A foggy morning at Michigan's tallest waterfall

At approximately 110 feet tall, Houghton-Douglass Falls is Michigan's tallest waterfall. It's located in the Keweenaw Peninsula along M-26 between Lake Linden and Laurium. Despite living in the area, I had never visited this amazing waterfall before. Accessibility had always been difficult along safety concerns, and getting a good view of the falls from above seemed impossible. The area has been notorious over the decades with some people falling and needing rescuing or even resulting in death, so much so that the landowner cut off public access. That has changed in recent years.

Michigan's Department of Natural Resources purchased the property a few years back and developed the area last year allowing for easy public access.  Improvements include a parking area with a vault toilet. A nice gravel trail includes a bridge crossing Hammell Creek. The trail takes you to the north of the waterfall along the canyon's edge. A lesser developed trail continues on and eventually leads to a few viewing areas that allow for an unobstructed view looking back at the waterfall. While these spots are convenient, there is nothing preventing you from falling over the edge of the cliff if you get too close. Safety should be a priority.

The weeks leading up this early June visit had been fairly dry so I knew the water wouldn't be flowing very well.  Knowing that, i wanted to photograph the falls on a foggy morning so there would be some nice atmosphere allowing for some unique photos. The fog that was forecasted that morning materialized and I am pleased with the resulting images.