| Presque Isle County | ||
| Presque Isle County has the longest coastline of the counties in the Huron Greenways. Development is concentrated near Rogers City and Presque Isle Harbor. Seasonal residential development tends to hug the coastline, with inland areas remaining relatively undeveloped. Thompson’s Harbor State Park, Besser State Natural Area and Rockport Sinkholes are key ecological resource areas. | ||
| Water Features | ||
| Bell River, Swan River, Little Trout River,
Trout River, Greene Creek, Lone Pine Creek, Mulligan Creek, Three Creek
and Black Mallard River are smaller coastal streams that empty directly
into Lake Huron. The Ocqueoc River system is an important ecological
corridor reaching many miles inland. Since the river doesn’t flow
through any larger cities, the ecological resources remain relatively intact.
Grand and Long Lakes, located in eastern Presque Isle County, have glacial origins different than the numerous kettle lakes found further inland. Acting like large bulldozers, the advancing continental glaciers broke apart the level sedimentary bedrock and scoured out the long linear lake basins we know today. Other smaller inland lakes such as Black Mallard, Mud Clear Lake and Lake Sixteen are associated with large wetland complexes. The inland trail in the northwestern part of the county runs by several of these marsh ringed lakes. Click on this image for an
enlargement.
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| Ecological Features | ||
| Aspen-birch, oak and pine forests dominate
the natural areas. Northern White Cedar, tamarack, and black spruce
dominate forested wetlands. These lowland conifers provide important winter
thermal cover for many wildlife species such as the white tailed deer.
The snowy owl, pine grosbeak, purple finch, boreal chickadee, and pine
siskin also frequent lowland conifer stands during the winter months.
South of Hammond Bay sandy plains support jack pine and oak forests. A ghost forest of stark gray, dead standing trees can be found along County Road 646, just east of Lookout Road. A forest of jack pine trees were killed when the water level of an adjacent pond rose and flooded the area. County Road 638 traverses farmland, offering some of the few glimpses of crop and pasture lands along the Huron Greenways. The shoreline along the eastern edge of the county is characterized by rocky outcrops comprised of limestone bedrock. There are some stretches of cobble/sand beaches. A series of old shore beach ridges (dune and swale complexes) at Ferron Point, provides evidence of past glacial Great Lakes water levels. Click on this image for an
enlargement.
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| Geological Features | ||
| The underlying bedrock is limestone, shale,
dolomite and gypsum, formed millions of years ago by marine and near-shore
sedimentary deposits associated with the Mississippian and Devonian era
seas that once covered this area. Limestone and dolomite, extracted
from Michigan Limestone and Stoneport quarries, are fine grained, finely
crystalline, very pure and high quality. The Huron Greenways trail,
leading into the eastern side of Rogers City, runs adjacent to the
Michigan Limestone Quarry. The thickness of the glacial drift
ranges from less than one foot in the eastern part of the county to over
200 feet in the Black Mountain State Recreation Area.
The Rockport Sinkholes, which includes eight large and several small sinkholes, are located in the southeast corner of Presque Isle County. This Karst geology formed in the limestone bedrock. Water flowed into cracks in the limestone bedrock that had been exposed after the last continental glacier. The water gradually dissolved the limestone and widened the cracks underground. Over the years, these underground caverns became larger and the bedrock ceilings became thinner. Eventually, ceilings became so thin, they collapsed and formed sinkholes. The sinkholes range is width of less that
50 feet to 300 feet. The depth and steepness of their sides varies.
Water can be found in the bottom of sinkholes, although many drain during
dry periods. The bottoms of the sinkholes are strewn with fallen
and slowly decaying trees. Some of the decay resistant northern white
cedar, may have fallen into the sinkholes over 100 years ago, but remain
intact since they are waterlogged much of the time. Uncommon
ferns, such as Robert’s fern can be found on the steep limestone walls
of the sinkholes.
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| Natural Areas | ||
| Protected natural areas include Hoeft
State Park, Thompsons Harbor State Park, Herman Voglar Recreation
Area, Besser State Natural Area and the Mackinaw State Forest north of
Rockport.
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Dutchman's Breeches |
