Wagner Falls by John Bullington Photography
GoWaterfalling shares that Wagner Falls:
is located south of Munising, on the east side of MI-94 just south of the MI-28 MI-94 junction. It has its own state park. There is small parking area and a sign. A short boardwalk leads to the falls. It is a pleasant walk and a pretty waterfall.
John shared this photo of a fresh winter snowfall in our Michigan in Pictures group on Facebook. See more from John on his Facebook page & on his website.
AuTrain Falls U.P. Michigan by Linda Carter
Visit Chatham has a truly delightful post about the AuTrain Falls explains that they are located about 8 miles south of AuTrain, 5 miles east of Chatham, and 10 miles southwest of Munising. They say (in part – read it all if you can):
The AuTrain Falls are part of the AuTrain River. A major reason why the falls were created is because of the large power dam located about a mile south of the falls site, in close proximity to highway M-94. The Forest Lake Dam, ran by Renewable Energies Resources, is the main source of water for the falls. When water levels are high on the AuTrain Basin, an increased flow of water is released via the dam and down the river. The AuTrain River actually flows from South to North.
When more water is released via the dam, the more volume of water that flows through the falls. And especially during the spring season, the falls are a fabulous view! Even though the falls may not be as spectacular during the summer months as compared to the spring season, the falls are still wonderful to visit year-round. They are even accessible during the winter season! And you can’t say that about most Upper Peninsula falls.
Read on for more.
Linda took this at the end on September 29, 2020. See more in her Falls gallery on Flickr.
Early Winter at Miners Falls by Michigan Nut Photography
John McCormick aka Michigan Nut is one of my favorite photographers. He’s been sharing some great videos he took this year at some of Michigan’s waterfalls on his Facebook page – check them out!
The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore explains that Miners Falls is where the Miners River drops about 50 feet over a sandstone outcrop, creating the park’s most powerful waterfall. You can see this photo & more at Michigan Nut Photography on Facebook and view & purchase John’s great waterfall (and other) pictures on his website.
Olson Tannery Falls by Charles Bonham
As you probably already know, GoWaterfalling is my go-to site for Michigan waterfalls. Their entry for Tannery Falls includes a map and says:
Tannery Falls is in Munising, off of H-58. It is not as well advertised as the larger Munising Falls, but as a result it is somewhat wilder and less visited. Like other waterfalls in the area, it suffers from a lack of water in the summer.
…I was there on a rainy day in May, and even then there was not a whole lot of water flowing over the falls. One interesting thing about this waterfall is that a relatively recent cave in has blocked the creek just below the falls, forcing the creek back behind the falls along and under the edge of the gorge.
This falls is remarkably close to the MNA Memorial Falls, and can be easily reached from that waterfall.
Charles took this earlier in October. You can view the latest on his Flickr & he’s also got a view of the falls from the front!
Summer Day on Lake Superior by Michigan Nut Photography
John took this in late June near Munising on Lake Superior. Head over to Michigan Nut Photography on Facebook or his website for lots more! He’s even got jigsaw puzzles from some of his photos!
Horseshoe Falls by Greg Jarman
The premier resource for Michigan waterfalls is GoWaterfalling, and their entry for Horseshoe Falls in Munising says (in part):
Horseshoe Falls is a scenic, privately owned waterfall in Munising. There is an admission fee to visit the falls. It is spring fed, so it may be flowing when the other five falls in the area are not.
Horseshoe Falls is located in the middle of Munising, just a few blocks away from M-28 … It plunges about 20 feet, and then tumbles down a long series of cascades for another 20 feet or more. The waterfall is spring fed, so it may be running when the other nearby falls thin out in the summer months.
In addition to the falls there is a trout pond, where you can feed the fish.
You can read on for more info including other nearby waterfalls & see dozens more Michigan waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures!
Greg took this in mid-June. See lots more in his 2020 Upper Peninsula Road Trip album on Flickr & have a great week!
Peaceful Moment at Lake Superior by Michigan Nut Photography
One of my favorite photographers on Michigan in Pictures is John McCormick aka Michigan Nut. He caught this peaceful moment at Lake Superior near Munising the other day, remarking that “you don’t often see the big lake this calm.
Prints of this photo and a whole lot more Michigan beauty are available at michigannutphotography.com.
Columns of Ice, Eben Ice Cave, photo by John Clement Howe.
EDITOR’S NOTE: With the rise of coronavirus, it seems to me that we could all use a little reconnection with our lovely state of Michigan, so I’m going to try to dig out some old photos and share some new ones to help keep you close to Mama Michigan as you socially distance!
This photo originally appeared March 20, 2007 and is one of a nice set titled At the Ice Cave of Eben taken in March of 2007 at the Eben Ice Caves in the Upper Peninsula near Munising. My friend Dr. John Anderton of the Northern Michigan University Department of Geography who has since passed away explained their formation:
The Eben Ices Caves are located just a few miles north of the little town of Eben, within the Rock River Canyon Wilderness Area (RRCW). The RRCW, which became a Wilderness in 1987 as a part of the Michigan Wilderness Act, is located approximately 15 miles west of the town of Munising, MI, within the Munising Ranger District of the Hiawatha National Forest. It comprises 4,460 acres and contains outstanding natural features including Rock River, Silver Creek and Ginpole Lake. Within its interior there are two short user-developed trails (totaling about 1.75 miles) leading to Rock River Falls and the Eben Ice Caves. An estimated 1,700 people visit the area annually (USFS records) …
The Ice Caves are not true caves at all. They consist of walls or vertical sheets of ice that form across the face of overhanging rock outcrops. In the summer, small unimpressive waterfalls and groundwater seeps may found along the overhangs. In the winter, however, the water hits the cold air, drips downward under the influence of gravity and freezes, creating spectacular ice caves. Each winter they look a little different, but typically there are openings in the ice that allow you to walk behind the ice walls.
The rock overhangs, where the ice caves form, consist of outcrops of Munising Formation (Cambrian) with a capstone of AuTrain Formation (Ordovician). The outcrops are found along the south side of the valley of Silver Creek, which is part of a network of secondary glacial drainage channels that formed during the Marquette Advance (about 10,000 years ago). Theses secondary drainage channels flowed easterly into the AuTrain-Whitefish Channel, a primary glacial meltwater channel that flowed south to the Lake Michigan basin. Groundwater naturally seeps from these rocks, providing the water necessary to form the ice caves in the winter.
For directions and more info, check out Munising Ice Climbing from Travel Marquette!
Untitled, photo by Steve Nowakowski
It’s hard to convey the unique beauty of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in a single photo, but the stunning green of this picture really triggered memories for me of some of my best and brightest days in one of Michigan’s crown jewels.
Steve took this on a boat tour in August of 2016 with nearly perfect conditions, likely with Pictured Rocks Cruises. View the photo background big and see more in his 2016 Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore slideshow.
There’s a whole lot more goodness from the Pictured Rocks on Michigan in Pictures.
Words escape me, photo by Lake Superior Photo
Words escape ME on the beauty of the video that Shawn of Lake Superior Photo shared. The ice caves on Grand Island near Munising didn’t happen this year, a very unfortunate thing for everyone in Michigan who makes their livelihood from winter recreation. However, thanks to the magic of the video below, we can travel back to 2015.
You can view Shawn’s photo from winter of 2015 Â bigger on Facebook and purchase the photo right here. I can’t stress enough that you should follow Shawn and Lake Superior Photo on Facebook. Please do it.
Now here’s that video. Be sure to turn your volume up and watch in HD – there’s a “boom” from the ice sheet at 4 seconds that’s incredible!
