The Tahquamenon Falls State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It is the second largest of Michigan's state parks. Bordering on

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

, most of the park is located within

Whitefish Township Whitefish Township is a civil township of Chippewa County, Michigan, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 575 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. With a land area of , Whitefish Township is the List of munic ...

in Chippewa County, with the western section of the park extending into McMillan Township in Luce County. The nearest town of any size is

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...

. Tahquamenon Falls State Park follows the

Tahquamenon River The Tahquamenon River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed January 3, 2012 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Michigan that flows in a generally eastward direction th ...

as it passes over

Tahquamenon Falls The Tahquamenon Falls ( or ) are a series of waterfalls on the Tahquamenon River, shortly before it empties into Lake Superior, in the northeastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They are the largest waterfalls in Michigan, and one of the larges ...

and drains into

Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield o ...

, Lake Superior. The Tahquamenon Falls include a single drop, the ''Upper Falls'', plus the cascades and rapids collectively called the ''Lower Falls''. During the late-spring runoff, the river drains as much as of water per second, making the upper falls the second most voluminous vertical waterfall east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, after only

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

. The

North Country Trail The North Country National Scenic Trail, generally known as the North Country Trail or simply the NCT, is a footpath stretching over from Middlebury in central Vermont to Lake Sakakawea State Park in central North Dakota in the United States; ...

passes through the park. There is a seasonal shuttle service that allows hikers to walk between upper falls and lower falls without doubling back, the Tahqua Trekker.Tahqua Trekker shuttle service
/ref> Tahquamenon Falls is also called Rootbeer Falls because of its golden-brown color, caused by tannins from

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

swamps that drain into the river. In winter, the ice that accumulates around and in the falls is often colored in shades of green and blue. Much of the park is undeveloped but it has more than of hiking trails. Row boats and canoes are rented to use to approach the lower falls. The upper falls are accessible from the visitor center parking lot via a paved walking trail. There are five campgrounds in the park with a total of 350 campsites. The park receives as many as 500,000 visitors per year, many of whom drive in on the state park's only paved road, M-123. M-123 intersects with

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

at exit 352. Nearby attractions include the

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The light station property was transferred to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GL ...

Whitefish Point Whitefish Point is a cape of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, United States, marking the entry point of Whitefish Bay. It is north of the unincorporated community of Paradise, Michigan. Whitefish Point is known for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, i ...

, and the

Point Iroquois Light Point Iroquois Light is a lighthouse on a Chippewa County bluff in the U.S. state of Michigan. Point Iroquois and its light mark the division line between Whitefish Bay and the western end of the St. Marys River, the connection between Lake S ...

and Museum at Bay Mills on Whitefish Bay.

References

External links

Tahquamenon Falls State Park

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor a ...

Tahquamenon Falls Education Programs
Michigan DNR {{authority control Protected areas of Chippewa County, Michigan Protected areas of Luce County, Michigan State parks of Michigan Protected areas established in 1947 1947 establishments in Michigan IUCN Category V