Visit Keweenaw photo Houghton-Douglass Falls, seen in this April 2026 photo, is now open following some improvements in 2025. Now owned by the Michigan DNR, the site is being developed into a scenic site and veterans memorial.

CALUMET TOWNSHIP – Douglass Houghton Falls is once again open to the public, although portions of it remain under construction. Now a state park, its official name is Houghton-Douglass Falls and Veterans Memorial Scenic Site.

Located one and a half miles north of Lake Linden on M-26, the scenic site embraces 70 acres. At 110 feet, Houghton-Douglass is the tallest waterfall in Michigan.

Site development is progressing in two phases. Phase 1, completed in 2025, included a new access road, a gravel parking lot, seasonally available vaulted toilets, a bridge over Hammell Creek and an accessible pedestrian trail from the parking area to the pedestrian bridge.

In December of last year, the DNR Parks and Recreation Division received $1 million through the Land and Water Conservation Fund for Phase 2 development of the site.

Phase 2, scheduled for 2027, will include the completion of the accessible trail from the pedestrian bridge to the falls, accessible observation platforms overlooking the falls, safety barriers and a veteran’s memorial.

Visit Keweenaw Managing Director Jesse Wiederhold said with the 2025 improvements, including the parking lot construction, the site is now accessible.

“It’s been such a visited site,” he said. “Now it’s safer to visit. The addition of parking is such a big improvement already.”

The addition of the trail and the bridge capable of handling the pedestrian traffic the site receives creates a balance of safety with the number of people visiting the area.

Wiederhold said that the site is open, although Phase 2 development will not begin until next year.

“Next year, we will see more improvements, he said. “Folks will need to expect that next summer they will be finishing out that other half of development, including guard rails at the eastern half of the site.”

Wiederhold said he has walked the trail several times and based on his observations, it is ADA compliant.

“To kind of make it explicit, we do believe that wheelchair user would be able to make it to the Hammell Creek Bridge on that path,” he said, adding that hopefully, in two years any person, regardless of their mobility will be able to enjoy the site.

While the site is now officially named Houghton-Douglass Falls, its original name, Douglass Houghton Falls, dates back to the early 1850s. The falls received its name from the Douglass Houghton Mining Company, which owned the property on which the falls is located. Some exploratory work was done between 1854 and 1856, which included driving two adits into the rock at the base of the falls. Nothing of value was produced, however, and all work was discontinued by 1858. Among the officers of the company was Douglass’ cousin, Columbus Christopher Douglass, who named the venture in his cousin’s honor.

For several decades, the property was owned by the Kuusisto family and was not restricted until two hikers were killed when they fell from the cliff surrounding the falls in 1996. The family closed the area to the public.

In 2015, State Rep. Scott Dianda and the DNR approached James Kuusisto, expressing interest in purchasing the site as a recreational park, allowing the falls to be reopened to the public as part of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. The park would included a veterans memorial site. Kuusisto, a Vietnam War veteran and former post commander of Copper Ingot Post 4624 VFW in Hubbell, agreed to the land transfer with the DNR in 2018.