PRESQUE ISLE RIVER (Gogebic Co., MI, 10 mi. north Wakefield)
LENGTH: 15 mi., CLASS: IV, GRADIENT:
SEASON: A fine late spring run after the smaller creeks have started to loose their water.
PUT-IN: If you want to do the full 15 mile run, put-in on the Hwy. 28 bridge 9 miles east of Wakefield. If there is a lot of snow in the woods this is the only option. If you have the vehicle to handle the logging roads and you want to start closer to the action you have a couple of options. To cut 2 miles of flatwater off the run, drive 1 mile west of the river on Hwy. 28 and turn north onto a logging road. Take this road 1 mile north to the river. To shorten your run to the 7 miles of most intense whitewater, drive 5 miles north of Thomaston on Hwy. 519 and take the logging road that leaves the road to the east. It is about 5 miles on this road to the river. This is a popular option if the roads are in decent shape. To boat the last 3.5 miles of the river which includes the best playwater but not the big drops, take the road which branches off to the east of Hwy. 519 just after you enter Porcupine Mountain State Park. It's about a mile to the river on this road.
TAKEOUT: South Boundary Road Bridge over the Presque Isle River or continue downstream to Lake Superior.
GAGE: Staff gage on the downstream side of the center bridge pillar of the South Boundary Road Bridge. The new gage was painted on the bridge in 1996. Unconfirmed reports say that this new gage reads approximately 6" lower than the old gage (8' on the old gage would be 7'6" on the new gage). This is important because this river dramatically changes with fluctuations of a few inches at this bridge. It looks like 7' on the new gage is a good level for expert kayakers. At levels above this you will probably want to portage stuff. A second more sensitive gage is a board nailed to a tree about 40 yds. downstream of the South Boundary Road Bridge on river right
FUN FACT: The classic UP run.
FIRST DESCENT: Fred Young and the Hoofers
SHUTTLE: From your chosen put-in drive north on Hwy. 519 towards the lake. Park in the parking area at the mouth of the river in Porcupine Mountain State Park.
DESCRIPTION:
This is the one river of the region that has received some national attention. It is compared to the Upper Gauley so often that I will start by drawing some parallels: the run is similarly long (16 miles), the size is comparable (1500 to 2000CFS is considered “medium”), the difficulty about the same (Class IV at medium levels) and the scenery similarly outstanding. However, the rapids of the two rivers are very different. The Gauley has many short, difficult rapids separated by pools, whereas the Presque Isle receives most of its formidable reputation from one very long section of continuous expert-level water
A run down the Presque Isle is quite an occasion. Good paddlers from all over the midwest tend to gather there when it is at good levels. At the put-in near the M-28 bridge, wide-eyed first-timers listen to sobering river descriptions and animated tales of lost boats, mile-long portages in high water, walkouts and other memorable events.
When the shuttlers return with the definitive water level (read from the takeout gauge) the first leg of the trip begins. From the put-in down to a logging road bridge at about the halfway point, the river contains mostly Class I and II rapids separated by long pools, some of which are almost lakes.
Three good Class III and IV rapids do occur on this stretch, the second of which has an excellent ender hole. The pace picks up to steady riffles just before the middle bridge is reached, at which point the last real visible pool has been passed until just above the takeout.
After lunch at the bridge, the real fun begins, For several miles, the river runs over continuous Class II boulder beds, until a point is reached where it turns gradually to the left and starts heading seriously downhill over irregular shale and conglomerate ledges. This is the Canyon: a rapids that has claimed more boats than any other I know of. At low levels, it is continuous Class IV for several miles, ending with some extensive scouting at Triple Drop and Nokomis Falls. Triple Drop consists of three large, tricky ledges and intervening rapids totaling around 20 feet. Nokomis is a long, steep slide into a river-wide, very hungry hole. (At higher levels the Canyon becomes very powerful and easily rates Class V and most sane folks shoulder their boats just above Triple Drop and put in again below Nokomis.
After the Canyon come several miles of continuous Class III, during which the river gradually widens until it is almost 100 yards wide, still rushing over small ledges. These rapids continue right up to the lip of Lepisto Falls, a 10-foot ledge that should be carefully scouted. Lepisto is followed immediately by two more large, runnable ledges. Subsequently, easy rapids resume and gradually diminish to riffles until the takeout at the South Boundary Road bridge is reached.
Sightings of whitetail deer, bald eagles and black bear are not rare in this last easy stretch. In the mile between the bridge and Lake Superior are numerous large, picturesque falls, not usually run
A reading of 7.2 feet on the take-out gauge is considered rock bottom; 7.5 to 7.7 is optimum; and anything more than 8 feet is extremely hairy.
John Alt of Minnesota gives the following description of the river at 8.5: “We had to portage a lot of the Canyon but the stuff below Nokomis had continuous 8 foot waves for miles and made the whole run worthwhile.”
A final warning: the area is extremely wild and remote, so walkouts (usually as a result of losing a boat in the Canyon) are not enjoyable.
from Matt Kuckuk's description originally published as part of a story on South Shore creeks in a 1981 issue of the American Whitewater Journal (vol 26, no 4 & 5).