Two seconds at Tahquamenon Falls
December 26, 2012
upper tahquamenon falls, michigan, photo by twurdemann
A waterfall for your Wednesday morning.
Check this out on black and see more including another view of this scene in twurdemann’s Michigan slideshow.
Many more Michigan waterfalls and also quite a lot of Tahquamenon Falls on Michigan in Pictures.
Tahquamenon Falls are pretty big
November 12, 2012
Tahquamenon Falls Panorama, photo by Unified Photography
Wikipedia’s Tahquamenon Falls entry says that the upper Tahquamenon Falls in Tahquamenon Falls State Park are more than 200 feet across with a drop of approximately 48 feet. In the spring, the falls can push as much as 50,000 gallons of water per second. That makes it the third most voluminous vertical waterfall east of the Mississippi, after Niagara Falls and Cohoes Falls in New York.
As you can see, they are impressive even during times of lower flow. I thought this shot did a great job of conveying the size of these magnificent falls and really hope you get a chance to see them!
Check this out big as a waterfall and see more in Kenneth’s Pure Michigan slideshow.
Much more about Tahquamenon Falls on Michigan in Pictures!
What’s in a Name? Tahquamenon Falls edition
September 1, 2012
Tahquamenon Falls, photo by AndrewH324
We’ll close out Waterfall Week on Michigan in Pictures with this photo that has been the cover photo on the Absolute Michigan Facebook all week. Here’s hoping that you get a chance to enjoy one of Michigan’s nearly 200 waterfalls soon!
With a drop of nearly 50 feet, a width of over 200 feet and a maximum flow of more than 50,000 gallons of water, the Upper Tahquamenon Falls are one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. Pronounced about how it looks – like “phenomenon,” the falls gained fame way back in 1856 in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha:
Lay aside your cloak, O Birch-tree! lay aside your white-skin wrapper,
For the Summer-time is coming, and the sun is warm in heaven,
And you need no white-skin wrapper!” thus aloud cried Hiawatha
In the solitary forest, by the rushing Taquamenaw
A feature back in 2006 from the Chicago Tribune offers one popular theory for the name:
The river and its two falls (the smaller Lower Falls are further downstream) are located in the northeast part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, just miles from Lake Superior, in the 46,000-acre Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls this side of the Mississippi in the United States. (Niagara–shared with Canada–is the largest.)The park is dense with both hardwoods and pine and filled with wildlife. Sightings of moose, gray wolves, black bears, American martens and river otters are typical, and have always been an attraction for nature lovers–including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose poem about this area recounts how Hiawatha built his canoe “by the rushing Tahquamenaw.” The spelling was a variation of Tahquamenon, which comes from an Ojibwa word meaning “dark berry.”
Origins of the Name from the Michigan DNR suggests an alternative root of the name:
The word Tahquamenon has not been as easy to trace. There have been many theories to the origins of this name, such as the color of the water of the Tahquamenon River or meaning the place of the blueberry swamps.
In his book, “Lake Superior Place Names: From Bawating to the Montreal,” Dr. Bernard C. Peters sheds additional light on the subject. Peters suggests the word Tahquamenon comes from the word Outakouaminan, which appears on a 1671 Jesuit map. The key is its location on the map. Because it is shown near an island in what now is Whitefish Bay, Peters believes the name actually refers to a shortcut across the bay.
Wherever the name came from, there’s no doubt that this is a “can’t miss” waterfall. You can get the 411 on Tahquamenon Falls at Go Waterfalling.com and see a video of the case for the falls as one of the Seven Wonders of Michigan. Also check out this great video of the falls from 1950 and see a cool old photo of the falls right here.
Check this photo out background bigtacular and in Andrew’s Upper Peninsula slideshow.
Lots more Tahquamenon Falls on Michigan in Pictures.
Tahquamenon Falls in Winter
January 19, 2012
Tahquamenon Falls in Winter, photo by Karen Lancour
You know that we love, love, love Tahquamenon Falls on Michigan in Pictures. If you haven’t made the trek in wintertime, definitely do – it’s amazing!
Karen shared this photo on the Michigan in Pictures page on Facebook. See it bigger on Facebook and click here to see more of the photos folks have shared with us!
Tahquamenon Falls
June 12, 2010
Tahquamenon Falls, photo by Odalaigh.
Lay aside your cloak, O Birch-tree!
Lay aside your white-skin wrapper,
For the Summer-time is coming,
And the sun is warm in heaven,
And you need no white-skin wrapper!
