Douglass Houghton Falls

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Water Source

Hammell Creek

Location

Houghton County, 1 1/2 miles northwest of Lake Linden

Size

100 foot drop

Trail

The trail to Douglass Houghton Falls is short and easy. It is about a quarter mile from the highway, where here is a small place to park.

Other Information

Douglass Houghton is one of the tallest waterfalls in Upper Michigan, with a drop of about 100 feet. Unlike some of the other waterfalls, there is no fence at the top of the falls, and it is extremely dangerous. Please use caution around this waterfall, and watch children carefully.

 

Since I first wrote this page I have learned that Douglas Houghton Falls is no longer open to the public. Several people have e-mailed me about this, and when I was up there during the summer of 1997 there was a large fence blocking the way to the falls with a sign saying the falls were closed to the public because of erosion. I received the following information from Matthew Adkins:

 

"Just to let you know, because of erosion and other problems you are no longer allowed to hike Douglass Houghton Falls. The owner warned people several times to stay to the trails (3 -4 newspaper articles that I can remember) and they wouldn't so the no trespassing signs went up."

Adventures

I had a rather frightening experience one time when I was at Douglass Houghton Falls with my son, John. I am not expecially graceful, having been told I could trip over a toothpick on the sidewalk by my former running partner, and as I approached he edge of the falls I tripped and fell forward, sliding hands first closer to the edge of the falls. I stopped about two feet from the edge. John was ahead of me, around the side of the falls, and saw me slide toward the edge. He ran toward me, but was too far away to be of any help. Needless to say we both breathed a sigh of relief when I stopped sliding. He admonished me, "Don't you ever do that to me again!" I haven't.

 

John had told me that every year while he was living in Houghton County the rescue squad was called to the Douglass Houghton Falls because someone had either fallen off the cliff or was stuck on the cliff while foolishly trying to climb it. In spite of this, one day John and his friend Preps who was visiting from Illinois decided to climb the cliff next to the falls. When Preps climbed to about one third of the way up, he decided that was high enough for him, and he climbed back down. He was not as used to climbing as John was, and he had a camera around his neck. John decided to keep going up. When he was near the top, he called out to Preps, "Take my picture, because I'm never doing this again!" John did make it safely to the top, and to my knowledge he never did try to climb the cliff at Douglass Houghton Falls again.

Other Photos

See some photos of the Douglas Houghton Falls in the winter.

Return to Waterfalls in Houghton County

  Page last updated 28 Dec 2000.
Email comments to dmmaki@MichelesWorld.net