UNION RIVER (Otonagon Co., MI, flows into Union Bay)

LENGTH: 1mi., CLASS: III-IV, GRADIENT: 300-400' per mile

SEASON: An afternoon or two during the spring when the snow is melting fast or the rain is falling hard.

PUT-IN: South Boundary Rd. culvert over this little creek. 2 miles south of Union Bay in Porcupine Mountain State Park. An alternative put-in is available just upstream at the Union River Cabin.

TAKEOUT: Hwy. 107 bridge over the creek 2.5 mi. west of Silver City or Union River Outpost Campground in Porcupine Mountain State Park.

GAGE: visual check of the first rapid approximately 30 yds. downstream from the culvert on South Boundary Rd. Also check the level in the river left culvert at the put-in. If the water is up to the first set of bolts you have a run. And finally our tape measurement gage is on the river left upstream side of the bridge into the Union River Outpost Campground. From the top of the green rail at road level, 8' is a great level.

FUN FACT: Steep Creekin' in the UP

FIRST DESCENT: 1996 by Steve Corsi, Mike Giddings, Harry House, Tom St. Germaine

SHUTTLE: Depending on the conditions (South Boundary Rd. is not plowed) you can either drive or hike up South Boundary Rd. from the takeout.

This short run is steep creekin' at its finest. The only problem is getting enough water to actually float your boat down this little gem. If you can catch this run with water be prepared for drop after drop of continuous non-stop action. You could blast through the entire run in a few short minutes.

This is a flashy creek that requires just the right set of conditions to make it boatable. After discovering it in 1996, we checked it every week during the spring of 1997 only to find it too low to run. Then after a 3' late May snowfall in the Porcupine Mountains we went to scout it out one last time. On Saturday the river was at its usual low level, but it started to rain during the night and the snow began to melt extremely fast. By Sunday morning we had ourselves a run. The Presque Isle went up nearly a foot in the same 24 hour period and the other creeks in the park were swollen torrents of muddy water, but the Union was just right.

If you start the run at the Union River Cabin you will proceed down a sequence of technical ledge drops until you reach the culverts which allow you to float under South Boundary Rd. Grab an eddy quick on the other side and be prepared to scout the first drop. A trail on river right that follows the river down to the takeout at the Union River Outpost Campground allows you to scout the entire run in about 15 minutes depending on snow depth.

The first half of this short run consists of a series of technical class V drops. The second half of the run consists of a sequence of three slides with short pools in between. At high flows this drop known as Little Union Gorge Falls effectively becomes one continuous slide approximately 0.25 miles long that drops about 200' feet. It is a drop like no other in the entire midwest. The drop itself is not extremely technical, but you want to have solid boat control as it would be difficult to roll up on the slide. A tipover could lead to a very painful swim. At the end you will want to catch an eddy before going under the bridge. It requires a rather hairy move to negotiate the trestle underneath the bridge into the campground. You will want to make sure you have scouted this all out as you don't want to be heading for the bride out of control.

You can continue on past the campground to Lake Superior, but the gradient mellows and there are more sweepers.

3 May 1996, Steve Corsi, Mike Giddings, Harry House, and Tom St. Germaine, low water

18 May 1997, Guy Babbitt, Steve Corsi, Mike Giddings, Harry House, and Tom O'Keefe, 7'11.5" during an intense meltdown (3' of snow) during a rainstorm.