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PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS STATE PARK
POINTS
OF INTEREST

Park Visitor Center and nature center. Reccommended first stop at the Porkies in season for tips from helpful staff, audio-visual and pamphlet background on natural and human history, detailed hiking and topo maps, guided nature hikes ... more

Lake of the Clouds Overlook. One of Michigan's most famous views looks down from a dramatic Porcupine Mountain ridge onto the lake and Big Carp Valley. Glorious fall color. Now accessible to all. ... more

Union Bay. The most popular and easily reached Lake Superior beach in the Porkies, it's accessible by car and even has a concession stand by the large modern campground. ... more

Summit Peak Observation Tower. It feels like you're floating above an undulating sea of green here at the park's highest spot ... more

Presque Isle River Waterfalls. Swinging footbridge leads across the river to Lake Superior river mouth known for steelhead run. Warm wading at the beach. Waterfall aficianados consider the three falls here among the most U.P.'s most beautiful for the water patterns and the old-growth forest setting. ... more

Overlooked and Greenstone Falls. Two fine waterfalls, reached by fairly short hikes through old-growth hemlocks and past a gorge, are well worth the walk ... more

Explorers Falls. For those up to a long hike into the Porkies, the reward is experiencing the finest waterfall on the park's Carp River. ... more

Hike to Trap Falls. A 3 to 4 hour hike though hemlocks, hardwoods and big pines to a remote and picturesque waterfall ... more

Along the North Country Trail. Not the Porkies' most scenic trail, but its most remote. Connects to Black River waterfalls, Trap Hills, and Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness Area beyond the state park. ... more

Long trek deep into the Porkies. A recommended 3- to 4-day backpacking hike deep into the Porkies, through old-growth forest, past waterfalls, along the Little Carp River. ... more

Abinodja Falls, Ogimawke Falls & Ogima Falls. Just south of the state park, a marvelous series of waterfalls for those willing to take the trouble to find them ... more

PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS STATE PARK

Presque Isle River Waterfalls

Dan Urbanski

The riverside hike to the Presque Isle River waterfalls is a wonderful walk through a forest of mature hemlocks, white pine, and maples.

Many people enjoy the waterfalls along this river on the park's far western edge more than anything else they experience on an Upper Peninsula vacation, because of the cascading river and the huge hemlock. (Note: locals tend to say "Presk AISLE.") The first waterfall is 750' from the parking area; the last is about a half mile away. In their highly recommended A Guide to 199 Michigan Waterfalls, the Penrose family, who seldom indulge in superlatives, say, "This is one of the most beautiful stretches of river in the entire Upper Peninsula."

The Presque Isle Campground is at the river's mouth. Within a mile's hike of the parking areas are waterfalls that stand out for their beauty and variety. (It's just a short drive to the beautiful, easily accessible Greenstone Falls, See above.) An attractive boardwalk along the river's west bank makes the walk safer for anyone concerned about unsure, possibly slippery footing. Children should be under control at all times by the waterfalls.

A picnic area is at the very end of County Road 519. A swinging bridge, fascinating to children. crosses at the river's mouth where it empties into Lake Superior. This is a busy place during spring steelhead and fall salmon runs. From the parking area, say the Penroses, "a short walk leads to a network of stairs which drops to a trail. Just before the trail reaches the river, a boardwalk branches off to the right. [Return here later, but first] continue on the stairs to a suspension bridge. Just above it [is] a fascinating unnamed falls. . . . There the force of the powerful river. . . creates miniature whirlpools along the banks. The spinning action of the water has carved perfect half-circles into the stones which line the bank and polished them to a glossy black. . . . The best views of this effect come from the bridge."

Now go back and take the boardwalk upstream about 200 or 250 yards to the first overlook at MANABEZHO FALLS. To reach the second overlook at the brink of the falls, go upstream 150 yards more, up one stairway and down another. At the falls, the Penroses say, "a thick band of white, rushing water, which spans the 150-foot-wide river, drops about 20 feet over a rock shelf. The largest section is tinged with gold, and its heavy flow creates a blanket of foam which trails downstream."

In another 100 yards, MANIDO FALLS is "a mass of white water" as it "descends over a network of gradually declining rock steps, then drops over a ledge of stone." Look up and down the river to see traces of the adjoining falls.

The boardwalk ends at Manido Falls. Then the rugged East/West River Trail goes another 1/4 mile to reach NAWADAHA FALLS, a 15-foot tumble across many rock steps that creates "a blanket of white foaming lace." To see the falls best, you need to take a side spur down to the river. Footing can be tricky here. The Porcupine Mountains Companion reports that the pool below Nawadaha Falls is "a good place to try for rainbow trout and brookies."

Here you are almost at South Boundary Road. If you want to hike a 2-mile loop and revisit all thel on the river's east bank, cross on the bridge here. The trail, occasionally rough and hilly, passes some very large old-growth pine, hemlock, and cedar. It ends at the parking lots by the swinging bridge at the river mouth.

Nawadaha Falls wheelchair acceess is now possible from a short level trail behind the Presque Isle campground office. It is off County Road 519 coming from Wakefield and the south. The campground office is about 1/8 mile north of South Boundary Road, well before the picnic area at the Presque Isle River mouth. Trail starts behind office.

These falls, close to CR 519, are off South Boundary Road some 30 minutes southwest of the Visitor Center. They closer to Wakefield, 18 miles north of M-28. Park in the lot at the end of the road. See Nawadaha Falls for wheelchair access.

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