2018 Road Trip, Day 11, Part 2

The Tahquamenon River has two sets of waterfalls, the Upper and Lower, separated by about 4 miles and both contained within a state park. I started at the Lower Falls, walking the boardwalks and getting photos, then drove to the Upper Falls for lots more walking and photos. Getting to the various viewing platforms for the Upper Falls included a grand total of 240 stair steps, each of which was stepped on both going down and going up! I definitely got all of my steps in today, horizontally and vertically 🙂

You’ll probably notice a rusty red color in the water in some of the photos – the river water contains tannic acid that occurs naturally in the trees and other vegetation lining it, coloring the water. The Upper Falls is 50′ high and 200′ wide, making it the second largest falls east of the Mississippi River.

Naturally, there are sea gulls everywhere here (”flying rats,” my hotel calls them). I only saw this one at the falls, but it was posing so nicely and I also appreciated the carefully piled stones somebody had left.

After seeing all the falls and building up a healthy thirst and hunger, I stopped at the Tahquamnon Falls Brewery, one of only three breweries on the UP and perhaps (at least, as far as I know) the only brewery in the country located within the boundaries of a state park! The land around the Upper Falls was sold by a family to the State of Michigan for $1, with two acres held back; the brewery and restaurant are on that two acres along with a gift shop.

I overheard that the restaurant typically has a 45-minute wait for a table, all day long for the entire season. Fortunately, I was able to grab a set at the small bar and therefore was in and out fairly quickly. They only have four beers on tap at a time, a wheat, a raspberry, a red, and a stout, and I tried all but the raspberry and enjoyed them along with a buffalo burger.

I don’t know yet what tomorrow will bring, but it will probably get me over to the Lake Michigan shore for a bit.