Porch Notes
Sable Falls
Outdoors
At the far eastern end of the Pictured Rocks lakeshore, near Grand Marais, Sable Creek makes a beautiful exit: it drops about seventy-five feet down a cascading slope of sandstone on its short way to Lake Superior, ending almost on the beach.
Sable Falls is one of the prettier waterfalls in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, partly because of where it is — the trail down to it (a long staircase of around 168 steps) lands you in a little sandstone gorge, and then keeps going a short distance to a wild rock-and-sand Lake Superior beach. It sits right at the edge of the Grand Sable Dunes, so a waterfall visit pairs naturally with the towering dunes and the famous Log Slide nearby.
It’s a tidy lesson in what makes UP waterfalls: water, a shelf of soft sandstone, and a short, steep run to one of the Great Lakes.
Where to see it
Sable Falls is about a mile west of Grand Marais off County Road H-58, inside Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Expect a staircase down and back.