Discovering Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Water Falls
Over the week of Labor Day, I set out to the Upper Peninsula for the first time on an extended vacation to stay in Iron River and discover some of the waterfalls. I left Labor Day morning and returned Saturday evening and it was a pretty incredible trip. The vacation started off with visiting the Lake of the Clouds which, if you've never been, is absolutely worth the drive alone. It was basically like standing on top of the world looking out at the amazing scenic view that Michigan is known for; There's really nothing like it.
But later that day I visited The Bond Falls, also known as Bonanza Falls. All I could think about was the Bonanza song while we sat at the picnic table around these quiet but cool falls and had some INSANE burgers from a place seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We scored them from a place called Porky's Pub & Grub at 120 Lincoln Ave in Ontonagon. It was an excellent start to the first falls.
From there the next stop took us a bit out of the way to the Agate Falls, where there was a really peaceful river leading to the roaring falls which were once used for moving lumber. The falls apparently looked very different at one point, but allegedly the use of dynamite changed them into sharp drop-off points, but it is nestled in a beautiful forest and was really cool.
The final one from Tuesday was the Bond Falls which were amazing. The roaring river sending the water crashing down the falls, which were roughly over 50 feet high was a great way to end the day.
The last falls I visited were the Chicagon Falls. THIS was an adventure. My little Kia could only handle so much of the backwoods driving until I was forced to park and take it on foot. The travel there took about 10 minutes, but the adventure through rock, dirt, and sand was worth it when I reached these beautiful falls in the middle of the woods. I can't wait to go back up and experience more of these in the future. Enjoy the photos below from the experience: