Sturgeon River Gorge

> > >

Credit: Shaun Hamilton

With its rugged terrain, mature forests, and remote location, the 14,000-acre Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness features stunning waterfalls, rapids, ponds, oxbows, and terraces along the river's 13-mile run in Michigan's deepest valley. Offering outstanding opportunities for hiking, primitive camping, canoeing, whitewater kayaking, hunting and fishing, until 2008, all but 2,000 acres of this wilderness in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan had been protected as part of the Ottawa National Forest (ONF). This last remaining inholding had been a high-priority for the ONF when landowner Wisconsin Electric Power Company decided to put this property on the open market in 2007. At the request of the US Forest Service, TPL worked with the owner to negotiate a conservation solution and raise funding for acquisition. This project preserves 6.6 miles of the Sturgeon Wild & Scenic River, as well as Sturgeon Falls. The North Country National Scenic Train runs immediately adjacent to the wilderness on its eastern boundary, and the wilderness provides habitat for a variety of wildlife, including the wood turtle—a Species of Special Concern in Michigan—and potential habitat for the threatened Canada lynx.