Big Iron, MI

River Description

Reach consists of alternating sections of light rockbed rapids and moving water, plus a bigger drop, Bonanza Falls. Bonanza comes at 3.3 miles into the run and may easily push into class IV territory at higher flows.

A couple of good photos of the falls are available online at: upnorthmichigan.com and hunts-upguide.com.

For description, see Upper Midwest PaddleGuide

Those seeking a longer run may wish to put-in about five miles upstream of White Pine (if the logging roads are passable for access).

The (rather smaller) Little Iron lies immediately to the West of this run, and may be a great 'companion-run' (if they prove both to be at runnable levels) or the Big and Little Iron runs may be 'fall-back' runs for each other in the event one is too high or low and the other may be runnable.

There are also similiar runs in the area on the W.Br.Big Iron and Mineral Rivers, though specific information on these is unknown at this time. Accessing these alternate rivers (as with the aforementioned upper section of the Big Iron) require navigating the maze of logging roads in the area, many of which are not seasonally maintained. This will likely stymie any early spring attempts at access.