroppings make it difficult for the water to drain out regularly. This area also has mineral wealth, with numerous abandoned gold and silver mines throughout the plateau. Almost two-thirds of the highlands are located within the McCormick Tract and ...

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• mulligan plains
• old growth
• peshekee highlands
• waterfalls

Dead River

Falling over eleven hundred feet from the Peshekee Highlands, the Dead River empties into Lake Superior near Marquette. Thanks to this large elevation change and route through the southern reaches of the Huron Mountains, there are many waterfalls and dams along the Dead River. The water takes after the rivers name, having an odd color and poor fishing thanks to the huge basins and dewatered stretches. Also, the Dead River was the scene of a major disaster in 2003 which gave the Upper Peninsula national attention and millions of dollars of damage.

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• huron mountains
• peshekee highlands
• river system
• waterfalls

A Keweenaw Hike

On several waterfall hikes in the Keweenaw during the summer of 2008 attempting to find Copper Falls, I became confused by different directions and descriptions of the drops along the creek. Owl Creek starts from a swampy lake on the top of Brockway ridge, heading downhill to the north past an old mine shaft (now covered) and mill before meandering through a swamp on the edge of Lake Superior. With a drop of six hundred feet, there are many unnamed drops along this creek, and it is difficult to differentiate the real waterfall.

Jacob's Falls

In hopes to find this creek with actual water flowing down it, as it is usually close to bone dry during the summer, I headed north to the Keweenaw in the spring after a few very warm days. Also, I decided to add a few miles onto the trip by making Jacob's Creek to my route. Logan and I parked at Jacob's Falls, near the Jam Pot along M-26, and headed up a nice trail on the east side of the creek. The trail was very defined and used for the first half mile, where the ...

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• brockway
• bushwhack
• keweenaw
• logan
• ruins
• waterfalls

Huron Mountain Range

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan isn't particularly known for its mountains. While the terrain is more rugged than the Lower Peninsula, there are no vistas that compare to the Rocky or Appalachian Mountain states. However, there is one group of peaks collectively known as the Huron Mountains worth mentioning for their height and rural setting.

The Huron Mountains stretch northward from Marquette following the curve of the land toward Skanee before dissipating south near Alberta. They circle the Yellow Dog Plains, a sandy plateau mostly owned by the Mead Paper Corporation, and the Peshekee Highlands just north of US-41. The roads are windy and unmarked, used only by outdoorsmen and logging companies, and is not plowed or maintained for most of the year.

Rocky outcroppings near the Yellow Dog River

There are three main portions of this range. Starting in the east, near Marquette, is the Sugarloaf range. These mountains are known for their two main peaks, Sugarloaf and Hogback, as well as numerous waterfalls from the Dead River, Yellow ...

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• huron mountains
• waterfalls
• yellow dog plains

Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

After graduating from Michigan Tech, I started to realize just how much free time I was going to have after a normal work day. The month of May was a bit hectic; moving into a new house, starting a new job, and adopting an 8 week old puppy was enough to keep both Katie and I occupied, but when my birthday rolled around in early June, we were looking for something new and exciting to do. Remembering a fun adventure in the late summer of 2007, where Katie and I had gotten lost near Skanee looking for the Mouth of Huron and accidentally found Lower Silver Falls, we decided to check out waterfalls in the Keweenaw Peninsula for my 23rd birthday.

Researching for waterfalls to stop at became more difficult then I had originally planned for. Though I found several websites with information, I also found inconsistencies, confusing directions, and poor descriptions of Keweenaw waterfalls. We finally picked out a route that included three waterfalls and several other local attractions, including the Gay Bar and Mt. Horace Greeley. We set off early in the ...

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