2023.0924 

Four stops were made today from the South Boundary Road. 

   The Union Mine Trail is a 1 mile loop with interpretive information signs which provide history of one of the first copper mines in Michigan’s upper peninsula.  The union mine was on the site of the trail and had 4 vertical shafts and moderate horizontal tunnels.  While copper was extracted here, the veins did not yield for long.  Other very productive copper mines in the upper peninsula had strong yields for decades.  The White Pine Mine nearby produced 4,000,000,000 (billion) pounds of copper over 43 years.  If interested you can refer to the Keweenaw Brewery, 3 of the beers are named for the copper mining history in the Upper Penninsula.  Look for a future blog post on the local beers. 

   The Little Carp River Trail is an entry point to back country cabins, tent sites, and a couple of small water falls.  The trail follows the Little Carp River, of course! Thw walk is pleasant and the small brook has some interesting cascades. 

    At the far west side of the park is Presque Isle River and trails.  We saved the best for last.  The Presque Isle River is larger and has cut some steep walls in the shale to create some dramatic and beautiful watery paths through the land as it approaches the southern shore of Lake Superior.  The skies are grey, with intermittent showers, making the lake scenes grey and flat, but the hemlock forests around the river are great for walking and photos!  Below are photos from the Newadaha and Manabezha Falls, both native names. 

• 2023 Fall