Beautiful Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Until we entered Tahquamenon Falls State Park, I have to admit I did not really know how far nor how long it would take to get to this State Park located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This State Park encompasses nearly 50,000 acres stretching over 13 miles. The centerpiece of the park and the very reason for its existence is the Tahquamenon River and its waterfalls.

Upper Falls

Upper Falls

The upper Tahquamenon falls is the second largest east of the Mississippi River, with Niagara Falls being the largest. Fifty thousand  gallons of water per second has been recorded flowing over the upper falls.  It has a drop of 50 feet and a width of more than 200 feet across.

Upper Falls

Four miles downstream is the lower falls. We viewed both falls from the bank.

Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Most of this is undeveloped woodlands, with no roads, buildings, or power lines.

Path coming back from Falls Overlook

Large tree log with roots in park

Cougars in Michigan ...

Yes, Cougars have been verified by the Department of Natural Resources on multiple occasions in Michigan.

Recreation Passport Fees

The next leg of our adventure was to return to 28 west and take it to Munising, on to Marquette and Ishpeming to 41, Houghton and north to Copper Harbor, Michigan. In the next post, we take the paved road to its northern paved tip.The road stopped, so we literally could not go any further north, but we found some interesting scenes and places to explore on our route.

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Where along Lake Superior is Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway and Point Iroquois Light Station?

After concluding our self-guided walking tour of Mackinac Island, we returned to Mackinaw City and headed north on I-75 across the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge is about five miles long. Did you know that the waters of Lake Michigan are on the west side of the bridge and the waters of Lake Huron are on the east side of the bridge?

We drove north as far as the lower edge of Sault Ste Marie where the Soo Locks are located. Both of us had been to the Locks on separate trips, so we retraced our route south on I-75 to Michigan 28, where we turned west into some more scenic country. This was new territory we had never seen before. We were about to explore along the waters of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Shortly thereafter, we turned north on 221 toward Brimley. This took us to the waters of Lake Superior, where we turned left around Whitefish Bay and followed the Scenic Byway to the Point Iroquois Light Station and Lighthouse.

Point Iroquois Light Station  with Lake Superior behind it.

Point Iroquois Light Station taken from Lake Superior side.

Local ties made it a home, not just a station. Keepers and their families gardened, fished, hunted, cut firewood, and picked berries, besides maintaining the light and fog signal. Along with neighbors, they fought forest fires and assisted mariners in distress. After late fall storms, they even walked the beach searching for wreckage and frozen bodies.

Lake Superior is a Blue Highway. The lake connects place to place, people to places, and people to people. Though its waters are fresh and crystal, Superior is a Sea. It breeds storms, and rain and fogs, like the sea. It is cold in mid-summer like the Atlantic. It is wild, masterful, and dreaded as the Black Sea.

Coastal landscape formed by ice, water, and wind. These two promontories, Point Iroquois and Gros Cap on the opposite shore in Canada, stand like the pillars of Hercules, to mark the foot of the mighty Superior, a lake which may not be deemed another Mediterranean.

The original people of Whitefish Bay were Anishinabeg.

You can double click on any of the pictures to enlarge them and read more, and escape to return to the blog.

Local ties made it a home, not just a station.

Lake Superior is a Blue Highway that connects
place to place, people to places, and
people to people.

Coastal landscape has been formed by ice,
water, and wind. 

According to Henry Schoolcraft,
in their language, the Ojibwe, called Point Iroquois
"Nau-do-we-e-gun-ing," which means
"Place of the Iroquois Bones". 

Original people of Whitefish
bay were Anishinabeg.

We enjoyed walking along the Lake Superior side of the Point Iroquois Light Station. This structure built of wood had a stairway off the back overlooking Lake Superior.

Deck made of wood with stairway overlooks Lake Superior.

We were fortunate to view a big ship on Lake Superior.

Saw beautiful fence of rocks as I took this ship on the Lake.

