Lower Big Garlic Falls
Access The land on both banks is private, and the owners have asked visitors to stay off it. The only ways in are wading up the riverbed from County Road KE or asking permission first.
Located near County Road 550 though still difficult to reach because of private property, the lower waterfall of the Big Garlic River is a unique drop over dark rocks. Some upper drops are small, cluttered cascades, mostly filled with trees and brush. The main drop is the lower one, where the entire river slides sideways down a smooth slab before thundering into a solid rock wall and boiling back on course.
Directions
The land on both sides of the river is private, and the owners have said so in the comments below. Park on County Road KE, just off of 550 where it crosses the river, and wade up the riverbed itself rather than following the bank. Otherwise, if you’re looking for more of an adventure, bushwhack north from Elliot Donnelley Tract after visiting Little Garlic Falls. Give the cabin just off of 550 a wide berth.
Photographs
Visits
Seen in April.
A few small drops showed up right away, plunges over hard solid rock that made the sister river I had just left seem wimpy in comparison. Then the main drop showed up. An eight foot slide that crashed and frothed at the base of the southern bank. This was easily the most impressive waterfall I had seen so far today. I circled back up the river, trying to get better views, and was rewarded with a gentle spray from the waterfall.
Comments
6 comments
This is all private property.
Ms. Wicklund is correct. All the Big Garlic falls you are advertising are private property. You should kinda-sorta remove each of them from you site.
The waterfalls are not on private property, the Little Garlic River is a navigable waterway in the state of michigan and as such, it is public property. No one owns the river or the waterfalls along the river, just the property on each side. One can wade up the river quite easily. Don't be a dingus and make things up!
The is not correct, and I see you are the current owner of the 80 acre parcel that encompasses the falls, the Big Garlic River is not private property nor is the waterfall, one can easily wade up the river without trespassing on your land.
Please consider and respect a person's right to privacy. This webpage's directions don't even suggest that you should walk in the river, unless you think follow the river means walk in it. In fact they explicitly acknowledge private property, so please give the property owner a break on her directions comment. It is completely accurate with respect to Jacob's directions, especially the part about bushwhacking north from Little Garlic Falls. These webpages have been civil until now. You're right, you can walk in the river. How many people actually walk only in the river? How would you like strangers walking across your back yard? I don't know the landowner. I don't even live in the U.P. Neither she nor Mr. Johnston deserve to be accused and called names.
The land surrounding the river is all private, the only way you're seeing these falls is either by wading up the stream, or getting permission to walk across the land by property owners.
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