Location of Agate Falls

M-28, Trout Creek, MI 49967

History of Agate Falls

The United States acquired legal control of the lands that Ontonagon river flows through by signing the Treaty of La Pointe in 1842 with Ojibwe peoples. The Ontonagon Boulder is another important part of the story about the river and relationships between Ojibwe people and Americans in the region. But that’s a story for another time.

In the decades following the treaty, new industries including mining (copper and iron) and logging developed. During the logging era, the Ontonagon Rive served as a highway transporting logs to the mills at Ontonagon Harbor (present-day Ontonagon, MI). During those years, if you were at Agate Falls, you’d see a parade of logs dropping over the falls. According to the sign on site, original accounts describe the falls as sheer with a bridal veil affect, but through time, logs chipped away at the bedrock producing the stepped falls that we admire in the present. Other accounts describe dynamite being used on the falls to smooth out the log’s journey and make the drop less sheer. By the late 1800s, railroads were replacing rivers as the most common form of transportation. A railroad bridge was created over the falls in 1899.

Agate Falls has a been a tourist attraction for almost a century. In 1935, a resort with cottages and a tavern opened at the falls. In the resort’s early years, there was a staircase with over 125 steps leading down to the falls. By 1955, a motel replaced the cottages. By the early 1970s, the original tavern building had burned and the motel was converted to a bar. I’m really interested in learning more about this history. I’ve just started looking into it, so at this point I don’t have more to share. But if anyone has any information, I’d love to hear it!

From the sign at the rest area:

River of Timber
Agate Falls

During the pine logging era of the late 1800s, the Middle Branch of the Ontonagon River before you was the “highway” to the mills at Ontonagon Harbor. From here you could have watched a seemingly endless parade of logs plunging over the falls. Reportedly, the falls originally had a sheer drop with a bridal veil effect. Some people say that the logs themselves chipped away at the bedrock, producing the steplike falls of today. Others claim dynamite was used to smooth the passage of the logs. Either way, anglers know the base of the falls is a prime spot to catch rainbow and lake trout during their spring spawning migration.

Agate Falls had its beginning as a tourist attraction when a resort with cottages and a tavern opened in 1935. A motel replaced the cottages in 1955 and was converted to a bar after the original tavern burned in the early 1970s. During the early resort years, a series of 125+ steps led to a viewing platform at the base of the falls. The railroad bridge above the falls, completed circa 1899, is now part of a snowmobile and recreational trail system that offers a panoramic view of the river and surrounding forest.

Agate Falls Today

Today, many sections of the Ontonagon are classified as a National Wild and Scenic River, including the upper courses of the East and Middle branches in the Ottawa National Forest, the entire Cisco branch, and the middle section of the West Branch from Cascade Falls to Victoria Reservoir. There is a roadside stop on M-28 near Agate Falls that is maintained by MDOT. It has outhouses and a water pump. There is sign about the history of the falls and a short accessible path to an overlook at the top of the falls. While you can see water running over the edge of the falls, you don’t get a good view of the actual falls.

There are unofficial footpaths that head up to the old railroad bridge, which is now part of an ORV and snowmobile trail system. There are no more stairs to the bottom of the falls. However, there are also several unofficial footpaths leading down to the base of the falls. This is where you get the best view. However, the paths are narrow and steep in portions. We tended to stay to the right (several paths split to the left and had very steep descents) and we slowly meandered are way down to the bottom of the falls.

The base of the fall is a popular fishing spot for rainbow and lake trout during the spring spawning season. There was a mix of anglers and visitors admiring the beauty of the falls when we visited this past June.

If you are visiting Agate Falls, it’s definitely worth it to check out Bond Falls! Other nearby sites include O-kun-de-kun Falls, Old Victoria, the Victoria Dam, Sturgeon Falls, Silver Mountain, and many small waterfalls. Agate Falls is surrounded by the Ottawa National Forest, so there’s no shortage of places to explore.

High Falls History

The drops of High Falls and the smaller Middle Falls are not possible to navigate in a canoe or other watercraft. As a result, Anishinaabe (also known as Ojjibwe) and other Indigenous peoples in the region used a portage trail to bypass the falls. The trail is known as Gichi Onigamiing in the Anishinaabe language and the Grand Portage in English. The trail was later used by French, British, and American fur traders who were headed further west beyond Lake Superior into the interior of the continent.

After land cession treaties in the mid-nineteenth century ceded land to the United States and British Canada, the logging industry grew on both sides of the border. On the Canadian side, white pines were cut by Arrow Lake and sent to Whitefish Lake by a log slide at the western end of the lake. Then the logs would float through Whitefish to the Little Whitefish River, to the Arrow River, and to the Pigeon River, where they would finally enter Lake Superior. Some of these white pine were then floated to present-day Thunder Bay and were used as pilings for the docks at the grain elevators. Logs were also cut in nearby areas and floated down other tributaries of the Pigeon River. When standing on the American side of High Falls today, you can still see remnants of the log flume that was used to drop the logs from the top of High Falls to the bottom.

High Falls Location – Minnesota

9393 MN-61, Grand Portage, MN 55605

High Falls Location – Ontario

7671 Hwy 61, Neebing, ON P7L 0A2, Canada

Getting to High Falls from the US and Canada

If you park at the Visitor’s Center at Grand Portage State Park in Minnesota, it’s approximately a half a mile hike to High Falls along a paved path. The path is accessible and at the end of the path is a wooden ramp that leads to accessible viewing platforms. There’s also a set of stairs to an additional viewpoint.

If you park at the Ontario Travel Information Center (the first building on your right after you cross the border), you can take the High Falls Loop Trail in Pigeon River Provincial Park. It’s about a one and a quarter mile single track hike for the loop.

Regardless of which side of the border you access it, you can appreciate High Falls’ rich history and natural beauty. It’s one of my favorite waterfalls in the Lake Superior watershed and definitely worth a stop if you’re doing the Lake Superior Circle Tour. It’s also worth taking the drive from Grand Marais or Thunder Bay to High Falls, even if you don’t plan on crossing the border.