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22 Photos
35 pages of tips on locations, equipment and exposures that will
enhance your photo taking experience
The Michigan Upper Peninsula
Photographic Guide includes details to photographing the Porcupine Mountains
Wilderness State Park, Lake of the Clouds, Big Carp River, Little Carp Creek, Summit Peak, Mirror Lake, Superior,
Rainbow, Sandstone, Gorge, Nonesuch, Munising, and Potowatomie Falls, and other scenic areas. We provide you with
directions, routes, best time of day, hiking times, and other information to make your photographic time productive
and enjoyable.
This is an example of the detailed directions our Michigan
Upper Peninsula Photographic Guide provides.
Porcupine Mountains Wildnerness State
Park
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, the "porkys", is located
north of Wakefield, Michigan and west of Ontonagon, MI. The closest community is Silver City, where we stayed (see
introduction). The park is right on Lake Superior, but with only minimum access to the lake.
There are several waterfalls, a Visitors' Center, an
escarpment 300 feet above Lake of the Clouds, a tower overlooking a maple filled valley, the remains of an early
copper mine and several miles of trails. We certainly recommend stopping at the Visitors' Center. The staff will
give you brochures, maps and directions. There are several displays as well as an informative audio-video program.
In the summer the ranger led hikes are quite good, but they are not offered in October. You will need a Michigan
State Park Permit to visit the park.
Sunrise
Certainly your best sunrise in the Porkys is Lake of
the Clouds. To reach the escarpment overlooking the lake drive Michigan 107 due west into the park and continue
for about 7 miles. Near the end of the highway the road switchbacks up for about ½ mile to a large parking
lot. Park here and take the very short (about 100 feet) walk to the overlook. The walk has handicap access via
a boardwalk as well as a paved path that is more direct. You will come out of the trees onto a rock walled overlook
with a spectacular view. We walked a short distance east, around the rock wall, and did our photography from a
large flat rock area. We could shoot east, west and south.
The escarpment is 300 feet above the valley, overlooking the Big Carp River
and east to Lake of the Clouds. This is a great view at any time of day and can provide some beautiful sunrises.
The valley below has the Big Carp River exiting the lake and winding through a maple forest. There is a footbridge
for one of the many hiking trails that crosses the river near the lake. As mentioned, we were ahead of the colors
but this valley should be really spectacular during peak color. We saw several photos in the Visitors' Center that
were taken from this overlook and they were great.
If you want you can angle your shooting to include
some of the escarpment face in your photos. You will need to get rather close to the edge---be very careful! For
this kind of shooting you will want to be behind the rock fence to provide you with some security to prevent a
fall over the cliff. If you are willing to walk a short distance take the Big Carp River Trail west from the overlook
for ¼ to 1 mile. There are several overlooks along this trail (none are fenced, so once again, be careful)
that you can shoot back to the escarpment and the lake.
The other good sunrise spot is the tower from Summit
Peak, the highest point in the park at 1958 feet (for quite some time the peak was thought to be the highest in
Michigan, but not so). To get to the tower, take M 107 and then turn south on County 519 (also called the South
Boundary Road). Follow 519 midway along the south boundary of the park and turn north onto Summit Peak Road. Follow
this gravel road to the very small parking lot and hope you can find a parking spot. The trail to the tower climbs
300 feet in the half-mile hike. This is a bit strenuous, but there are several rest stops and no rush. When you
finish the trial you then get to climb the 40-foot tower! However, the view is spectacular, particularly with fall
colors. From the top you have a nearly 360 view of the park, but the most impressive view is north towards Mirror
Lake. Once again you are looking down onto a thick forest of maple interspersed with a few other trees. You can
use the "waves" of peaks at sunrise or sunset to texture your photographs. Mirror Lake makes a nice accent.
And, of course, the fall colors from above are spectacular. We have been to the top of the tower, and have seen
photos from the tower, but of course there were no color during our 2004 trip. Tom & Sheryl took photos from
the tower during their summer trip in 2003.
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