Bushwhacking the Taylor Creek Canyon

This past Sunday our hiking group got out for a couple of challenging adventures on the same day starting with a hike into the Taylor Creek Canyon. While the mosquitoes were not bad at all, the black flies were making their presence known and head nets were a big help.

With no established trail, this adventure can best be described as a bushwhack where you pick the best available footing along and across the stream.

We came across a good amount of Jack-in-the-pulpit and other wildflowers on this hike before dropping into the canyon.

After dropping gently over the first part of the hike, Taylor Creek tumbles into a narrow canyon with tall rock walls.

On a warmer day, a hike in the stream would be an interesting option. On this day, we would spend most of our time hiking along the canyon’s rim. After a few hundred yards between the tight rock walls, the stream makes one final drop at which point the stream flattens and the valley widens.

After hiking back out, we moved on to an area near the headwaters of Ogemaw Creek. You can identify this area easily due to the presence of a large glacial erratic!

The stream makes a beautiful run from a swamp to a small waterfall that plunges into a dark pool. If you hike to this area, be aware that the valley containing this waterfall is full of stinging nettle!

In addition to stinging nettle, the area near the falls is full of wild leeks!

On the side of this valley is the remnant of a former iron mine where you can peer into these long ago workings.

We would then move on to the graphite mine and a really cool exploration of Plumbago Falls and Cave, but more about those places next time!

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