Late in the afternoon I was having trouble deciding my next stop. While looking for a campsite along US-2, I stumbled upon a road sign pointing towards Yondata Falls on the Michigan U.P. side. I didn’t even have the place on my list and figured it’s worth a look. Boy was I in for a fantastic surprise! Parked the truck in the small gravel shoulder on County Road 105 and followed the trail sign on the north side of the Presque Isle River.
Looking downstream from the road bridge it seems the water is perfectly serene but that changes in a hurry. You can almost see the initial rapids from here but it’s just out of view.
Just a short walk from the trailhead you reach the first major drop. It’s difficult to capture the entire falls in one frame but it drops further off to the right part of this photo and twists the other direction. I’d estimate it’s a 5+ foot drop and water is really thumping here. Is this the only falls? I better keep going just to be sure…
Some sections of the river are deceivingly still but you can hear more moving water the entire journey. Don’t be fooled – keep hiking all the way to the bottom!
The trail itself is a little tricky due to the fallen leaf cover. Make your way carefully and keep in mind there can be rocks below the leaves so don’t twist your ankles!
Near the start of what I’d call the middle section there is a larger drop of 10-20 feet (or more, hard to say really). The river narrows tightly and drops between some large rocks in a mini-canyon. I couldn’t get any closer views as it is dangeround near the rocky edge and you definitely do NOT want to go swimming from here.
Looking downstream from that same rocky perch it’s clear the rapids and falls keep going and going…which is great! Leaf colors really start popping in this spot and today were fantastic shades of yellow, orange, and a tiny bit of red. Not fully peak but probably pretty close.
Another view of the trail near the middle/bottom section. You can actually see a blue blaze on the tree to the left side, but that’s the only marker I recall seeing the entire journey.
After some maneuvering along the giant crags lining the north bank, here is a view of some large rapids/falls in the middle-ish section. This is another place where a single photo really doesn’t do it justice. You could spend all day just at this spot and still see new details.
Below that large rapids area is a small horseshoe-shaped crater that drops a foot or two and continues thrasing even further downwards.
Walking a few hundred feet you can see below that crater and subsequent drops. Again, there is a lot of activity in a small area that is hard to describe. Just a flurry of turbulent water everywhere. Wow.
Another view looking across the river. The volume of water passing through here is astonishing. Standing on the rocks you can feel it vibrating upwards through your feet and sometimes in your chest at the largest parts.
I felt the best view of the entire area was all the way at the bottom looking back upstream. Multiple drops, big rocks, fantastic foliage colors. Definitely one of the highlights of my entire trip just being at this exact spot.
As the light started getting low I took a look towards slightly calmer water downstream and started my way back. There was just enough time for a little more fun with camera tricks…
Long Exposure
I played around taking long exposures on the entire return hike. Since the sun was going down the lighting conditions were nearly ideal. First one is that same view from the bottom. I’m torn whether the regular or long exposure is my favorite but happy I could capture both.
Second is the large rapids/falls sections somewhere in the middle of the entire run. I got some deeper blacks/contrast with the long shot and it came out pretty sharp.
Video
Here’s a video of the falls in action. I wish there was time to hike along the south shore but I ran out of time today. Don’t miss this one!
Hiking Data
Here’s the path I took. From my online searching I think many websites claim this is only 0.2 miles each way but I think that’s underestimating things. I hiked about double that, but much of it was walking back & forth finding best angles to take photos. All in all it’s pretty easy but does require some caution as the trail is sometimes hard to find when covered in leaves.
Fairly certain I was not moving at 5 mph at any time so appears the GPS app was acting wonky. Really not much elevation difference here. Hardest part is navigating the trail and dancing carefully across the rocks nearest the river which can get slippery.
