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River

Little White River

Class

Cascade

Size

Medium

Visitability

Average

Accessibility

Free

Activity

Quiet

Walk Time

1min

Trail

Moderate

Gorge Access

Moderate

Other Trails

few

County

Algoma

Drive east from Sault Ste Marie along Hwy 17 to Hwy 129 at Thessalon. Turn north on Hwy 129 and drive for 32 km to Algoma Rd 554. Turn right and follow Algoma Rd 554 for 10 km to the street just before the bridge over the Little White River. There is a sign indicating "to Wakomata Shores Resort." Turn right here, and then look for a short little road on the left, just a few hundred meters down the road. Drive to the end of this road, park, and walk to the river edge to see the falls.

Settlement

Bellingham

NTS Map

41J/6

Easting

323801

Northing

5140551

UTM Zone

This is a low, wide, powerful waterfall on the Little White River. While it isn't overly photogenic, it is an interesting spot to explore. The river rushes through a break in the bedrock with considerable force dropping about 5 to 6 m in height over a distance of 50 m.
When I visited in October, 2002, the river was about 30 m wide, constricting somewhat at the waterfall. The bedrock surface around the river was not much higher than the river level itself, and I had the impression that this waterfall's appearance could change dramatically with even a small increase or decrease in discharge. The bare bedrock of the stream bed is a great place to get out and explore.

Higher stream flows have deposited large piles of driftwood and other detritus along the river's banks. In other places, remnants of high flow are held in little pools in the bedrock that look like abstract bathtubs full of cold water. The bedrock is some kind of monominerallic rock (only one primary mineral, unlike granite, with several different primary minerals).

The Hy Tower Mine once produced copper from an open pit located to the southwest of the falls. It closed in 1985.