While major flooding at Yellowstone National Park has captured the attention of the nation, a park closer to home is dealing with its own its own water issues.
A torrential rainfall caused flooding and road closures at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the U.P.
Michael Knack knew rain was in the forecast for Porcupine Mountains on Monday. But what the park experienced was more than the park manager was expecting.
“A cell basically just stalled out right over top of the mountains. They predicated it was dumping anywhere 2.5 to 4.5 inches of rain per hour, which is sure seems like it did,” said Knack.
South Boundary Road was closed nearly immediately as water cascaded over the top.
It was able to reopen Tuesday while Ontonagon County worked on repairing some washouts on the shoulders.
The trails within the park boundaries are another story.
Knack says several park rangers were out Tuesday checking conditions.
The trails at higher elevations are in good condition.
“The remainder of the trails have anywhere from an inch of water up to two to three feet of water in certain areas that we’ve never seen that much water in before. We were rolling up our pants over our knees and still getting wet on areas that are typically very dry,” said Knack.
Some of the smaller boardwalks were lifted up and floated into the woods. Most of the bridges appear to be holding up.
With more rain in the forecast Wednesday, conditions in the park could worsen.
Knack urges people to be smart if they plan on visiting soon.
You can call or visit the visitor center for the latest updates on park conditions. The park also regularly updates its Facebook page.
New Viewers
The rain isn’t stopping the unveiling of new viewers in the park.
The park recently installed new viewers, the binocular-like telescopes that are attached to metal poles in the ground.
These viewers won’t just give a closer view of the scenery, but a more colorful view for people who are colorblind.
Knack has been working to get them installed in the park for several years now.
“I’ve been friends and a co-worker of a colorblind ranger here for years and I just thought, ‘Wow. This would be something great to bring back to the porkies. People come from all the world in the fall just to see the fall colors,” he said.
The viewers are adapted for people who are red/green colorblind.
There are three viewers in total.
One at Lake of the Clouds, one a summit peak, and another at Presque Isle at Nawadaha Falls.
The money for the viewers came a donation from the Friends of the Porkies group.
