Presque Isle
A) Yondota Falls to Copps Mine Rd (1.5 miles)
| Difficulty | IV(V) |
| Length | 1.5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 60 fpm |
| Gauge | Presque Isle River Near Connorville, Mi |
| Flow Rate as of 39 minutes | 5.94 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 2, 2019 |
River Description
The meat of this short reach is the Yondota Falls sequence, which lies about a quarter mile downstream from the put-in. The Presque Isle tumbles 52' in a third of a mile (~156 FPM equivalent gradient!) through an interesting and varied series of drops. While this reach is located quite a distance upstream of the more popular or well known classic sections of the Presque, the river is still fair sized here and has some power.
Driving to the put-in, the Presque is a calm, meandering river, visible to the right. This soon changes after the river passes beneath the put-in bridge. The current quickens and some light whitewater develops as the river makes a turn to the right. There is a small initial drop and just below, the river constricts considerably next to a river-left rock outcropping and drops away. Get out to scout on the right. There is a 8'-10' vertical falls here that drops into a narrow slot. The hydraulic at the base very powerful and potentially dangerous, backed-up by a spline of rock which splits the already narrow channel below in two. There is a secondary channel to the right which may allow one to bypass the bad hole and drop in downstream at higher flows.
Following this falls, the river spreads out again and enters a series of technical boulderbed ledge drops (3'-5') with only a few eddies in between. Wood collects here but there are generally multiple clean routes. Some of the routes work, and some aren't so pretty, so it may be best to scout the entire sequence beforehand. The run-out from the last of these ledges is the lead-in to the final drop, a bouldery medium-angle cascade of about 12'-15'. Again, there are multiple lines and some may hurt. Below here are some waves and a hole in the run-out. The remaining distance to the listed take-out may hold some lighter whitewater. One could do a shuttle-less run here by simply running to the bottom of the falls sequence and carry
...River Features
Put In
Good roadside parking and a trail to the falls, good for scouting before deciding whether to run the falls.
Take Out: Copps Mine Road
Decent shoulder-of-the-road parking at this bridge.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportTony Catania and I ran this section at 155cfs on 6/20/15. Yondota Falls is very do-able (for an intermediate/advanced skilled whitewater kayaker with the appropriate gear) at this level. However, I would still suggest having a safety crew unless you are well versed in running falls. One safety person my be sufficient for retrieving the boater, but their gear will likely be washed well down river by the time you get to retrieve it or lost. A well placed boof stroke is advised. The slot is mostly flushy unless you land river left in the five 4-5ft wide slot below Yondota Falls. Their is a brief pool with a few large stone protrusions that you can climb up on if you swim. We did not notice any under cuts on the stone just beyond the pool(not to say an undercut does or doesn't exist). The rest of the run is pretty straight forward and fun. As the write up recommends scout the section before running it. If you have a sufficient sized crew, then you could play 'Molly Move-up' a few times at Yondota Falls before running the rest of the section. As the write up notes the take out is only a mile and a half down river and well worth the short paddle instead of carrying out after your last lap.
155cfs Plenty of depth in the slot just below Yondota Fall the rest was fun with just a bit of scrape.
Tony Catania, 155cfs 6/20/15
The level seemed just about right, I wouldn’t want too much more water. The recirculation at the base of the falls was a minimal, but the pool was very small and the outflow of the pool is a very narrow channel maybe 3 to 4 feet wide.
The level seemed just about right, I wouldn’t want too much more water. The recirculation at the base of the falls was a minimal, but the pool was very small and the outflow of the pool is a very narrow channel maybe 3 to 4 feet wide.
If you haven’t seen this section before it’s definitely worth taking a look at. In addition to the falls, there are a few “major” drops. The section was a lot of fun.