Kukuck's Falls

sudden, dramatic entrance into the Slate River Gorge

The Slate River enters a deep gorge in a dramatic way with a sudden plunge down steep, layered rock. This drop, Kukuck’s Falls, is the uppermost named drop in a long and rugged path within the gorge. Slate River breaks evenly on the rock line and cascades down, jumping and foaming around, before landing in a small pool below. This waterfall is one of the only drops easily viewed from the east bank path thanks to a convenient bend, although the best vantage can be had riverside.

Directions

Park on either side of the bridge over Slate River, about 11 miles east of L’Anse, right on Skanee Road. Follow the river upstream past the lower falls (Slate River Falls, Ecstasy Falls, and Slide Falls) to reach Kukuck’s Falls. A path high up on east bank lowers down to the waterfall, otherwise the more scenic route is right along (and sometimes inside) the river itself.

Photographs

Visits

Seen in March, April, August and November.

April 28, 2009 swollen
The path seemed to get a little rougher, a few spots sliding down the slate banks and a couple of little climbs along the way, before we reached a view looking down to Kukuck's Falls. I took a few quick photos before we turned and headed back.
March 7, 2009
I knew that the Slate River Gorge needed more attention. I would have to return to get more accurate coordinates for those falls, probably in the spring or summer.
November 16, 2008
Two more crossings upstream and we passed Kukuck's Falls. Now we just had to retrace our route and we'd be done torturing our feet for today. We took the high path along the crest of the gorge back; the waterfalls were audible far below us and, thanks to the occasional glimpse through the bare trees, I was able to make out most of them.
August 5, 2008
It's a cool drop, an even plunge over layered rocks that marked Slate River's entrance into the gorge. In a way this feature mirrored Canyon River Gorge to the southwest, with a waterfall marking the beginning and end, although Slate River is much more rugged and has more named drops along it. We climbed up over it to see if there were any more drops and saw something that stood out even more: a footpath, well-defined the whole way back down the gorge.