Ocqueoc Falls in Michigan's Lower Peninsula
Ocqueoc Falls in Michigan's Lower Peninsula
Saturday March 7th, 2020
A crisp, sunny day found my wife and me heading up to the Rogers City area last weekend. Michigan winters can be dreary and it’s nice to get out of the house when the weather clears. Combining her love with beachcombing for unique rocks with my passion for photography gives us each a good reason to get outside when conditions are right.
We have never really traveled past Tawas on the Lake Huron shoreline, or the Sunrise Side of the State, as it’s often called. My last visit to Rogers City was as a teen when my dad drove me up there to explore a little. The main reason I wanted to visit on this trip was to see one of only two waterfalls that Michigan has to offer in the Lower Peninsula. Ocqueoc Falls.
Ocqueoc Falls is the largest waterfall in Lower Michigan and very easy to visit. It is just a short hike from the parking area and offers lots to do in all seasons. Summertime finds many people swimming in the Ocqueoc River and cooling off in the falls, or hiking and biking, their many trails. Winter has groomed trails for Cross-Country skiing, snowshoeing and fat tire biking.
For my purposes I found a few decent compositions of the main part of the falls but could spend hours photographing all the small eddies and current flows around small rocks and mini cascades. Needles to say, it’s a photographers dream. Winter tends to cut down on the number of people which makes it that much easier to compose a few photos.
The open shoreline along stretches of Lake Huron offered my wife a great opportunity for stone collecting. After several minutes she found her first Pudding Stone. A very unique item!
Small Rapid with Ice - 1/2 sec, f/16, ISO 100
Ocqueoc Falls - 9Q4A7088-EditMain view of Ocqueoc Falls
0.4 Sec, f/18, ISO 100 - ND Filter and Circ Polarizer
9Q4A7134-Edit_LRA small cascade in the stream captured with a macro lens
1/8 sec, f22, ISO 100
IMG_2485 Pudding StonePudding Stone from Lake Huron
Pudding Stone from Lake Huron