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TAHQUAMENON FALLS STATE PARK
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Upper Falls. A dramatic observation platform lets you stand at the falls' brink and look down at the 50-foot rush of falling water, 200 feet wide. Look out a bit and you can gaze on the tranquil river before its plummet. Come early to avoid crowds ...
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Lower Falls. Four miles below the more spectacular Upper Falls, the smaller Lower Falls, with its series of cascades, can be enjoyed from an island if you rent a rowboat. It's a more contemplative experience ...
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Wilderness trails north of M-123. 17 miles of trail get hikers away from crowds and into wildlife-rich wilderness habitat: lakes, conifer forests, sandy ridges, and bogs. The North Country Trail connects from the Two-Hearted River to the Falls. ...
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North Star Bakery. A surprising treat in this remote area off the electrical grid: a bakery with a wood-fired brick oven turning out crusty loaves of European-style sourdough breads - 17 kinds, several cheese combinations, multigrains, French, raisin-walnut ...
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Upper Falls
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The most memorable vantage point at the Upper Falls is reached by a stairway. Find it by turning right as you go from the parking lot to the falls. The state park has constructed an exciting platform that allows you to stand right at the brink of the falls, so you can take in the dramatic contrast between the serene meanderings of the upper Tahquamenon River and the roaring foam below the falls. A wheelchair-accessible viewing opportunity, not so dramatic, is a longer, .4 route down the same path. The river is darkened by tannic acid from the many hemlocks, cedars, and spruces along its banks, which gives the initial spill of water an interesting brownish hue. From this same viewing platform you see, far downstream, the once-again peaceful river as it flows between reddish bluffs another 20 miles towards Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay south of Paradise. The left trail from the parking area leads to a less spectacular view of the falls from the lower river.
(A completely different approach to the falls, along the trail Native Americans made, is part of the Toonerville Trolley and Riverboat Cruise. (See Points of Interest. Seeing wildlife on the upper Tahquamenon River is part of the fun.)
A .8 mile interpretive nature trail leads from the platform at the Upper Falls. The entire area around the falls is a beech-maple climax forest that has been developing since the retreat of the last glacier. Some of its trees are about 300 years old, but visitors focused on the falls miss out on this unless they think to look up.
At the Upper Falls parking area, visitors are greeted by an unusually striking log building that offers souvenirs and some regional and nature books. Its name, Camp 33, recalls the large area logging company whose owner bought 200 acres near the falls and sold that land to the state as part of the park. (He kept a two-acre inholding.) The concessionaires who erected Camp 33 and run the store are his descendants. The buildings and seating of the picnic area and takeout restaurant look out into the surrounding forest of big trees, well separated from the massive parking area. It's a beautiful place to sit and eat, when it's not too crowded. The takeout restaurant serves pasties, cooked-to-order hamburgers, and similar fare.
Energetic and fit hikers might well prefer avoiding the busy parking lot and approaching the Upper Falls by foot from downstream, for maximum dramatic impact. An up-and-down riverside trail, recently improved, follows the Tahquamenon River for four miles upstream from the trailhead at the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls, crossing smaller streams on boardwalks along the way. Once at the Upper Falls, of course, you would need to walk four miles back.
Return to Tahquamenon Falls State Park
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