Close-up of ship 

Lush greenery on our path

Picnic area overlooking Lake Superior with Canada on opposite side.

Beyond that, our road tee'd at Michigan 123. We followed Route 123 north along Lake Superior to Paradise where we looped around on Route 123 and went to Tahquamenon Falls State Park, the subject of my next post.

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Conclusion of our Self-Guided Walking Tour of Mackinac Island

This post will conclude our self-guided walking tour of Mackinac Island. We are headed down our last street and there are so many things yet to see, including bicycles, grocery, and the Berkinstock store, to name a few. To enlarge a photo, click on it and escape to return to the blog.

Street scene, Mary's Bistro, Star Line, Bicycles galore

Mackinac Island Public Library

Unidentified structure

More structures unidentified

Overlooking Lake Huron and the Mackinac Bridge 

One of the ferry boats with its rooster tail

Close-up of miniature bicycles in a store window

Doud's Market on Left

Main Street Store window of Doud's Market

Michigan's oldest family-owned grocery store since 1884

MOOmers Homemade Ice Cream, and Doud's Market

Mackinac Birkenstock Shoe Store

Horse-drawn carriages, Bike Shop, Bike Barn, and more

Horse-drawn taxi, Grand Hotel Carriage, Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry, The Loon
Feather Indian Curiosities Gifts, Info, Sundries, and Souvenirs, Bicycle Street Inn and Suites

We then boarded our ferry, picked up our vehicle where we left it in the parking lot, and headed north across the Mackinac Bridge.

Heading north on Mackinac Bridge with both spans in view

Both spans in view

Mackinac Bridge close-up... and northernmost span

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This is the last post about Mackinac Island. In the upcoming posts we will be traveling further north and then west through more scenic country along the Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway where we see the Point Iroquois Light Station and the waters of Lake Superior, on our way to Tequahmenon Falls and eventually to Copper Harbor where the road comes to an end.

Strolling the streets on Mackinac Island

Food carts were available at the fort. We had lunch from one of them before exiting the fort, and Angel too.  That gave more time for strolling and enjoying the island.

Mackinac House was scheduled to open in May, 2019. (We were there in 2018. Yes, I am way behind with my blog. I will explain later.)

Mackinac House

Honor Roll was erected as a lasting tribute to those who served their country.

Tribute to those from Mackinac Island who served their country. 

Transportation was bicycles or carriages pulled by horses.

No motorized vehicles are seen on the Island.

United States Post Office at Mackinac Island, Michigan

U.S. Post Office, Mackinac Island, MI

Stuart House City Museum

Stuart House City Museum

Market Street bustled with activity during the peak of the fur trade from 1822 to 1834. (Click on any  photo to enlarge it and escape to return.)

Furs valued at $3,000,000 went
through the Market Street offices 

1670 to 1830:

A Jesuit priest wintered here in 1670. In 1781 the British made it a center of their military and fur-trade activity.  In 1796 the island was occupied by the Americans, and held by the British during the war of 1812.

It became the hub of Astor's fur empire by 1817. When fur trading declined by the 1830's, it was becoming a popular resort.

1670 to 1830 

Community Hall and City Offices

Community Hall and City Offices

Biddle House

Probably the oldest on the island, parts of it may date to 1780 with ties to the Biddles in Philadelphia.

Possibly the oldest on the Island

Hotels on our right

Hotels

More horse-drawn transportation

Horses providing transportation for visitors

Lake View Hotel was originally known as the Lake View House and is one of the oldest continuously operated hotels on the island.

Hotels

Lake View Hotel

Bicycles lined up on street

Windermere Hotel

Thank you for visiting my blog. There is one more post in this series about Mackinac Island.  In the next post, I will share some more scenes of our self-guided tour, including crossing the Mackinac bridge as we continue our travels north.

If you purchase items on the internet, I will appreciate your using links in this blog. It will not cost you any more and  I may make a little for which I thank you.

Feel free to make comments in the section below.