Exploring Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Part 7) - Western UP Waterfalls

“There’s no better place to find yourself than sitting by a waterfall and listening to its music.”

― Roland R. Kemler

In July 2024 we spent three weeks traveling throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.). During our second week we stayed at a campground on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Although we spent a great deal of time exploring various sites on the Peninsula, we also stopped during our travels to see a bunch of waterfalls along the way. The lower peninsula of Michigan (the part known as the mitten) has only one waterfall! All of the rest (and there are many!) are in the U.P. This post covers the ones we explored in the western region of the U.P.

Haven Falls - July 21, 2024

Haven Falls is located in a small county park in the quaint little village of Lac La Belle. The 20-foot-tall fall is visible from the road, but there's a nice little park with a pavilion, restrooms and picnic tables nearby. The steep falls have an upper portion that's hidden from view. After the falls, the creek flows through the park and into the scenic Lac (Lake) La Belle.

Haven Falls

Lac La Belle

Eagle River Falls - July 22, 2024

The 40-foot-high Eagle River Falls is a roadside waterfall located in the village of Eagle River. There's a small park with a trail that leads a little closer to the falls, but you can get great views of them from a historic bridge that has been converted to pedestrian use only. When we were there one of the drops in the falls was from the top of an old dam and fed down into two pools in the rock face below before reaching the river. We could only imagine how much more beautiful the falls must be in the spring when they are running more fully.

Eagle River Falls
Top of the falls at the old dam	Eagle River Bridge

Jacob's Falls - July 22, 2024

Jacob's Falls is located about 3 miles east of Eagle River, right along the highway, close to the Jampot. The Jampot is a very popular local bakery, candy & jam shop which, unfortunately, was closed the day we were in the area. Although you can see the main 20-foot drop of Jacob's Falls from your car, there are several other drops above it which can be viewed if you're willing to climb the steep path along the side of the falls. We chose not to explore further than the roadside because we had other sites we wanted to see that day.

Jacob's Falls

Silver River Falls - July 22, 2024

East of Eagle Harbor, right before the entrance to the Keweenaw Peninsula's scenic Brockway Drive, is the 20-foot-tall Silver River Falls. The falls have two drops below a historic bridge. The upper portion is a long sloping fall over shelves of rocks. Then the river levels out for a bit before falling over a few more drops. There's a path that takes you along the river as it descends and if you look back upstream you can see the arched stonework bridge above the falls.

Silver River Falls	Silver River Falls
Silver River Falls

Houghton-Douglas Falls - July 23, 2024

The impressive 120-foot tall Houghton-Douglas Falls can be viewed from a trail just north of Lake Linden and has beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding forest. The falls plunge down over sharp volcanic rock from steep walls. There are several overlooks along a winding trail, making the hike well worth it. Construction of a parking lot and veterans memorial were slated to begin at the site in October.

Small fall before the main one

Houghton-Douglas Falls

Hungarian Falls - July 23, 2024

A short drive from Lake Linden to Tamarack City brought us to the Hungarian Falls Nature Area, which includes three major falls along a 1.2 mile trail. This is a very popular site and the parking area was full, so we had to park along the road. 

We followed the trail past a historic early 1900s dam and pond before arriving at the 39-foot cascading Upper Falls. These falls were formed by the Keweenaw Fault, a billion-year-old geological feature. We had to carefully climb down a steep embankment to get the best views from the edge of the river.

Historic dam spillway

Hungarian Falls - Upper Falls

We followed the trail back down along Dover Creek, passing a small drop on the way to the top of the 18-foot-high Middle Falls. We passed the top of the falls and continued on the trail a short way to where the bank leveled out and we could wade across the creek, then head back upstream to view the falls from below.

Hungarian Falls - Middle Falls

The 40-foot high Lower Falls were much harder to see. The trail leads to the top of the falls but doesn't give you much of a view because they drop down into a deep gorge before draining into Torch Lake and it was a bit too dangerous to get too close to the edge. There is a very narrow path leading along the cliff face leading down to the bottom, but it looked far too risky for us, so we didn't attempt it. Unfortunately, we couldn't take a photo of the Lower Falls.

