Sunlight through the autumn trees by T P Mann
Fall color remains in full swing across much of Michigan. Here’s hoping you have a chance to enjoy it before it’s gone!
T P took this photo way back on October 20, 2007. See more in his Michigan Autumn Colors gallery on Flickr.
More fall color on Michigan in Pictures!
Autumn Mosaic by Lisa Flaska Erickson
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.”
~Stanley Horowitz
Lisa captured this beautiful canvas of fall color near Maple City on the Leelanau Peninsula. Follow Lisa at supqueen on Instagram for lots more including some more gorgeous autumn 2020 photos!!
mLive shared an update on Michigan’s fall color progression that says in part:
The frost and freezing temperatures for two or three days in a row last week have sparked the fall colors. A leaf’s nutrition supply is cut off from the main tree with a freeze. The underlying color pigments in the leaf then emerge for our fall splendor.
The western half of the Upper Peninsula has about 50 percent of total fall color. The eastern U.P. is around 25 percent changed now. The northern third of Lower Michigan has 25 percent to 50 percent fall color. The southern half of Lower Michigan runs from 10 percent to just spotty color from north to south.
You can also check out Pure Michigan’s Interactive Fall Foliage Map & definitely check out past fall color on Michigan in Pictures from more cool photos including the science behind fall color!
Wu took this photo back in 2015 on US-41 US-41 near Copper Harbor on the UP’s Keweenaw Peninsula. See more on their Flickr!
Interstate Falls, photo by Tom Mortenson
GoWaterfalling’s entry for Interstate Falls/Peterson Falls says (in part):
This waterfall is located on the Montreal River just a few miles upstream of Saxon Falls. The Montreal River forms part of the border between Michigan and Wisconsin so the falls is technically in both states, and can be visited from either state, but it is most easily visited from the Wisconsin side.
There seems to be some confusion about what this waterfall is named, or at least I am confused. Some sources refer to this as Peterson Falls, and the sign on the highway says “Peterson Falls”. However others say that this falls is Interstate Falls and that Peterson Falls is a smaller waterfall upstream of Interstate Falls. I have decided to go with Peterson Falls until I learn otherwise.
Read on for directions & more info.
View the photo background big and see more in Tom’s Upper Michigan slideshow.
More waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures and more Fall Wallpaper!
Misty Bond Falls, photo by Yanbing Shi
Gorgeous photo from Bond Falls in the western Upper Peninsula taken back in October of 2014. GoWaterfalling’s page on Bond Falls says (in part):
This is the best single waterfall in the Western U.P, and the second best waterfall in Michigan. If you are in the Western U.P., possibly on your way to or from the Porcupines or Copper Harbor, this is a definitely worth a stop.
…The main drop is 40 feet high and 100+ feet wide. Above the main falls are a series of cascades and rapids that must drop a total of 20 feet. The water level is controlled by a dam, and a steady flow over the falls is maintained for scenic reasons. Of course during the spring melt the flow is much higher.
View Yanbing Shi’s photo bigger and see more from Michigan and elsewhere in his Landscape slideshow.
More Michigan waterfalls and more fog & mist on Michigan in Pictures.
High Roll Away, photo by Charles Bonham
“Of all the places I’ve worked here in Michigan, this is my favorite place to collect my senses, do a little meditating and get rid of my problems. It’s like a soothing balm.”
-Ray Westbrook, retired DNR on the High Roll-Away
Charles took this yesterday at the Buckley High Roll-Away overlooking the Manistee River, and it shows how autumn color continues to lag a bit behind in northern lower Michigan. mLive posted some satellite pics of fall color from NASA’s Aqua satellite earlier this week that give you a look at how things are shaping up. If you’re thinking about a jaunt, Pure Michigan’s fall color tours provide some pre-planned ideas all over the state. To get current fall color, I usually find it best to pick your location and call their chamber or visitor’s bureau. The bigger ones in Traverse City, Petoskey, Marquette, Grand Rapids, and elsewhere will often have a good idea about a large range.
MyNorth’s Jeff Smith has a great story on Buckley’s Big View that says in part:
Like any notable landmark without an official name, this one goes by several aliases—Horseshoe Bend Overlook, Lookout Point or the Highbanks Overlook—not to mention spelling variations. Depends who you ask.
