Mouth & Falls of Montreal River

Wayne Premo

Lower Falls

It's a quite bumpy 6-mile ride from paved road past Lac la Belle. But the 2+ mile hike to the Montreal River's mouth is delightful.

It snakes along Superior's shoreline through a mature forest and long stretches of thimbleberry plants, their prized berries beginning to mature in late July.

The river mouth itself is just below a complex 3-tiered falls which drops almost 40 feet. Unless the flow is unusually great, one can carefully walk and hop from one craggy outcrop to another. It's also delightful on a warm day to dangle one's feet in the refreshingly cold water.

From the lower falls a half-mile path leads up to a second smaller falls which drops about 5 feet. The path is well above the river and offers fine

Wayne Premo

Upper Falls

vistas of the river and forest.

Don Hunt

You pass over the Montreal R. driving from Lac la Belle to U.S. 41. The river originates in the marchlands south of 41 north of Central.

Take the paved road heading east north of Lac la Belle, then turn left (north) on the dirt road and follow it to its end 6 miles away. It curves westward for some ways to skit the sizable hill along the way.

Return to Lac la Belle