THE WORK OF THE DEVIL

From Grand Portage State Park we started the drive back southwest. Next on our agenda was a short hike at Judge C.R. Magney State Park to check out the Devils Kettle on the Brule River. The Devils Kettle was my top priority for the entire trip.

When we arrived we discovered that we were required to have a parking pass. We didn’t have one, and there wasn’t any way to get one. There isn’t any way to purchase one on site. In theory you can buy one online, but there wasn’t any cell service or WIFI there, so that wasn’t an option. We decided to roll the dice. We parked and started the short hike. We crossed the Brule River on a bridge and climbed to a bluff high above the river.

Before we long we descended a long, steep staircase, which ends near the river at the base of the strangely named Upper Falls. It’s strange for a couple of reasons. First, the main waterfall on the Brule River, the Devils Kettle, is a short distance upstream from the Upper Falls. Also, there doesn’t appear to be any waterfalls farther downstream. Maybe the name is a joke?

The base of Upper Falls used to be accessible, but the staircase collapsed. It looked like you could still get down there, but it would require some bushwhacking. That didn’t look possible with Jackson on my back, so we skipped that.

From there, we went back up another giant staircase. From the top, it was a short, easy walk to a platform overlooking the Devils Kettle.

The Devils Kettle is a unique waterfall. The flow of the river splits at the brink of the waterfall. The channel on the river left side makes a sudden 50’ plunge into a slot canyon. The channel on river right drops even farther, as the flow disappears down a massive pothole. I’m not sure what happens to the water – presumably it resurfaces somewhere downstream, probably in the slot canyon. The slot canyon continues all the way to the brink of the previously mentioned Upper Falls.

We took some photos, and then I wandered around in hopes of finding some additional views. I did find a somewhat obstructed view of the brink of the falls, but the slot canyon itself was elusive.

We returned by the same route and were happy to find the car where we had left it, without any parking tickets. From there, we continued driving back southwest towards Grand Marais.

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