A Walk Around Lower Tahquamenon Falls

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It was about a year ago that my wife got a text from our oldest niece asking us if we would take her camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Growing up she has heard countless stories about the "UP", but living in Ohio, she hasn't had the opportunity to travel over the Mackinac Bridge.

It's hard to say what prompted her to ask. Maybe it was all of those stories. Maybe it was the fact that she just graduated High School and she senses that adulthood is right around the corner and her life will likely be much different from this point forward.

Perhaps she just wanted to spend time with @mrsbozz and I.

Maybe it is all of the above, but no matter the reason, we didn't hesitate to say yes when she asked.

Somehow, she was gracious enough to be okay with her younger sister coming as well. With both of them now coming, I knew I had to make sure this was perfect. Six months ago I booked our campsites through the State of Michigan website. After not getting into my first two choices of campground, I eventually settled on the Lower Tahquamenon Falls State Park. My wife and I had never camped there ourselves but we visited a ton of times.

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On Friday morning we made the four hour drive across the bridge and into the UP of Michigan. For three days that blew by in a flash we were no longer "trolls" living under the bridge. My niece who is 15 pointed out that she knew we were going "into the middle of nowhere", but she didn't realize it was actually "in the middle of nowhere".

The land area in the Upper Peninsula is huge. It literally takes hours to drive from one location to the other. We were smack dab in the middle of the forest with no true civilization around for a good twenty miles in any direction.

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Just behind our campsite was a significant drop in the terrain which led down to a small tributary of the Tahquamenon River. It was pretty cool to have that area to explore right behind our site. You could occasionally hear kids and adults walking along the course of the stream. Due to the lack of rain we have been getting in Michigan, the level of the water was pretty low.

After getting camp set up and hanging out for a bit, we decided to take a walk down to the lower portion of the falls.

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They have some really nice prepared trails that take you right to the parking area of the lower falls. The parking lot was packed and there were families all over playing and having picnics just outside the park area.

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If you head up the trail, there is an area that used to house a souvenir shop and bathroom area. That was completely demolished and they were in the process of breaking ground for a new facility they are planning to have completed by 2023 I think. It is going to be pretty impressive when they are finished.

As you walk up the path, you are met with the viewing area of the falls.

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As you can see from the Google Maps image, there is a island that sits between the two branches of the river on the lower falls. I also indicated on the map where our campsite was. Before this year, you had to rent a rowboat to get to the island area and fully see both sections of the falls.

Now, they have a footbridge that they built up river past the Northern section of the falls. It makes it much easier for people to see the full breadth of the lower falls.

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As you can see, that accessibility comes at a price... Now that the center area is so accessible, many people use it as a swimming area and they have virtually taken over the place. It is almost impossible to get a clean shot without people in it in this section of the falls.

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Continuing on though, you can see that there are still some great opportunities to get shots of the falls.

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I even stopped to take some pictures of the forest surrounding the trail. I was really struck by the shear number of hues of green in this photo. It reminded me of something out of a movie and I fully expected some magical creature to come bounding out of the underbrush at any given moment. This photo was taken along the northern path that you can see on the satellite image I shared above.

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Where the trail used to end, you can see through the trees that they have added a suspension bridge over the river. Actually, I take that back. While the wooden walking path ends here, the trail continues another four miles past this point and takes you to the upper portion of the Tahquamenon falls.

I'm sorry, but that's not entirely accurate either. You see, this trail we walked is actually part of the North Country Trail that leads all the way from Vermont to North Dakota. Feel free to explore that site I just shared to find maps and other information.

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There is definitely a lot of area to explore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan if you are "up" for it!

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If there was any question about how new the foot bridge was, just take a look at those bolts. I couldn't believe how shiny they were. In fact, I noticed a few other people admiring them as we crossed over the bridge as well. They may have not went full nerd and taken a picture like me, but the one guy was mentioning it to his wife after the crossed over.

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They have created a really nice footpath that runs the circumference of the island. It was a really nice walk. I don't remember my parents ever bringing us across in a boat to this island, so without verification from my parents, I am going to say this was the first time I ever stepped foot on the island. Despite my many trips to these falls in the past.

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As I said, the path continues until you reach the part of the falls that I can't remember ever having seen.

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It appears at some point I was struggling with having my finger over the lens of the camera because the picture at the opening and the one above clearly have a foreign object in the lower left corner!

Though not as grand as the upper portion of the falls, the lower falls are very beautiful in their own right and they are definitely worth visiting if you get the chance. The falls are one of the jewels of Michigan that draw in tourists from all over the world.

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In the past when we have visited the lower falls, we noticed that people had waded out into the water below the falls proper and stacked rocks in the Zen fashion that you often see people doing. This year, those formations were nowhere to be seen and we noticed they had placed several signs like the one above along the path.

It is interesting how something so seemingly innocent can have such a huge impact on the habitat of the river. Please keep that in mind when you visit anywhere. Wildlife including insects count on that cover to survive and keep the ecosystem thriving.

According to my Fitbit (which I don't think is accurate), this was a five mile round trip hike for us which I think more than qualifies it for a #wednesdaywalk post hosted by @tattoodjay.

I hope you enjoyed this walk around the lower part of Tahqumenon Falls, and I hope if you get the chance you take in the beauty of the falls yourself!

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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced