Lepisto Falls is a 5-foot sliding cascade on the Presque Isle River in Gogebic County, Michigan, inside Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. A spur off the North Country Trail leads to it, a short walk from the trailhead on County Road 519.
The falls
The falls form a wide, irregular sloping drop over a mound of conglomerate rock; lidar data puts the drop at about 5 feet in a single step. A 1981 paddling account described it as a 10-foot ledge, with two more ledges immediately downstream.
Getting there
From Wakefield, take M-28 to County Road 519 and drive north about 12 miles to the North Country Trail parking area. The trail leads east across the road for about 0.6 mile to a spur, then about 0.2 mile down the spur to the falls. The trail runs briefly alongside the highway before turning into the woods, and no marker shows where it enters the state park. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources manages the park, and its trail map shows the falls.
When to go
Seasonal flow at the falls isn't documented.
On site
A spring sits on the old road leading down to the falls. Beyond the falls the North Country Trail crosses a footbridge and climbs a steep slope with a rope to help hikers up. The 1981 paddling account advised scouting the ledge.
Nearby
Iagoo Falls is about 0.3 mile away on the same river, and Nawadaha Falls is 3.2 miles downstream. On Copper Creek, Abinodji Falls and Ogimakwe Falls are 1.2 and 1.4 miles away. Following the North Country Trail north for 4.5 miles reaches South Boundary Road, beyond which boardwalks follow the lower Presque Isle River to its mouth.
Distances are straight-line.
