Falls, MI

Powerhouse Falls

Powerhouse Falls
Photo by Jesse Becker taken 4/1/06 @ Medium/high

Gauge Information

River Description

The Falls is one of the classic South Shore creek runs and is aptly named as most of the drops are of a ledge type. This run is a good intro to South Shore boating as it is located along the outskirts of L'Anse and is about as forgiving as a stream with this gradient can be.

This run is near continuous whitewater from the start with lighter whitewater between the more notable drops. The two drops of greatest consequence, "Powerhouse Falls" (IV+) and "Asshole" (IV), come early in the run. Some may wish to use an alternate put-in below "Powerhouse Falls", located by carrying in off Power Dam Rd to avoid a portage. Ledge type drops up to 10' ("Big Mo Falls") continue to the Hwy 41 bridge. The final drop to Lake Superior consists of a staircase drop followed by a slide and finally a breached dam.

Removal of a former hydro dam at the end of Power Dam Rd allows one to start at the head of the gradient off Mead Rd and adds a quarter mile of enjoyable warm-up water. As of Spring '00, the traditional put-in off Power Dam Rd was gated and the road in poor condition.

Description and images on Midwest River Inventory

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.)

The article describes the following:
Michigan's

     Upper Presque Isle, 
     Lower Presque Isle, 
     Middle Black, 
     Lower Black, 
     Upper Silver, 
     Lower Silver, 
     Rock, 

     Falls, (this river/reach)

and Wisconsin's 
     Lower Brunsweiler, 
     Montreal, W.Fk., and 
     Montreal Canyon.