Thus aloud cried Hiawatha
In the solitary forest,
By the rushing Taquamenaw
The Song of Hiawatha
I don’t think I’ve see a photo that better captures the majestic sweep of the Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I guess that justifies returning to the subject of Michigan waterfalls so soon!
Go Waterfalling says this about Tahquamenon Falls:
This is the largest waterfall in Michigan, and in terms of volume it is in the top five for waterfalls east of the Mississipi. It is a bit out of the way. There are no other significant falls within a two hour drive, but the park offers lots of hiking and camping activities. If you happen to be circling Lake Superior visiting waterfalls , make sure to visit this one.
Tahquamenon Falls State Park park is on MI-123. It is on the map and is easy to find, but it is a bit out of the way. There are three sections to the park: the upper falls, the lower falls, and the rivermouth campsite…
Naturally occurring tannic acids in the water give the falls their brownish tea color.
You can read and see more of Michigan’s biggest waterfall under Tahquamenon Falls on Michigan in Pictures.
Charles says this is a 30 sec long exposure panorama. See it bigger in his slideshow and also check out the Tahquamenon Falls slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool!
Winter Wonderland at the Tahquamenon Falls
January 5, 2010
Winter Wonderland, photo by Kiran Bhat..
Kiran says that he absolutely loves the Tahquamenon Falls. I confess that I do too.
He’s just begun posting his UP Trip slideshow where you can see it bigger.
Need more? How about the Tahquamenon Falls in winter slideshow from Flickr or more of the Tahquamenon Falls from Michigan in Pictures?
Tahquamenon Falls double exposure(detroit)
October 20, 2007
Upper Falls, photo by rckrawczykjr.
Ralph recently returned from an autumn trip to the UP (slideshow). When I saw his double exposure of Tahquamenon’s Upper Falls, I knew I wasn’t going to be waiting any longer to give a shout out to the next Exposure.Detroit show.
Exposure.Detroit Presents!
When: November 9th 7pm-10pm
Who: Cris Rea, Joe Alisa, Ralph Krawczyk Jr., Rhonda McElroy, Sue Fraser
Where: The Bean & Leaf Cafe, Royal Oak
If you can, be sure to show up to see work from Ralph and the other very fine photographers in the show!
See more Tahquamenon Falls photos on Michigan in Pictures and don’t miss other photos in the Michigan Fall Wallpaper series.
Tahquamenon Falls
July 20, 2007
Tahquamenon Falls, photo by A. Runyon.
Well, about a month ago I blogged this photo of the Mackinac Bridge.
Apparently, Amanda found this on the other side. She has another equally amazing photo right here, and you can read more about the Tahquamenon Falls on Michigan in Pictures.
I have to add that it’s a beautiful thing when someone makes a photo like this available in “background size”. ;)
Upper Tahquamenon Falls in the Fall
October 12, 2006
Upper Tahquamenon Falls, photo by lluusz.
This photo was taken on October 16, 2005. I don’t speak Chinese, but I’m guessing this “上塔库梅珑瀑布” says something about what a glorious sight this is.
Sunday Study: Upper Tahquamenon Falls
February 12, 2006
| Lay aside your cloak, O Birch-tree! Lay aside your white-skin wrapper, For the Summer-time is coming, And the sun is warm in heaven, And you need no white-skin wrapper!”Thus aloud cried Hiawatha In the solitary forest, By the rushing Taquamenawfrom The Song of Hiawatha |
 photo by Allan M |
Tahquamenon Falls, U.P. Michigan, originally uploaded by Bluejacket.
Blue Jacket, who took the above photo of Michigan’s largest waterfall in May of 2005, writes:
Located in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, these are the upper falls. This is the land of Longfellow’s Hiawatha. Hiawatha built his canoe “by the rushing Tahquamenaw”. The amber color is caused by tanin leached from the Cedar, Spruce & Hemlock in the swamps drained by the river.
Tahquamenon Falls – Upper Falls, originally uploaded by heidigoseek.
Heidi’s pic from September of 2005 seems evocative of the solitary forest.
Upper Falls, originally uploaded by jamierytlewski.
Upper Falls is one of a set of pics of the Upper and Lower Tahquamenon Falls taken in February of 2005 by Jamie Rytlewski.
The DNR has a page for Tahquamenon Falls State Park but Exploring the North’s page seems a lot more welcoming and says:
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 its precipice.
Upper Tahquamenon Falls, originally uploaded by gsgeorge.
In dry times, as Geoffrey George writes, the water can be little more than a trickle.
Here’s a link to more Tahquamenon Falls photos & information from Michigan in Pictures (also see the waterfall tag).