View of Torch Lake from above the Lower Falls

We could easily see why this area is so popular with locals and tourists. The trail through the towering pines, hemlocks and other trees was beautiful and there were plenty of viewpoints on both sides of the gorge.

O Kun de Kun Falls - July 24, 2024

O Kun de Kun Falls is located along a remote section of the North Country Trail (NCT) in the Ottawa National Forest. The NCT is an approximately 4800 mile route from Vermont to North Dakota. We hiked many other sections of the trail at different times during our U.P. trip and were always happy to find another section to explore. 

Although most of the NCT in the Western Upper Peninsula is usually quite challenging, the 2.8 mile section of the trail to the falls was gentle with only small hills and no rocks to contend with.  The trail winds through the thick forest along the gravel, dirt and boardwalk path before winding its way along the Baltimore River to the falls. On the way we passed some unusual wildflowers and plants.

Creeping Dogwood Ghost Plant/Indian Pipe

Heal-All Blue Bead Lily

There are actually two sets of watefalls here. The first, Konteko Falls is more popularly known as Peanut Butter Falls due to its normally brown color. A somewhat challenging side trail leads down to the best views from the river. The falls drop 4 feet over a sandstone ledge before heading downriver to the main attraction. 

Konteka/Peanut Butter Falls

After rejoining the main path we passed by a grove of Aspen trees. Then the trail opened up on a beautiful view of the Baltimore River with the main falls on our right and an impressive suspension bridge carrying the NCT over the river on our left.

The Aspen grove Top of the falls Suspension bridge for the North Country Trail

Path to the falls O Kun de Kun Falls

The 26-foot-tall O Kun de Kun Falls is named after an Ojibway chief. It's one of the few plunge falls on the Upper Peninisula. The width of the falls can get pretty thin in the summer, but it was still worth the hike to see it.

Agate Falls - July 24, 2024

The 42-foot-high Agate Falls is located along the middle branch of the Ontonagon River and is considered one of Michigan's most picturesque waterfalls. It's accessed by a half-mile paved trail from a roadside park, taking you under the highway to an observation platform with views of the top of the falls and the railroad trestle crossing above them. To get an even better view, we followed a steep, narrow trail under the observation platform down to the river's edge. Unfortunately we didn't know we could also look at the falls from the trestle bridge, which is currently part of a snowmobile trail.

Agate Falls

Bond Falls - July 24, 2024

Bond Falls is easily one of the most impressive waterfalls in Michigan's U.P. and is located near Paulding in the Ottawa National Forest. The drive south from our campground took about 1.5 hours, but it was worth it! We followed a paved trail through the forest from the parking area to an expansive boardwalk giving multiple viewing locations of the falls. You can definitely hear the falls before you see them - they are loud!

This powerful waterfall is 100-feet-wide with a total drop of about 50-feet. The falls pool at the bottom creating a little island with a bridge to it so you can stand in the middle of the falls for the best view. After viewing the main falls from all angles, we followed the path to the right of the falls and up some stairs for even more falls upstream. There we found multiple smaller drops over volcanic rock mixed with boulders and chutes.

Bond Falls - Main Falls Bond Falls Bond Falls

View standing next to the main falls on the staircase Bond Falls Bond Falls

We filmed videos of many of the waterfalls we saw in our Michigan travels, but haven't finished editing them yet. We plan to post a video of all the waterfalls we saw while in the Upper Peninsula on our YouTube channel at some point in the future. If you don't want to miss it, go to our channel, subscribe to it and click on the notification bell so you can receive notifications when we post a new video.

* All photos and videos are the property of the owners unless otherwise noted. *

Exploring Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Part 6) - Copper Harbor

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."

- Jawaharlal Nehru 

July 21, 2024

Copper Harbor is located at the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, making it the state's northernmost community. There are only about 100 residents who live year-round in a town that's only 10 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. The area is well-known for its outdoor recreation, small town charm and amazing views of Lake Superior. It's also the location for the passenger ferry to Isle Royale National Park.

There is a lot packed into this small village. We found lodging opportunities, restaurants, shops and outdoor recreation equipment rentals. Although we were traveling at the height of the summer season, we were happy to find their weren't crowds of people. We had no problems finding parking or a seat in a restaurant. We found that to be true of all the places we visited on the Keweenaw Peninsula.

The area in and around Copper Harbor is incredibly rugged with a mulititude of trails for hiking, kayaking and mountain biking. The area is also known for its birding, fishing, rock hounding and lighthouses. Plus there are beaches to explore and relax on. If you're brave enough to visit the peninsula in the winter (Average snowfall is an amazing 270 inches!), you can find every type of outdoor winter activity imaginable.

Our first stop was the historic Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. The lodge was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corp and is listed on the National Register of historic places. The complex covers 167 acres and includes the rustic main lodge along with 23 cabins and a golf course. All of the buildings were constructed using rough-cut stone and dark painted logs. The views from the lodge were beautiful and we could see why the lodge's grounds were designated an International Dark Sky Park.

View from the lodge

We then headed down into Copper Harbor  and started our exploration of this small village by visiting Manganese Falls. The falls are located along a gravel road a short distance from the campground at the north end of Fanny Hooe Lake. They tumble down from a height of 35 feet into a gorge. They weren't running as fully as usual, and it's a little difficult to find a good view of the falls from top to bottom through the trees. We followed a foot path from the rim of the gorge to a viewing platform.

Manganese Falls

Next we drove to Fort Wilkins Historic State Park. The park is located at the northern tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. It includes a modern campground, two lighthouses, trails and a historical fort with living history re-enactors. They did an excellent job of answering questions without breaking character at all. The restored fort was built by the U.S. Army in 1844 as a military outpost with the intent of keeping the peace in the state's copper country. However, by 1870 it was determined the fort was unnecessary and it was abandoned.  It became a Michigan State Park in 1923. The site is extensive and includes 19 buildings. We enjoyed walking through them and talking with the re-enactors.

Living quarters View of the fort	View out to Lake Fanny Hooe

If you'd like to see more of the fort, check out our YouTube video by clicking here. 

The 1866 Copper Harbor Lighthouse with its 44 foot tower is included in the park. It aided ships transporting copper from the U.P. Unfortunately the road that leads out to the lighthouse isn't open to the public, so we had to satisfy ourselves with views of the lighthouse from across the water.

Copper Harbor Lighthouse

Copper Harbor Lighthouse

The 1865 Copper Harbor Rear Range Lighthouse is also located in Fort Wilkins S.P. The lighthouse is owned by the Michigan Historical Museum System and is currently used as the home for the assitant manager of the park. In order to respect the privacy of the residents, we took our photos from the road just outside of the entrance. The light was shown from a window at the opposite end of the dwelling. The light was later moved to a metal skeleton tower next to the dwelling.

Copper Harbor Rear Range Lighthouse

After finishing our exploration of Fort Wilkins S.P. and its lighthouses, we drove further north to "the end of the road", or the beginning, depending on your point of view! U.S. Highway 41 runs over 2000 miles between Copper Harbor Michigan and Miami, Florida. The paved road ends in a cul-de-sac about 2.5 miles north of Copper Harbor, but it actually continues as a seasonal dirt road all the way out to the very tip of the peninsula. We considered the drive out, very briefly. The road is rumored to be extremely rugged, so we decided to settle with photos of the sign marking the road's official end/start and leave it at that.

Is it the end of the road, or the beginning?

From there we drove back into Copper Harbor village for some lunch and to explore the shops located along its main street. We had an excellent lunch of burgers topped with beef brisket and barbecue sauce at the Tamarack Inn - we highly recommend it!

After leaving Copper Harbor we headed south on U.S. 41, stopping for some quick photos of the beautiful Lake Medora on our way to the Delaware Copper Mine where we learned more about why this area is known as "Copper Country". But you'll have to wait until our next blog entry to read about that! 

Kayakers on Lake Medora

View of Lake Medora

However, we'll leave you with a little food for thought regarding the average snowfall on the Keweenaw Peninsula. We found this sign along U.S. 41 just a short ride from our campground...

That's waaay too much snow for us!!

We love Michigan and the rugged beauty of the Upper Peninsula. But we definitely won't be moving there permanently - summer visits are enough for us!

* All photos and videos are the property of the owners unless otherwise noted. *