Presque Isle
C) Steigers Bridge to South Boundary Road (8.2 miles)
| Difficulty | III-V |
| Length | 8.5 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 51 fpm |
| Gauge | Presque Isle River Near Connorville, Mi |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 50 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | December 19, 2024 |
Aug '04 Access Update
Steiger's bridge (the listed put-in) is privately owned, as are the roads leading in to it. In Spring '04, paddlers were informed that due to liability concerns, the road would be closed to the public, and may be gated. Alternate options are:
A) 'Full' Presque run: doing the Upper Presque at Underwood Tower Road to then continue down this reach. (Total combined length: 15.7 miles.)
B) Doing Copper Creek into the Presque. Unfortunately this comes in below 'the canyon' (Triple Drop and Nakomis).
C) Hiking in (a LONG hike, trespassing on the gated road).
This classic run was once considered 'cutting edge' whitewater. Triple Drop, Nakomis, Lepisto, and Iagoo Falls are the major drops. There is great play water after the gorge, particularly at levels above 7.5', when Triple Drop and Nakomis will likely be portaged.
Historically, most groups took out at South Boundary Road Bridge, however, the final mile to the lake contains interesting, big, runnable (for experts) drops, and is now often done as a 'first choice' run. (See Bottom Presque for description and photos.) Those not choosing to run that bottom mile should at least take time to enjoy the views from overlooks and footbridge in the park.
Click here for Part 1 of an article from the AW Journal, way back in 1981!
Click here for Part 2 of the article.
The article describes the following: Michigan's, Upper Presque Isle,
...
About a quarter-mile into the light rapids, a large rock splits the flow, with a bit of a ledge/drop either side. Passage is possible either side, but you'll likely want to give the rock wide berth, as it forms a sticky hole at some flows. This rock also serves as your signal that 'The Canyon' lies just ahead, with the two meatiest drops of the run: Triple Drop and Nakomis.
This begins the 'the canyon'. Less-confident or less-skilled paddlers will be well served to portage this sequence. At high flows, even well-experienced kayakers take to the shore.
The main drop of Nakomis has a decent eddy above it. Strong, confident paddlers may boat all of the approach and catch the eddy (to stage and run the main drop, or to portage it). Less skilled or confident paddlers may start their portage further up. At high flows, it is not uncommon to portage from above Triple Drop and put in below Nakomis.
Lepisto Falls is not that much of a drop, but can be nearly as troublesome for boaters as some of the larger falls. The river spills over a hump of bedrock which has been scoured and sculpted into some weird folds. At most 'normal' flows, there will be an exposed area of bedrock midstream where you can beach the boats to scout the drop. The river is fairly wide here, so it can be difficult to be certain of your line: Too close toward the exposed area and you may piton into a scoured back-cut in the bedrock (as a string of boaters, each following the prior one's line, did back in the days of long boats, resulting in a number of badly sprained ankles). Too far from the exposed area and you head into a wave/hole in front of an exposed rock midway down. Run between the two, and you're good. However, at the base of the sliding drop, a potentially quite 'keepy' hole (depending upon the flow) awaits.
For those not wishing to deal with the potential consequences of the route(s) just described, there is at least one good sneak. Head way to river-right, where the flow (if I recall correctly, from many, many years back) drops down a more jumbled rapids.
This is similar (in general appearance) to Lepisto, but without the folded back-cut bedrock. The flow spills across a river-wide transverse hump of rock. Depending on flow and precisely where you 'attack' this, you may encounter a fairly significant wave/hole.
This may be named after the Indian legend of Iagoo, (that's i-a-g-o-o) the story teller. One good source for more about this legend is http://scienceviews.com/indian/fairytales2.html
USGS lists a site at S.Boundary Road citing drainage at that point as 358 square miles, or ~1.8*Black at its gauge.