Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Paradise, Michigan

Tahquamenon Falls State Park encompasses close to 50,000 acres stretching over 13 miles. Most of this is undeveloped woodland without roads, buildings or power lines. The centerpiece of the park, and the very reason for its existence, is the Tahquamenon River with its waterfalls. The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. It has a drop of nearly 50 feet and is more than 200 feet across. A maximum flow of more than 50,000 gallons of water per second has been recorded cascading over these falls.

Upper Falls

How is the flow rate measured? The U.S. Geological Survey maintains a gauging station that measures water flow and height of the river. The measurements are updated hourly online, so anyone can check the flow rate. Peak flow usually occurs in mid-April, when warm sunny days combined with rain melt the snow pack, producing millions of gallons of water than tumble over the falls.

Along with water, organic materials work their way into the River. These materials originate from the decomposing vegetation found in the cedar, hemlock, and spruce forests found in the drainage basin. This causes the tannic acid in the river causing it to turn brown.

Upper Falls - Miner's Castle sandstone

Where does all this water come from? It comes from an 800 square mile watershed. The Tahquamenon River begins about 70 miles upstream as a small creek. As the river meanders east, it gains momentum as water from higher elevations drain into the river. 

Why is there so much foam? There are three natural factors that contribute to the foamy appearance: (1) the river is naturally soft (low mineral content); (2) the decaying organic matter contains lignin-protein complexes (much like egg whites); and (3) the turbulent action of the falls.

Soft Water + Organic Matter + Turbulence = FOAM

There were three different viewing areas along the walkway, and two stairways to view different parts of the falls. The Brink View consisted of 94 stairs to get down to that viewing area. At the other end of the walkway was the Gorge View, which consisted of 181 stairs to get down to a trail next to the river. I did not do either one of these; and Lucy could not go down these stairs because they were the open crate metal stairs. 

Four miles downstream is the Lower Falls, a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island. Although not as dramatic as the Upper Falls, they are equally magnificent. The falls can be viewed from the river bank or from the island, which can be reached by rowboat rented from a park concession. The island walk affords a view of the falls in the south channel.

Lower Falls

One thing about the Lower Falls is that you can walk around and over the river to an island where you can get into the water and play around.

Lower Falls -- Chapel Rock sandstone

We only walked along the boardwalk to get to the falls and did not go on the long trail to the island. We had a good view from the one viewing area, which was enough. 

The sandstone that forms the Tahquamenon River bottom was originally beach sand along an ancient sea that existed over 500 million years ago. That's before dinosaurs! The Lower Falls are older than the Upper Falls. Sandstone is deposited in layers. Newer layers pile on top of older layers. The Lower Falls are 125 feet below the Upper Falls in elevation, so this rock is older than what is found in the Upper Falls, just four miles upstream.

This is the land of Longfellow's Hiawatha -- "by the rushing Tahquamenaw" Hiawatha built his canoe. Long before the white man set eyes on the river, the abundance of fish in its waters and animals along its shores attracted the Ojibwa Indians, who camped, farmed, fished and trapped along its banks. In the late 1800s came the lumber barons and the river carried their logs by the millions to the mills. Lumberjacks, who harvested the tall timber, were among the first permanent white settlers in the area. 

Rising from the springs north of McMillan, the Tahquamenon River drains the watershed of an area of more than 790 square miles. From its source, it meanders 94 miles before emptying into Whitefish Bay. The amber color of the water is caused by tannins leached from the Cedar, Spruce and Hemlock in the swamps drained by the river. The extremely soft water churned by the action of the falls causes the large amounts of foam, which has been the trademark of the Tahquamenon since the days of the voyager.