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Coming straight off a a kayak expedition around the Apostle Islands, the next stop on my Great Superior Adventure was a backpacking trip through Porcupine Mountains State Park in northern Michigan.
View all the pictures from this trip
After an early morning stroll along the Presque Isle River to see its many picturesque waterfalls, I drove to the Visitor Center to obtain my camping permit before finally parking at Lake of the Clouds Scenic Area to begin my hike.
Route I Hiked
My loop went from Lake of the Clouds along the Big Carp River Trail to Lake Superior, then up the Little Carp River to Mirror Lake, across Government Peak, and finally back along the Escarpment Trail to my car — about 35 miles in total.
Porcupine Mountains had a wide variety of terrain, from large escarpments above Lake of the Clouds, to the shore of Lake Superior, through forests and swamps, along rivers, and everything in between. This park had quite a lot packed into a relatively small area. Unfortunately leaves were mostly past their prime by the end of October, with more on the ground than still in the trees. This carpet of fallen foliage often completely obliterated the trail, necessitating a detailed search for the faint path or the next blaze on a tree. The leaves also had a tendency to try to kill me when they were wet, as one misstep would send me sliding. But mostly they provided a nice crunching sound underfoot to accompany most of my hike.
I assumed I would be coddled in the backcountry of a popular state park, but that was only partially true. The trails were well built, marked and signed, but most of the rivers and streams were not bridged. The currents were gentle and only Big Carp River was waist deep (and its bridge only recently washed away), but I still got my feet wet more than I anticipated. Normally I would barely have noticed such crossings, but was a little despondent after falsely getting my hopes up for dry feet and a very easy weekend.
Lily Pond
By happenstance I arrived on a weekend — and probably one of the last nice one for the year at that — so quite a few other hikers shared the trails. Many families, groups, and other people enjoying the outdoors is a good thing, but also meant I passed other parties quite often.
I had a good trip touring most of Porcupine Mountains State Park in a single weekend. The state park is very large for the Midwest and provides many miles of nice backpacking trails throughout its varied scenery.
Lake of the Clouds
Manabezho Falls
