Deer River State Forest - Part 1

I discovered this State Forest on the internet. It's only 15 miles from home, so I decided it was time to go take a look:

The forest was big, but set up differently than any other I've seen. There were dirt roads all through the forest, with campsites set up along them. I saw no foot trails of the kind I'm used to, though the narrow lanes into empty campsites could be walked. I stopped when I saw the Deer River, and the dogs ran right down to the water's edge:

The Deer River itself was a series of rapids and waterfalls, with giant rock formations. I was impressed, and imagine that it's filled with swimmers in hot weather:

There were placid pools as well as rapids:

Upstream I saw a waterfall. We never went that far but did reach the giant rocks you see on the left:

The dogs were excited, and running every which way. The water was swift enough for me to want to keep them from falling into it:

But we all explored the rocks along the river's edge:

I had hoped to get onto those biggest flat rocks, but they were not accessible to an old fart with five dogs. I'll bet young, agile folk go out there in the summertime, though:

Jack led us up a path toward another access point:

Fergus and Seamus explored along the river:

And then got a little too close to the water for my comfort:

When the other dogs joined them, I decided to call them back toward the car so we could continue to explore this State Forest. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: