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Hunts' Guide to Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA

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CRYSTAL FALLS
POINTS
OF INTEREST

Iron County Courthouse. This 1890 courthouse, among Michigan's most memorable, has just been meticulously restored. The courtroom and history room/research area are of special interest. ... more

Downtown Crystal Falls. A classic 1930s WPA post office mural; a 1920s theater with impressive organ; an exceptional sausage shop with takeout sandwiches and soups; a shoemaker/shoe store that's a time trip, a big antique shop; and a pasty/pierogi factory that sells seconds for less. ... more

Harbour House Museum. This unusual cement block house with two-tiered wraparound porch is a local house museum with an outstanding collection of Ojibwa baskets, beaded clothing, and more. ... more

Paint River Boardwalk. Easy access to a beautiful in-town stretch of river ... more

Crystal View Golf Course. A scenic, inexpensive 9-hole course on the steep slope of the Paint River valley, with mature hardwoods framing a grand view of the town ... more

Horserace Rapids. A delightful attraction - not just the rapids but the path twisting around massive boulders among birches and then towering dark pines down to a magical glen. ... more

Runkle Lake Park and Recreation Complex. A mile east of Crystal Falls, this 1920s park has swimming and a beach on Runkle Lake, a log shelter in the pines, a fishing pier, tennis, volleyball, and basketball courts. ... more

Glidden Lake & Lake Mary Plains Pathway. A swimming beach and 10-mile hiking trail through pine plantations and oak uplands adjoin this 23-site rustic campground ... more

Peavy Pond & Michigamme Reservoir /Wisconsin Electric Power. Fishing, paddling, boating, and primitive camping in wilderness areas are possible at these impoundments with long shorelines and many arms. ... more

Bewabic State Park. The four Fortune Lakes are fishing and birding destinations at this beautiful, uncrowded state park with picturesque CCC projects and a good, sandy beach. ... more

Chicaugon Falls. A mile hike leads to the top of this striking, little-visited waterfall that creates a dramatic deep glen among massive, dark boulders ... more

Margeson Falls. Tough to reach, but the reward is a waterrfall in a striking canyon ... more

CRYSTAL FALLS

Horserace Rapids

If you take time to explore the trails and rock perches up and down the Paint River, you can get many views of the rapids.

The rugged, romantic appeal of this memorable place lies not so much in the rushing rapids down on the Paint River as in the unfolding approach to it. The short, steep path from the bluff top to the river 80 feet below is mostly paved for better footing. It leads down, gradually in many places, but with 86 steps in all.

Soon you are twisting around massive boulders. First the rocks jut out among birches that catch the sunlight. Then the path descends into deep shade created both by towering dark pines and by the red-rocked bluffs on both sides of the river. The sound of the water grows louder as you go down. Ferns and mosses add to the feeling that this is a magical glen, a world of its own.

Horserace Rapids path

Even before you get to the rapids, the amazing boulders here become evident.

Finally, walking among the rocks, you reach the river's level and see how it rushes around more rocks as it flows west toward Paint Pond. That's the Wisconsin Electric Power dam's impoundment of the Paint's last miles before it joins the Brule River (it's pronounced "brool") near Florence, Wisconsin. In a few more miles after that, the Brule and the Michigamme rivers join to form the Menominee.

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Click to enlarge

On the east side of U.S. 2, about 6 miles south of Crystal Falls and 8 miles north of Florence, Wisconsin, look for the sign for the Iron County Airport and Horserace Rapids road. A good dirt road leads to the parking area in a little over 3 miles. Take the right-hand fork on the way and also avoid the two-track with the brown campsite symbol. Not handicap-accessible.

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