Douglass Houghton Falls — Attraction in Calumet Township

Please learn from my naïve mistake. I googled waterfalls when in the Houghton area and clicked on “directions”. That’s how I found Douglas Houghton Falls. When I turned down the road that google indicated there was a hand painted sign that said that it was not the waterfall road and to go 600 ft down the highway. So I did, but did not see any trail so I parked on the road and just walked into the woods.

Using the AllTrails app the waterfall was marked so I just headed in that direction. It did not appear to be far. Soon enough I hit a well-worn trail and thought “bingo”. Now, I did see 1 or 2 worn private property signs but I naively thought that it didn’t apply to a scenic waterfall that popped up on Google with numerous rating.

Long story short I made it to the falls. It really wasn’t that treacherous. And they were nice. On my way back up I had a rather intense encounter with a gentleman who claimed to be the property owner ( and his dogs). He told me it was all over the internet that this was closed and he threatened to make me try to find some other trail the opposite way (and clearly a way that I was not enthusiastic about).

I apologized and told him that I would post this review as it had not been clear to me that I was on his property.

I do recommend these Falls, but beware that if you follow Google’s directions you may be walking into private property and might make someone quite angry. Try to find the...

Watch out for the whackatoos that have property adjoining the state land. We came up from climbing to them screaming at us for being on their property. I asked where his property was and he pointed behind him saying there where the signs are! I said am i on your property now? Being closest to the edge of the falls, he said no back here pointing behind him. I said we never went that way. He kept saying we have proof you 2 were on our property, when there were 4 of us, 2 of us being our kids so no we didn't leave the kids to go walk on this guys property. I asked if he wanted my pics with time stamps and then he tried going back on his word saying it wasn't us but someone else. And how every one there doesn't respect his property. on the way back to the car I kept looking for his signs which were clearly not the trail we were using. They were Approx 20 ft off the trail. If you pay attention the states land is flagged with I think pink flags where there will eventually be better trails. Anywho, beautiful falls defiently climb down to them if you...

I personally know the people who own this land. I haven’t been there since I was about 4. The place was closed to public access for many reasons, mainly due to people falling from the apex. It reopened a few years ago and two have fallen since, including one recently. My advice: heed the warnings, do not trespass to the top. 1. It is private property and that will be trespassing. 2. Let's paint a picture. You see the falls, decide they're impressive enough to get a photo at the top. Not only are you initially breaking the first statement above, but now you are standing at the top of a 110-foot drop with nothing but rock below. You get close to the edge for a good photo for your feed, but as you leave you slip or misstep on the wet rocks at the top. All of the sudden, you're falling down a rocky drop 110 feet, likely leading to a severe brain injury or death.

TL;DR It is a cool place, but use common sense and don't...