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.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Feel free to make comments in the section below.

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.