Stepping Stone Falls: Don’t Miss This Scenic Waterfall in Flint

Michigan is home to hundreds of waterfalls, with almost of all of them located in the Upper Peninsula. The Lower Peninsula is home to a few small natural waterfalls as well as a handful of man-made ones. One of the more scenic falls can be found in Flint, where Stepping Stone Falls is the centerpiece of a county park that offers trails, picnic areas, and more. The falls and dam here hold back the Flint River and form Mott Lake, which is also home to Crossroads Village and the Huckleberry Railroad, Bluebell Beach, and multiple public boating and fishing access sites.

We visited in early August and arrived to a pretty packed parking lot and quickly realized a wedding had just wrapped up at the waterfall. We followed the paved trail from the parking lot to the top of Stepping Stone Falls, then crossed the footbridge and continued on to avoid interrupting the festivities.

A mildly steep dirt path leads down to the river just after we crossed the bridge and this ended up being where we viewed Stepping Stone Falls from. The video above shows the detail of this man-made landmark that also features colored lights illuminating it after dark.

The dam here and Stepping Stone Falls came to be in the 1970s thanks to the efforts of C.S. Mott, who saw an opportunity for various kinds of outdoor recreation if the river was dammed and a lake was created. This has now become a favorite spot for peaceful relaxation as the water slowly falls over concrete.

Stepping Stone Falls was a great place to stop, and I’m not sure why it took us so long to visit. The river below the falls is slow and shallow before it rejoins the other section created by the rest of the dam. We saw lots of seagulls and geese, and even a few egrets perched on top of the dam.

The park is located at 5161 Branch Rd. We can’t wait to visit again and check out more of the trails (the Iron Belle Trail passes through here) and visit some of the other attractions around Mott Lake.