Ottawa National Forest Tag | Jacob Emerick's Blog

Volcanic Plugs of Ottawa Forest

The Ottawa National Forest includes almost one million acres of lakes, rivers, waterfalls, and forested hills of the Western Upper Peninsula. Stretching from the Peshekee Highlands north of Champion to the Michigan-Wisconsin border, the forest contains the Sturgeon River Gorge, McCormick Tract, and Sylvania Wilderness Area. Among its treasures are some unique geologic features to Michigan - three volcanic plugs.

A volcanic plug is the remains of an ancient volcano. Once a volcano becomes dormant and succumbs to the powers of erosion, only the toughest rocks, the hardened volcanic plug, will remain. The size and condition will depend on the type and age of the volcano, and chances are that it will not be in an ideal chimney shape.

The most popular volcanic...

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• mt kallio
• haystack mountain
• silver mountain
• baraga plains
• ottawa national forest

McCormick Tract

Located north of Champion, the McCormick Tract is a 16,850 acre wilderness in the Peshekee Grade. Originally owned by Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaping machine, the land was donated to the USDA Forest Service in 1967 and is now available for the public to enjoy. In July of 2009 I visited the south west corner of the tract along a historic route to the old camp on White Deer Lake.

Starting from the Peshekee Grade, which follows the old Iron Range & Huron Bay railroad grade from Champion up to Mount Arvon, I parked at the access area with some fellow hikers. The small parking spot had a restroom as well as some informational signs and maps. There is no trail markers allowed on the McCormick Tract, so it was nice to get a short refresher from these maps. After crossing the bridge over the Peshekee River, we followed a well-worn path northeast towards White Deer Lake.

While the trail was easy to follow, the rain-covered, thick undergrowth soon had us soaked. For the first mile or two, the trail was surrounded...

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• logan
• peshekee highlands
• old growth
• ruins
• faith
• ottawa national forest

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.

Starting from the southeast, the East Branch Ontonagon River starts from a series of marshes and lakes in northern Iron County. This river slowly winds north over some small rapids, including the Sparrow Rapids Campground. A few of its notable tributaries include Jumbo River, which has two popular waterfalls (Jumbo and Duppy),...

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• waterfalls
• river system
• ottawa national forest

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.

One of the most surprising facts about this river is the location of its headwaters near Herman, MI. In fact, the Silver River of Baraga County and Sturgeon River share the same system...

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

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.

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 are a few rock cliffs...

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• waterfalls
• huron mountains
• ottawa national forest