Presque Isle,

Nokomis on the Presque Isle (MI)

Nokomis on the Presque Isle (MI)
Photo of Dag Grada by Mark Mastalski taken August 28, 2004 @ < 6.0' (low)

Gauge Information

River Description

Aug '04 Update/Access
The listed put in for this reach, Steiger's bridge, is privately owned, as are the roads leading up to it. In Spring '04, paddlers were informed that, due to liability concerns on the part of the owner, the road would be closed to public usage. Access to Steiger's bridge may be gated and unavailable, thus necessitating a "full" Presque run from Underwood Tower Rd. down to paddle this reach. Total length of the combined reaches is 15.7 miles.

Classic run once considered "cutting edge" whitewater. Triple Drop, Nakomis, Lepisto, and Iagoo Falls are the major drops. There is much great play water after the gorge, particularly at higher water levels (above 7.5', when Triple Drop and Nakomis will likely be portaged).

Historically, most groups took out at the South Boundary Road Bridge, however, the final mile to the lake contains some interesting, big, runnable (for experts) drops, and increasingly is now done as a 'first choice' run. (See Bottom Presque for description and photos.) Those not choosing to run this reach will want to at least enjoy the views from overlooks and footbridge in the park.

For additional description, see Upper Midwest PaddleGuide

Click here for a large pdf article (872k) from the AW Journal, way back in 1981! (You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader for pdf format items.)

In addition to this reach, the article also describes the following:
Michigan's
Upper Presque Isle,
Middle Black,
Lower Black,
Upper Silver,
Lower Silver,
Falls, and
Rock,
and Wisconsin's
Lower Brunsweiler,
Montreal, W.Fk., and
Montreal Canyon.