Porcupine Mountains, Lake of the Clouds
107th Engineers Memorial Hwy, Ontonagon, MI
Ontonagon, MI
One of the last great stands of old-growth forest in the Midwest, crowned by an overlook where a long lake curls silver between two green ridges.
The Porcupine Mountains, called the Porkies by nearly everyone who visits, are a range of billion-year-old hills along the Lake Superior shore in Michigan's far western Upper Peninsula. The park that protects them holds one of the largest untouched stands of old-growth northern hardwood and hemlock forest in North America, a green wilderness of trees that have been growing since long before the state existed.
The park's signature view is the Lake of the Clouds, a long, narrow lake that lies at the foot of a high rock escarpment. From the overlook the land falls away to reveal the lake winding between forested ridges, with the Big Carp River threading out toward Lake Superior beyond. It is one of the most photographed scenes in Michigan, and it looks much as it did to the first people who stood on this ridge.
What Guests Love
- The Lake of the Clouds overlook, where the escarpment drops away to a long lake cradled in forest
- Miles of trail through old-growth hemlock and sugar maple that were never logged
- Waterfalls tumbling over dark volcanic rock along the rivers
- Autumn color that sweeps the whole range in reds and golds
Worth Knowing
- The overlook parking area sits at the end of a long park road, and the view is a short walk from the lot
- Backcountry trails are rugged and remote; carry a map and plan your water
- Weather off Lake Superior changes fast, so bring layers even in summer
- Fall color is spectacular and popular, so the overlook road is busiest on October weekends
Details
Ontonagon, MI
Learn about Porcupine Mountains, Lake of the Clouds
A homeland and a copper country
This is Anishinaabe country, the homeland of the Ojibwe, part of the Three Fires Confederacy of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. The Ojibwe saw the low, humped profile of the range as a crouching porcupine, and that image gave the mountains their name. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and other Ojibwe bands continue to live in and steward this corner of the Upper Peninsula.
Copper drew others here long ago. Native peoples mined pure copper from these rocks for thousands of years, working it into tools and trade goods that traveled across the continent. In the 1800s prospectors and companies chased the same veins, and old mine sites still lie hidden in the forest. When the state set the area aside in the 1940s, it protected not only the copper country but the great forest that had somehow survived the logging that flattened so much of the region.
The forest that was never cut
What makes the Porkies rare is the old growth. Across most of the upper Midwest the original forest was logged off in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but here a large expanse of sugar maple, yellow birch, basswood, and towering eastern hemlock was spared. Some of these trees are centuries old, and the forest floor beneath them is deep, mossy, and quiet in a way that only ancient woods can be.
The park was established during the Second World War, in part to keep this last great stand from the saw. Today it is one of the largest units in Michigan's state park system, a true wilderness of ridges, rivers, and lakes. Walking its trails, you pass fallen giants slowly returning to soil and young trees rising from the openings they leave, the whole slow cycle of an unmanaged forest on display.
Escarpment, rivers, and waterfalls
The rock underfoot is ancient, some of it more than a billion years old, laid down and folded when this part of the continent tried to split apart along the Midcontinent Rift. That deep history left the hard volcanic and sandstone ridges that form the escarpment above the Lake of the Clouds and the many ledges the park's rivers pour over.
The Presque Isle, Big Carp, and Union Rivers all cut through the park, and each has its waterfalls, sliding and dropping over dark, tilted rock on their way to Lake Superior. The Presque Isle River gorge in the western corner of the park is a favorite, a series of falls and potholes reached by boardwalk and footbridge through the old forest.
Wildlife and the turning seasons
The Porkies are wild in every sense. Black bear range through the forest, along with white-tailed deer, coyote, bobcat, and beaver, and the park lies within the territory of the region's returning wolves. Bald eagles and ravens work the shoreline, and the rivers hold trout. In the deep interior, moose occasionally wander down from farther north.
Summer is green and cool, ideal for the long backcountry trails and the Superior shoreline. Fall is the show, when the maples flare crimson and orange across the whole range and the overlook fills with color-seekers. Winter is snowy and long here, one of the snowiest places in the Midwest, drawing skiers to the park's slopes, and spring comes late, with the rivers running high and loud.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Ontonagon
Ontonagon
About 20 miles east
A small Lake Superior harbor town, the gateway to the park, with a county historical museum and a lighthouse.
Presque Isle River
In the park's western corner
A dramatic gorge of waterfalls, potholes, and old-growth forest reached by boardwalks and footbridges.
Lake Superior shoreline
At the park's northern edge
Wild beaches of dark cobble and driftwood along the largest of the Great Lakes.
Adventure Mining Company
About 25 miles east near Greenland
A historic copper mine offering underground tours that tell the story of the region's mining era.