Porcupine Mountains
Escarpment Trail
We decided semi-last minute to book a camping trip at the end of July. We first set our sights on the Apostle Islands in Northern Wisconsin, but nothing was open. While studying nearby lodging on Google Maps, we came across the Porcupine Mountains. Not nearly enough people here in Wisconsin are talking about this park. When telling friends and family that we were headed up that way for a weekend camping trip, it was very rare for someone to have even heard of the Porkies. If you are headed up to the Upper Peninsula anytime soon, or are looking for your next outdoors adventure, add Porcupine Mountain State Park to your list, especially in the Fall!
Here are our three favorite activities that we did in the park:
1. Presque Isle River Waterfalls Loop Trail: This is a must-see! It is located in the far western area of the park, and the trail is a 1.3 mile loop with a lot of stairs and boardwalks. This trail offers amazing views and chances to get close to three waterfalls: Manabezho, Manido and Nawadaha. We loved it so much, we went back a second time on our way out of the park.
Tip: The West River Trail is the side that offers the views of the waterfalls. The second portion of the loop (the East River Trail) loops its way through the forest, and while you can still see the waterfalls, it is undeniably less magical than the West Trail. When we went back for the second time, we took the West Trail past all three waterfalls and then turned back at the bridge rather than continue on to the East Trail. If you want to do the entire trail, we would recommend heading towards the East Trail first and building up the sense of anticipation before reaching the waterfalls. If you start West and finish East, the whole second half of your hike will be anticlimactic!
Lake of the Clouds
2. Escarpment Trail/Lake of the Clouds: Lake of the Clouds is the quintessential trademark of the Porkies, and you would be remiss to skip this on your visit. For those who are not avid hikers, you can park at the trailhead and very easily reach an overlook of the lake. We were pleasantly surprised to see that during sunset and early morning, there were barely any people at the overlook. In fact, even in the middle of the busy summer season, there were minimal hikers on any trails in the park. According to Pure Michigan’s website, the Escarpment Trail is “one of the most picturesque hiking trails in all of Michigan. It combines a high rocky bluff and alpine-life vistas with views of the park's interior including the Upper Carp River Valley and Lake of the Clouds.”
Tip: The trail is a 8.4 mile out and back with a chance to connect to an overlook trail of the river valley. However, the most scenic overview occurs halfway through the trail after about 4 miles, offering stunning views of the lake to the right and the river snaking its way through the valley straight ahead and to the left. After talking to hikers coming from the opposite direction (we started at the lake trailhead), we decided that we were not going to get better views than the one we were seeing, so we decided to turn around. All in all, we hiked 8 miles out and back and saw the beautiful views we wanted, plus we had more time left in our day to do additional hikes and activities.
3. Lake Superior: We spent a lot of time exploring the shoreline. The road that passes through the park drives parallel to Lake Superior in the northern part of the park, offering lots of pullout spots to park and climb down to the shoreline. We found several fun areas with no other people where we could swim and collect rocks. We scoped out a couple areas and came back one evening with lawn chairs to sit and enjoy the views at sunset (which didn’t happen until 9:30 pm!). To most, Lake Superior is a formidable ice bath, but it sure felt good on sore muscles and feet after lots of hiking. There is also a 16.6 mile out and back Lake Superior trail that you can explore and camp on.
Other honorable mentions:
Summit Peak Tower- In our personal opinion, the views were not that stellar at this time of year. This was one of many times this trip that we found ourselves saying “this would be beautiful in the Fall.” From the top of the tower, you see trees for miles and miles, and the tower is relatively easy to reach (a 0.5 mile trail with lots of stairs). We knew from researching pictures ahead of time that this tower was not going to offer the magnificent views we were seeking, but we felt compelled to visit anyway, as it is listed near the top of every Porcupine Mountain trail guide. If you don’t make it here during a non-autumn month, rest assured that you are not missing much.
Waterfalls: Aside from the three major waterfalls located at Presque Isle, there are several other, smaller waterfalls to see throughout the vast 60,000 acre park. We visited Overlooked and Greenstone Falls, which were both on the same short trail that can be completed in under 2 miles. We preferred the Overlooked Falls to Greenstone. Beware that there are some pretty unstable boardwalk sections between the two Falls.
Mirror Lake: This is a smaller interior lake that we did not visit this trip but which may be of interest to other hikers. Check out the park map here to check out other points of interest throughout the park. We will definitely be back to the Porkies in the nearish future, next time in the Fall. Stay tuned!
Logistics:
Camping: We stayed at Union Bay Campground inside the park. This campground offers electricity, flushable toilets, showers, and even a laundry room. You can reserve a site right along Lake Superior (keep in mind that it gets a bit windy), but the sites are very close together. This would be a lot of fun if you were camping with friends or family. We were on the interior side and flanked by a lot of RVs since the sites are electric. We were tent camping, so our site was quite large for what we needed. While the electricity was great to charge our phones and cameras, keep in mind that cell service is quite limited in the park.
The Presque Isle campground is a bit more rustic with vault toilets. But don’t let that scare you - we can honestly say that Porcupine Mountain State Park is the CLEANEST campground we have ever been to! We will have to visit other Michigan state parks to see if the cleanliness standards hold up. The facilities were immaculate - no sand and water on the ground that we are accustomed to from Wisconsin State Parks (sorry, Wisco!), and none of the vault toilets at the trailheads had any odor at all. We were very impressed!
Driving around: There is one main road that loops throughout the park, and it takes about 40-45 minutes to get from Presque Isle to where we were staying at Union Bay on the other side. Make the most of the drive and plan some stopping points. This is how we saw the smaller waterfalls and climbed Summit Peak Tower. We also saw some wildlife on our drive, including a fox. If you want to go somewhere with a ton of wildlife, check out our blog post on Governor Dodge State Park.
Food, firewood, ice: There are several dining options within the park itself and a few different shops where you can buy firewood and ice (and ice cream!). Unlike some other parks we were used to, you do not buy your wood or check in at the main visitor center, but rather in your actual campground. Unless you need some maps and information on the park, don’t bother stopping at the Visitor Center - just go straight to your campground. Oh, and if you plan on buying your park pass at a trailhead like Presque Isle, plan on having cash with you, as not all places in the park accept credit card. We learned this the hard way when we were laughed at and told “cash is king in the UP” while trying to buy our pass with card at Presque Isle.
We hope you make it up to the Porkies one of these days. And when you do, let us know what you think!
