Great Conglomerate, Potawatomi, Gorge, and Rainbow Falls

Photography by James Marvin Phelps

Great Conglomerate Falls

Here are the Black River waterfalls near Lake Superior, arranged as they would be reached from Bessemer or U.S. 2. The hike to Rainbow Falls starts at the park by the Lake Superior beach and harbor.

Conglomerate, Potawatomi, Gorge, and Sandstone falls are connected via 1.4 miles of the North Country Trail.

GREAT CONGLOMERATE FALLS is the southernmost of the well-publicized waterfalls near Black River Harbor.) Here, over an extended stretch of river, water rushes around huge boulders and tears at trunks, felling several trees. It's a wild, unsettling, dramatic landscape. The falls can be reached from a wide, smooth 3/4 mile trail from its own parking area on CR 513. Or choose to take the west riverbank path from Potawatomi Falls, half a mile upstream. The drive to its parking area reduces the distance to walk. However, this trail can be slippery, often steep, with roots in the path. In places it is not well marked.
It is a 45-minute trek from Potawatomi Falls to the very beginning of Great Conglomerate Falls and back. First-time visitors might want to postpone this waterfall until a later trip, and save their time and energy to enjoy fewer falls in a more leisurely way.

Wayne Premo

Potawatomi Falls

Striking POTAWATOMI FALLS can be easily reached from a parking lot off Black River Road about 13 miles from U.S. 2. The National Forest's wheelchair-accessible path leads to a picnic area, chemical toilet, and to the unusually beautiful falls. Seen in August, the falls' beauty relies on pattern and complexity rather than volume, drop, or force. According to Laurie Penrose's subtle description in A Guide to 199 Michigan Waterfalls, "The water passed over the rock in small tendrils of white angel hair, which separated and joined in complicated patterns before reaching the base of the gorge. The delicate picture of this falls - nestled in the gorge and surrounded by the deep greens of high summer - is extraordinary."

Photography by James Marvin Phelps

Gorge Falls

A quarter mile downstream is the very different GORGE FALLS. Here the water, constricted in a narrow gorge, has pounded on the stone to create a deep, smooth slide that ends in a mass of foam. The great, rounded stone, unsoftened by vegetation of any kind, is striking testimony to the power of water. This wall of red stone confronts you as you descend to the final platform. At this time, the trail accessing Gorge Falls from the parking area to the west is closed. So it's necessary to reach it by the short riverside trail from Potawatomi Falls.

At SANDSTONE FALLS, the least unusual waterfall here, the river makes leaps, first of five feet, then, passing between huge conglomerate rocks, dropping 20 feet. The falls are reached by a relatively easy 1/4 mile trail from CR 513.

RAINBOW FALLS, the northernmost of the five falls, is named for the rainbows often seen in its mist. In early afternoon before the sun sinks too low, Rainbow Falls' light effects can be enchanting, as light on the mist rising above the pool creates a rainbow. Nearby the river has exposed layered sandstone, alternating gold and rose, for another colorful effect.
The access from CR 513 (via an exhausting 200 stairs!) is closed until the stairway and viewing platforms are rebuilt. The more beautiful view of Rainbow Falls is reached by parking at the very end of CR 513 at Black River Harbor. Take the swinging footbridge across the river mouth, look for the North Country Trail's triple blue diamonds in about 50 feet (the NCT loops back around the river's east bank), and turn right. Follow the river upstream and up along the river wall on an earthen embankment made by the forest service. This trail reaches a plateau, then goes south past some massive old-growth hemlocks in the mixed old-growth stand on the way to the Rainbow Falls.
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