ROADSIDE MICHIGAN: Mystery Falls Sinkhole, Alpena

There's a huge sinkhole that lies in Alpena County...very dangerous, very mysterious and very interesting...and very frustrating for one man in particular.

This massive Michigan sinkhole is 80 feet across with walls 100 feet deep. Since the hole appeared, it caused a creek to spill into it as well as a separate waterfall...the water continues to fall into the hole - at 8,000 gallons a minute - but it never fills up. Where does the water go? No one has been able to figure it out yet...it seems like it should be emptying into some kind of hidden crevice or chasm but no one has pinpointed it yet. After locals dubbed it "Mystery Hole", it was systems analyst Rick Ruelle who purchased it and gave it the title "Mystery Falls Sinkhole".

Wanting to turn it into a tourist attraction, Ruelle sought financial help from the Michigan Department of Travel & Tourism, and Alpena County officials, all who turned him down.

Ruelle eventually cut an access road to the sink hole, made a bridge/platform and a trail down the hole walls.....but still it's wouldn't be accepted by officials to become a tourist attraction. Royalties from Ruelle's book, Mystery Falls Bridge, would be "sunk" into making the sinkhole safer for sightseers.

The Mystery Falls Sinkhole is still on private property - the Kennedy farm - and not available to tourists or sightseers but there have been ongoing efforts to make it a tourist attraction.

This is currently a very dangerous hole to seek out and if you want to explore, you definitely have to get permission from the folks who own the land.

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