Baltimore,

Hwy.45 to M Br Ontonagon to Hwy.45 (5.9 + 3.3 miles)

Creamy Peanut Butter Falls

Creamy Peanut Butter Falls
Photo of Harry House by Tom O'Keefe taken 19April1997

Gauge Information

River Description

Quick Facts:

Location: midway between Rockland and Bruce Crossing, 18 miles SSW of Ontonagon, MI.
Shuttle Length: 4.3 miles. (See details in "Directions" Tab.)
Character: A couple short falls, bedrock slides, and undercuts.

Put-in is approximately 959' elevation.
Confluence is approximately 713' elevation.
Thus total elevation change (Baltimore only) is approximately 246'.
Take-out is approximately 661' elevation.
Thus total elevation change (full run) is approximately 298' (for overall gradient of 32 FPM).

The first two miles of this reach are a quietwater access paddle with very little gradient. Things start picking up as one approaches "Creamy Peanut Butter Falls", a vertical drop of about 10'. A short distance downstream, Okundekun Falls, a 20' vertical which, while possibly runnable, should be considered a portage, river left. (It mostly lands hard on rock.)

The fun part of the Baltimore begins below Okundekun Falls with a mix of slides and boulder drops. The geology gets very interesting here as well. This is a unique river in the U.P. with a river bottom of smooth sandstone forming the midwest version of slick-rock. In fact, the canyon section below makes for some great mountain biking in the summer. "Let us Pray" begins the action directly below the Okundekun falls footbridge. There are a number of class II and III rapids on the way to "Cyclops", where the river splits around a small rock island and drops about 12' with a slide on each side of the island.

The river continues its slick-rock class II-III rapids until you take a 90 degree bend to the left and see remains of an ancient swinging footbridge. Take a breather on river right at the old footbridge for a mandatory scout. The canyon below is an awesome spectacle.

This is the most challenging section of the river, class IV+ at lower flows pushing into class V territory when higher. Undercut boulders and shorelines (generally scarce in the Midwest) abound on this stretch. It starts out with low angle slide sequences, gradually steepening further in. The crux comes with a medium angle slide of about 15' just above where the river makes a hard turn right. The river is deflected hard right with an inconvenient boulder on the outside of the bend, then drops off another, slightly steeper slide of about 12' ("The Mass Has Ended"). This sequence can be portaged river right.

The fun is far from over because below the major drop lies a 200 yard section of sloping sandstone bedrock ("Go In Peace") in a canyon which makes for a long, squirrelly, low angle slide. There are boulders scattered at random on the surface of this bedrock making a slalom course of sorts. Wood is likely to be trapped between boulders, so plan your route carefully here. Be sure to bring your bike back here in the summer for an excellent ride. Gradient gradually slackens below here until the confluence with the M.Br.Ontonagon is reached.

The paddle out on the M.Br.Ontonagon adds 3.9 miles of low gradient paddling (~13 FPM) to this run, and consists of moving water interspersed with a few light rockbed rapids.

Before you change out of your paddling gear, be sure to have a look at Sandstone Creek about 1/2 mile south of the take out, roadside along HWY 45. If you find it boatable, it will be a great 'capper' to your day!