Cliff Base Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Cave · Fall Colors · Geological Significance · Historical Significance · River/Creek · Waterfall · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Parking and admission is free. Water and restrooms are not available.

"Official" parking is designated street-side on Nestor street, off of county highway H58. Drive most of the way down Nestor until you see signs near the trail-head. There are also 2 walk-in entrances (no official parking nearby) on H58 near the end of Washington street.

This section of the trail follows the canyon at the base of the cliffs to the waterfall. Along the way you'll see various cave and mineral formations. The trail will take you to the drop pool, where you could wade into the falls if you wish. Continuing over the bridge, you'll follow the canyon to its exit at a main road.

"The sanctuary is home to a variety of plants such as the giant twisted stalk, which is a member of the lily family, and American milletgrass, a five-foot tall woodland grass distinguished by a foot-long panicle. In the large horizontal crevices along the sandstone cliffs, the slender cliff brake fern grows. This small fern is only found in six counties in the Upper Peninsula and in Alpena County in the Lower Peninsula, and it grows on moist, alkaline rocks where seepage through the rocks supplies constant moisture.

A grove of American beech trees grow at Twin Waterfalls Plant Preserve near the northern reach of their range in the Upper Peninsula. Beech drops, a tan-colored parasitic plant, are often overlooked on the trail. They grow 6-18 inches tall and anchor themselves to the roots of beech trees. "