|
|
TROUT CREEK
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Agate Falls Scenic Site. An accessible path starts at a picnic area, goes under M-28, and leads to a tall, massive cascade seen from a high overlook. ...
more
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Agate Falls Scenic Site
|
(906) 353-6651
A spectacular waterfall is part of a complex park and pathway system right on M-28 between Trout Creek and Bruce Crossing. Major improvements in 2005 have made it accessible to all.
The Michigan DNR teamed up with M-DOT (Michigan Department of Transportation), reliably funded by gas tax revenue. They built a completely accessible picnic facility and path on the high east bank of the Ontonagon River's Middle Branch. The path leads under the highway to the waterfall, perhaps a quarter mile away.
The easy boardwalk path goes through mature forest to a fenced viewing platform looking down and across at the falls. The water tumbles down the broad sandstone shelves in a series of cascades, surrounded by dark, square rocks, and into the river far below. Direct access to the river here is not encouraged. The banks are so steep hikers had to hang on branches, and the old paths were eroded and slippery.
Up through the trees you see the dramatic wood arches and trestle of the Bergland to Sidnaw Rail Trail on the old Soo Line roadbed. The trail parallels M-28 for 43 miles. It includes four such bridges altogether. It's ballast-surfaced for ATVs and mountain bikes. Call the Copper Country State Forest, (906) 353-6651, for details. A souvenir shop with Jilbert's ice cream cones is by the path to the falls on the north side of M-28. It has a few picnic tables as well.
On M-28 (the road from Marquette to the Porcupine Mountains). Stop 4 miles west of Trout Creek or 7 miles east of Bruce Crossing at the Joseph Oravec Roadside Park. It has picnic tables, drinking water, and vault toilets. Go north under the highway and railroad bridge to the falls. Now fully handicap-accessible.
Return to Trout Creek
|
|
