The Town of Amberg is conveniently located on US Highway 141, just 40 minutes south of Iron Mountain, Michigan, and an hour and 20 minutes north of Green Bay, Wisconsin. It borders the Town of Wausaukee to the south; the Town of Athelstane to the west; the Town of Beecher to the north; and the Menominee River and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the east. As of the 2010 Census, the town had a population of only 726 people. With the town encompassing 72.7 square miles, it has a population density of 10 people per square mile. Part of the reason for the low population is because of the vast amounts of public land within the Town of Amberg – nearly 1/3 of the town is open to public use!
The majority of public lands within the town are Marinette County Forest Lands, with 10,200 acres. This includes Dave’s Falls County Park, which, according to the Marinette County website, “features a spectacular waterfall, picnic area with playground, trout fishing, and a bridge over the roaring Pike River. The park is just off Hwy 141, one mile south of Amberg. The entrance sign is right on the highway.”
Nearly 3,200 acres of the Town of Amberg are state lands, designated as the Pike Wild River and the Amberg Wildlife Area. The Pike Wild River is only one of the four within the state with this special designation. Lands around this river have been preserved to protect “the wild and scenic qualities of the river.” You can feast on berries on a journey through stands of mature timber, then rest on a rock outcrop and enjoy breathtaking views of the river. The Amberg Wildlife Area is mostly cedar swamp and provides some excellent deer hunting.
The Town of Amberg also owns over 150 acres along the Pike River, just west of the unincorporated community of Amberg. Amberg should have most of those odds and ends you forgot or didn’t bring enough of.
Other than Dave’s Falls, there are three other waterfalls along the Pike River in the Town of Amberg, consisting of Bull, Horseshoe, and Yellow Bridge Falls. Although the town doesn’t have many lakes, there are nine Class 1 Trout Streams, four Class 2 Trout Streams, and 1 Class 3 Trout Stream within its borders, providing ample opportunities for anglers.
The town does maintain two boat landings, with one on Town Corner Lake and the other on the White Rapids Flowage portion of the Menominee River. Town Corner Lake is a 174-acre lake with a maximum depth of 8 feet and an average depth of 6 feet. There are no wake restrictions on this lake, where panfish are common catches and northern pike and largemouth bass are present. White Rapids is 447 acres, with a maximum depth of 30 feet, with northern pike, walleye, and smallmouth bass common and largemouth bass and panfish present.
Much of the town can be accessed via snowmobile, either through trail corridors, trails, or routes. This includes Snowmobile Trail Corridor #1, which is called #1 for a reason! Although there are no ATV Trails within the town, many of the town’s roads are designated as Snowmobile and ATV Routes, allowing use of the road to access the trails.
