Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan - July 19th, 2021
The main attractions in Tahquamenon Falls State Park are the Lower Falls and the Upper Falls. There is a four mile hiking trail connecting the two. Our plan for Monday was to drive to the Lower Falls and hike to the Upper Falls and back. It would be a long day of hiking.
The Lower Falls consist of several cascading waterfalls with an island in-between them. There are row boats to rent for $7 a person to go over to the island and get a closer look of the falls on the far side. A short trail circles the island. We decided we would wait until we got back from our hike to see if we wanted to venture over to the island.
The water of the Tahquamenon River is a tea color due to the tannins from the roots of the trees lining the banks. As the water flows over the falls, the sunlight brings out the orange color of the water. There is a boardwalk along the near bank that leads to a couple of platforms for viewing the falls. The River Trail starts at the end of the boardwalk.
The River Trail connecting the Upper Falls with the Lower Falls is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail. North Country National Scenic Trail is the same trail that goes through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We were on a different part of the North Country Trail just two days ago (Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan - July 15th to 18th, 2021). The River Trail follows the river (hence the name), but you don’t always have a view of the river due to the dense woods. However, that means that you are in shade most of the way. But that also means there are lots of tree roots across the path so you need to constantly pay attention to not trip. In addition to the tree roots, there were muddy spots, some boardwalks and boards to avoid other wet areas along with wooden bridges to cross over small streams. Several sets of wooden stairs are in some of the steep sections, but there isn’t a lot of elevation gain, only about 500 feet in total.
Nature was reclaiming some of the trail and wooden structures. Many of the bridges and boardwalks had a definite lean to them. A section of the trail was being re-routed and a couple of workers were working on the new section of trail. We’re not sure if they were paid workers or volunteers. We thanked them for their hard work just the same.
It took us about two and a half hours to reach the Upper Falls. The River Trail ends at the first overlook of the Upper Falls. The first overlook is called the Gorge Boardwalk. At this point, we were ready to take our packs off, but we decided to check out the first view. We didn’t realize that after the over 100 steps down to the river there was then a long boardwalk to reach the view. It was not what we were expecting, but it didn’t kill us.
Despite the trail itself being a little rugged, we felt like we were hiking in luxury. There are flush toilets at both the Lower and Upper Falls, but more importantly, there is Tahquamenon Falls Brewery and Pub at the Upper Falls. In addition to the restaurant, there were several different fast food stands. The food stands only took cash, but there was an ATM. We brought credit cards and some cash with us on our hike, but no ATM card. Our plan was to eat at the brewery. Luckily the brewery took credit cards, because we were not sure we had enough cash.
It was a half an hour wait to get a table inside the brewery. That was fine. We needed to a chance to cool down and dry out a little. It was not a hot day, but it was definitely humid. We are still not used to the humidity. Our clothes were drenched with sweat. The air conditioning inside the brewery was such a welcomed break from the humidity. Again, it felt like we were cheating. Every long hike should have an intermission with air conditioning, good food, and beer. RB had the bison burger with fries and an iced tea. LB had the whitefish sandwich with onion rings and a raspberry wheat ale.
Feeling refreshed, we checked out the Upper Falls some more. The Upper Falls is a single waterfall, but taller than all of the Lower Falls combined. From there, it took us about two hours to hike back to the Lower Falls. In total, we think we covered about 11 miles in five hours, not counting the hour and a half we spent having lunch. We counted this as hike #29 of our 52 Hike Challenge.
The Tahquamenon Falls area, being a swampy area, has a reputation of having a lot of mosquitos. We put bug spray on before we started the hike. However, we did not notice many bugs. There were some swarms of bugs down on the surface of he water, but we did not encounter many insects near us. Was it because of the bug spray, the time of year, or the time of day? We’ll never know. If you’re hiking after a rain, you may have a different experience.
Back at Lower Falls, the ice cream at the snack bar sounded better than rowing a boat over to the island, even though the island is not that far. It was now late afternoon. When we started our hike in the morning, there was only one row boat on the docking beach of the island. When we returned, there were 16 boats on the island’s beach, with a couple more boats in transit. There were also quite a few people in the water below the falls, both swimming and walking across the river to the island. As we relaxed at a table in the shade enjoying our Jilbert ice cream, we again felt like we were hiking in luxury. RB got Mint Mackinac Island Fudge along with a dark chocolate. LB got his usual vanilla shake.
Who said hiking needed to be roughing it? The hike between the falls seemed luxurious with bathrooms, snack bars, restaurants, an ATM, and ice cream. But the luxury did not seem to detract from the enjoyment of being in nature. Maybe all long day hikes should be that way!
Check out our related video: Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan
(RB)