• Monday-What'sUP May 5 - 10:37 pm

E. Neil Harri is at it again, with these four shots, he's going to make a number of our viewers (including me), put this location on their list of "things to do this summer". These first two aerials were taken in the Southwest part of the Porcupine Mountains, the portion of the park in Gogebic County. Starting with a view at the mouth of the Presque Isle River, looking further upstream you can see the falls, blown up in the inset for better viewing. The second photo is from the opposite direction and gives us a look at the campground area, with what I think is the shower/bathroom facility in this photo's inset. The little white specks up above the inset photo, are actually several camper trailers in the park. To get to this portion of the Porkies, you enter the park from the Wakefield side, up road 519. There's a Michigan Park Permit required to enter and a camping permit if you plan on staying to take advantage of the Steelhead fishing that's said to be quite good in this river.

The third photo is taken in the Big Carp River area. The arrow is pointing to a back country cabin, which Neil said folks will boat up from Black River Harbor to access this camp site.

The fourth picture shows a back country cabin (arrow pointing to it) on Little Carp River. The inset photo, is pointing out the spot where there's a fisherman near the bridge, trying his luck on the river already. Access to this cabin site is a four mile hike in. These back country cabins rent for $60 per night, for up to four people.

That concludes our mini-tour of the Porkies, be sure to make your plans to visit in person.

the porkies are one of my favorite places in the UP, totally wild and unspoiled. great pics Neil.

Holy smokes! I guess I'm joining Mary in putting this on my places to see. Those shots are totally awesome. Thank you!!

I second that Jeff. This is one of my favorites as well.

Very scenic scenery!

The Porkies also have a music festival around the end of August. Here's some info;

The fourth annual Porcupine Mountains Music Festival will take place August 22 (Friday), 23 (Saturday), and 24 (Sunday) at the Ski Hill and Chalet Area in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Ontonagon County located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The festival will feature folk, blues, bluegrass and contemporary music from top-class nationally touring artists as well as up and coming Michigan artists. 1250 people per day will get to hear the over 30 artists who will appear on our outdoor stages.

I was impressed with the run off that is very visible in the first picture. It was the first thing I saw. Pretty wild! This is one of the places I have not been (the porkies) and am planning a trip this summer. Great pics! It gives the northwoods nomad in me a reason to live! :)

The Presque Isle river is one of my favorite places to visit. This park area provides a series of stair cases that take you right down to the river. You can see that when the park was built, the construction crew took great care in making this area as accessible as possible. It is definetly worth the trip.

Those are great. I haven't been there since I was 10, planning to this summer. My daughter has already picked the hiking trails she wants to see and e-mailed them to me.

Yesterday the family took our 1996 Viking pop up camper from the back yard and gave it a good cleaning inside and out. Son took it to his job and gave it a power wash on the outside, curtains and everything inside have been cleaned. It is like new once more. We camped in many of Michigan State Parks over the years, but not the one pictured today. I would love to put it on my to do list also. Maybe one of the Grand kids will take me when I am old and feeble in the near future? But for now we will be camping here in two weeks when we go to Dollywood along Wears Valley.

Thirty odd years ago, before there were restrictions, my uncle, me and two sister walked the Presque Isle River, stood under one of the smaller waterfalls off the main one and then walked down to its flowage into Superior and did some wading. We did this in July when there was much less water coming over and the water was a touch warmer.

I have been monitoring this and several UP web cameras since last fall. My husband and I regularly vacation in the area and I just miss it when we are not there. We'll be up in early September and this year will be waterfall year as we plan to seek out some of the more hidden and lesser known ones than the Bond Falls and the ones in the Pokies.

Liz: Before you go chasing waterfalls, it would be good to purchase the Penrose book of Michigan waterfalls. I've been using mine for about 14 years, and now it's missing. Apparently I loaned it to someone. So now I'll have to buy a new one that won't have all my notes in it (and then I'll find the missing one). If I remember correctly, the Baraga County Tourist Assoc. website is a good source for waterfall info.

I love these pictures and would like to see more, Neil, of some of the rivers running into the Big Lake.

Liz -- that's a worthy endeavor! I spent the summer of 2005 doing exactly the same thing, although focusing more on the Keweenaw and Baraga bump areas. The best part was finding little hidden falls which aren't on any of the maps or in any of the books. Drop me a line if you would like links to a few of the more obscure ones which I found!

Hey All,

Great Pictures! These really make me want to be back in the woods. Just got back from Purity Trek 6 and already am missing the woods. We went to McCormick Wilderness this year.

A quick correction on the photos though. The third photo is actually the Little Carp River Cabin and the 4th one shows the mouth of the Big Carp River. That is the Big Carp 6 Bunk Cabin in the 4th picture. I have a lot of good memories at that spot. About 25 years ago that bridge spanning the Big Carp River wasn't there. In it's place was a big log that I remember scared me very much crossing it (I was only 6 at the time). I also remember falling off that bridge while fishing one fall--what a shocking swim. And lastly I remember dropping my retainer in the water there one fall and my father having to dive in the water to get it from the bottom of the hole. He had to hold onto rocks to actually get to the bottom because of the strength of the flow there.

One other interesting tidbit is that Porcupine Mountain's Wilderness State Park started from the cabin shown in the 4th picture. A man named Raymond Dick owned the cabin before the Porkies were a state park. During WWII when the interest in the timber in the park was renewed Raymond Dick started his campaign to protect that land from loggers. There is a plaque on the rock the bridge touches telling this.

Have a great day everyone
nate

Mary says: Thanks for the correction AND the added information Nate! I can relate to the retainer story, as I remember digging one out of the garbage at the school cafeteria...no current to fight, but there was plenty of stench to swim through! :->

David, you may not have anything like the 'porkies' down there in good ol' TN, but you're not far from the Smokies! The mtns. and valleys where you're headed for 2 weeks is beautiful country!! Have lived in eastern TN at times, and the mountains/valleys/streams/rivers are breathtaking. Hope you and your family have a great vacation!

Drove from Florida in mt little Miata, stayed here for three days, camping at this site. Beatiful place, lots to explore. I wish I were planning a trip for this summer.

Breathtaken!!