Silver Creek Falls – Keweenaw County

Edit: recent reports indicate these falls may be on private property. Use caution if attempting to visit, and obey all posted signs.

You won’t find the officially unnamed falls on Silver Creek in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in tourist brochures or on most maps, but they are worth the effort to visit on any trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula. Located only a few minutes from the road, it’s a short hike of medium difficulty that gets you back in the woods to this 15-foot high waterfall tucked in a peaceful section of the woods full of green and brown colors.

It may be a short hike back to the falls, but don’t be misled by how easy it is at first. A fairly well-worn path heads into the woods for about an eighth of a mile, but once you get closer to the creek there might be a need to navigate around downed trees. As long as you stay close to the creek bank, the falls are pretty close. The creek is shallow, and with a pair of waders you could probably walk right up to the falls.

The creek bed is conglomerate rock, which gives some character to the water as it cascades down the main drop then continues through a few smaller ones. These falls are pretty spectacular, and not visited very often which is appealing.

Directions: To get to Silver Creek Falls, turn onto 5 Mile Point Rd off of M-26 near Eagle River and follow for about two miles to where the road crosses Silver Creek (signed). Turn around and park in one of the wide, sandy areas on the side of the road. Look for a path into the woods before the guardrail and follow it about a quarter mile to the falls. We first checked this out based on directions in the Penrose Michigan Waterfall guide and years later, their directions are still accurate. Below is a video I shot in August 2012.