Chasing waterfalls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Part II

Hope you’re all having a good week! Here’s the second part of my trip recollections.

Continuing our journey in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, on the afternoon of Friday, July 18, we visited Greenstone Falls. This waterfall can be reached by taking Little Carp River Road, which veers off the South Boundary Road of the Porkies. You follow Little Carp River Road just a short distance to a parking area, from which you have to walk maybe three-quarters of a mile to reach the Little Carp River. From there, you cross a bridge and hike upstream along the river bank until reaching the falls. The elevation does not change much; however, there are plenty of roots and tree limbs to maneuver around. The path also includes several sections of boardwalk that consist of two 2-by-4s running next to each other.

The falls themselves were not particularly impressive, with maybe a 10-foot drop. There were some pretty rapids along the river, though, with lush, green ferns and moss covered rocks framing the water nicely. The total distance there and back was about 2 miles.

That evening we visited the Porkies Outpost restaurant, which is technically in Silver City, a blip in the road that runs along Lake Superior. The restaurant is known for both its burgers and pizza. I tried both the meat lovers and chicken broccoli pizzas, and both had really good flavor. The outpost also has a gift shop with plenty of cute apparel and other swag, albeit pricey. After our dinner, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.

Saturday, July 19, we visited my mother’s cousin in Ontonagon and said goodbye for now. We then headed back west to Little Union Gorge Falls, which are in the northeast corner of the Porkies park. The unique thing about these falls is you can hike a loop following the Interpretive Union Mine Trail, which has informational plaques on the history of the area and earliest settlers. We got to see an abandoned mine shaft, which was noteworthy. The trail crosses South Boundary Road twice if you complete the full circle. According to the brochure, it’s supposed to be a 1-mile loop, but I recorded 1.5 miles. There are upper and lower falls. If you just want to see the lower falls and skip the full trail, park at the Union Mine Interpretive Trailhead, walk back to the highway, follow the highway south for about 0.05 mile, and you will see trees marked with blue squares on the east side of the road indicating the trail. Walk the trail for less than a tenth of a mile and you will reach the lower falls, where the waterfall splits in two and cascades down opposite sides of a rock face. The upper falls are wider across, but not as far of a vertical drop as several others I saw on the trip. I would not rank either waterfall as the most stunning, but again still worth seeing if you have the time, particularly if you are interested in history.

Next we traveled about 12 miles south to Nonesuch Falls. The trail to the falls is pretty much a straight shot, 1.1 miles out and back through an open field and forest, including passing by ruins of the Nonesuch copper mine and a couple of crumbling structures. Nonesuch used to be a thriving community centered around “one of the richest beds of copper bearing rock to ever be opened.” It was fun to take a look at the crumbling stone foundations and walls and imagine what life could have been like there.

There is a steep descent to the falls, which I would rate as moderately scenic. You do get a nice unobstructed view of the falls, and there