Whether the Ojibwa word Kakabeka means steep cliffs or thundering water doesn’t matter: they are both here at Kakabeka Falls, where Kaministique River plunges 130 feet into a gorge that melting glaciers carved from the Canadian Shield at the end of the last ice age.

You can choose from the park’s seven nature trails. The trails vary in length and interest, but the most striking is the 1.2 mile Mountain Portage Trail, which follows the ancient transportation routes of the Ojibwa and the first European explores in portaging around the falls; it cuts through dense forests of spruce, poplar, and hemlock, always with the sound of the falls playing in your ears.