Potawatomi Falls

Potawatomi Falls in the Ottawa National Forest.

There are 42 water falls less than an hour from Ironwood, Michigan.  Seventeen are northeast of the city on the rivers and in the gorges near Lake Superior.

 

Five of the seventeen are on the Black River as it falls to the big lake.  

The first one we saw was the Potawatomi.  It was an eighth of a mile from the parking lot with a fairly easy path to follow.

There was a glimpse of the river sliding over a large rock, I presumed there would be a better view closer to the river so I kept descending.

The falls drop 30-feet.

 The path wound through the forest and then traced the edge of a bluff to the river where trees part and you can see the base of this particular water fall.

 

 As it flows downstream a rock dome separates the water into two streams that hit the pool where the river moves to the next fall.

 

 Leaves were just beginning to turn at the time, the thick forest opened above the river allowing the sun to hit the water creating a stark contrast with the deep shadow of the woods.

 The Potawatomi Falls are a few miles from Copper Peak. The quiet walk through the trees and soothing drum of falling water was a nice cool down after the excitement of looking across the Ottawa Forest 26 stories above the ground.

 For the series of falls we drove from one to the next, then back to the Black River to see the next fall.

 The next water fall is Tuesday, three falls downstream from Potawatomi.

Potawatomie Falls on the Black River in Ottawa National Forest. Photos by D Mossner 9/19/22