WATERFALLING

Waterfalling has become one of our favorite activities. It’s a fun way to exercise and the views are often spectacular. Waterfalls seem contradictory, they mix a feeling of unbelievable power and serenity at the same time and somehow they feel soothing though the activity is often frenetic.

One of the interesting aspects of waterfalling is that we’ve never run into anyone who wasn’t helpful and in a good mood. It’s an activity you can do by yourself, with friends, with your spouse, or with your children and generally there is no cost involved except for gas to get there (a few do have park admission fees).

There is a feeling of anticipation when you’re going to a new falls. Some waterfalls can be difficult to reach, but the ones I’m covering here are all easily accessible and they all have great views. You can also find waterfalls in several earlier blogs and I would put Bond Falls, Agate Falls, Interstate Falls, Nawadaha Falls, Manido Falls, Manabezho Falls, Copper Falls, and Brownstone Falls in the same category as the half dozen I’ll cover here.

Superior Falls, near Ironwood Michigan, is part of an operating hydroelectric power plant. It is one of the more impressive waterfalls. The trail to the upper falls is on the opposite side of the parking lot from the ramp going to the lower part, and there is nothing that tells you how to get there. But as you can see, it’s worth the effort to find.

This is the lower part of the falls before it empties into Lake Superior. You can see how deeply the water has eroded the rock over the eons. There is a sign warning you to evacuate to higher ground if an alarm goes off. The alarm means the spillway is opening and the lower area will flood.

The eroded rock litters the shoreline. It’s likely that this area has looked the same for hundreds of years.

This is the area where the falls empty into Lake Superior. It looks like a driftwood graveyard. We’ve had a number of storms recently so water that is normally crystal clear was very turbid (churned up) the day we were there. You can see the water running from the falls into Lake Superior is clear, but Lake Superior itself has been turned chocolate brown from the run-off.

This picture gives you a good idea of how much water there is. Normally this bridge is way above the water flowing under it.

Black River Falls is one of our favorite places to take visitors. It’s a series of 5 falls. 3 of them require going down a large number of steps to get to the bottom, but 2 are an easy walk.

Canyon Falls is another impressive falls. It has a trail that is easy and well maintained.

Canyon Falls has some very impressive gorges.

This is the finale for Canyon Falls.

Burned Dam Falls is located in the Ottawa National Forest. It is a smaller falls but it has flat rocks that let you walk out so that you are almost standing in the middle of the falls. The view is very cool.

The lower part of Burned Dam Falls.

Contrary to its name, Jumbo Falls is one of the smaller falls, but it is easy to get to.

Upson Falls is in a park in the town of Upson. It’s very easy to get to.

If you haven’t tried waterfalling, I hope this encourages you to give it a shot.