Stand atop the Roll-Away and the scenery is for certain. From the lookout it’s 200 feet down, and before you the valley curls up like a vast bowl, taking in a viewscape of almost 130 square miles of dense pine and hardwood forest. The bowl’s rim, a ridge, runs roughly from Manton in the east, around to Meauwataka and Harrietta in the south (you’ll see the distant radio towers), and on the west to Mesick.
Here, more than a century ago, the expanse of treetops inspired awe among those who saw wealth in the more than 1.2 billion board feet of lumber in the upper Manistee River basin. Surveying the area in 1869 for the Manistee River Improvement Company, A.S. Wordsworth wrote, “This river is the great highway that penetrates the vast pine region of Manistee. … It is without doubt the best logging stream in the world, and all along its circuitous path, reaching far away, it seems to bear mute testimony to the wonderful wisdom of the Creator.”
Read on for lots more and here’s the map on Waymarking!
You can get Charles’ photo background bigtacular and see more in his slideshow.
Lots more fall color and fall wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!
Autumn Tree Tunnel on M-22, photo by Owen Weber
The Detroit News is reporting that Michigan’s leaves are about a week late this year:
“The warm, dry summer has delayed things,” said meteorologist Jim Keysor of the Gaylord office of the National Weather Service. “ “People will just have to wait. Colder nights are coming and the color show will happen.”
“We’re a week to 10 days behind,” he estimated.
The National Weather Service recorded plenty of 90-degree days through August — five in June, nine in July and seven in August.
“We’re probably at 40 percent to 60 percent right now,” said accounting assistant Gina Penegor of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Ontonagon of the Upper Peninsula. “We’ve had a light frost and this weekend could be the best time to view color here. In the last five days it’s really changed a lot.”
…“By all accounts, the color is coming a little bit later with all the great weather we’ve been having,” said Michelle Grinnell, the public relations manager of Travel Michigan, in a statement. “That extends our fall travel season.”
Grinnell said that the fall tourism season is expected to have a $3.7 billion economic impact on Michigan in 2016. Michigan has 19 million acres of woodlands. The golds, yellows and reds of autumn usually begin in mid-September and work their way south from Lake Superior, peaking in late October in the lower counties along the Indiana and Ohio borders.
You can read on for more. While I will say that the eyeball test agrees the colors are running behind around Traverse City, consider this article that maintains the timing of fall color is due mainly to the length of days and as such, unchanged year to year.
As a further piece of evidence, Owen took this photo of peak color on M-22 last year on October 21st about a week to 10 days from now. View it bigger and see more in his Michigan slideshow, and learn more about Owen at owenweberlive.com.
PS: This was taken on M-22 right in front of the house I grew up in about 2 miles south of Leland on the way to Glen Arbor & Sleeping Bear Dunes! While those trees are definitely fading under the twin ravages of time and the power company/road commission, it’s still a pretty spectacular spot!
On Down the Road, photo by Doug Jonas
Miraculously, there’s still pockets of fall color out there, so how about one more before November closes in?
View Doug’s photo background bigtacular and see more in his amazing slideshow.
More fall wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.
Tahquamenon Falls, Luce County, Michigan, photo by twurdemann
We’ll return to the fall color farewell tour with a photo from Michigan’s largest waterfall, Tahquamenon Falls (pronounced as spelled – tah-qua-me-non). It’s located in Tahquamenon Falls State Park which:
…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 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. 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.
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 1800’s 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 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.
Read on for more and maps & camping information. I’ll add that November through April are great months to visit Tahquamenon Falls – very few people!
twurdemann shares that this view of the the Upper Tahquamenon Falls was a three second exposure with a B+W ND106 six stop solid neutral density filter on a Fuji XT1 + XF 55-200mm. View it bigger and see more in his Waterfalls slideshow.
Lots more fall color and waterfalls on Michigan in Pictures!
Walking into an Autumn Rainbow, photo by Owen Weber
Perfect title!
I feel like I didn’t get a chance to say farewell to fall, so I’ll do it this week. The first is from my backyard, on the trail that leads to the Empire Bluffs in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
View the photo bigger, see more in Owen’s Michigan slideshow. and also check out his website at owenweberphotography.com to view & purchase prints.
More fall color on Michigan in Pictures.
Michigan in Pictures 