5978. Go to Pattison State Park in Superior

When I realized we could hit Pattison State Park just outside of Superior on our way to the pizza train, I added it to the list. Pattison State Park is home of the largest waterfall in Wisconsin. It would be another state park that we can check off as well.

Pattison Sate Park is about 20 minutes south of Superior on WI-35. It is open 6 AM - 11 PM daily and requires a park pass to enter. 

The biggest highlights of Pattison State Park are the waterfalls -- Big Manitou Falls and Little Manitou Falls. 

We visited Little Manitou Falls first. There is a parking lot near the falls. The trail leading down to Little Manitou Falls is part of the North Country Trail. We walked bits and pieces of it all trip. 

Little Manitou Falls can be seen from an overlook on the trail.

However to get a really good look at it, follow the side path down a set of stairs and view it from the bottom. It is much more spectacular. However, do not do that in flip flops. I was seriously worried about tripping and falling.

We then drove back to Upper Manitou Falls. Due to time and physical ability we did not take 4 mile loop between the two falls. Maybe one day I will tackle that.

We parked in the parking lot on Hwy B across from the picnic shelter and walked to the overlook. You can also park by the visitor center and take the tunnel (slippery when wet) to view it from the ground. 

Big Manitou Falls is the highest waterfall in Wisconsin. At 165 feet, it is also the 4th highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains. It was pretty and sure to be more impressive in spring with the spring run off.

I thought Little Manitou Falls was the prettier of the two waterfalls. 

If you like chasing waterfalls, definitely check out Pattison State Park to view Big Manitou Falls and Little Manitou Falls. It is worth the drive. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy nature while you are at it. 

5961. Go to Amnicon Falls State Park in South Range

 I love waterfalls. When I realized Amnicon Falls State Park was on our to Duluth, I was like we are stopping. It is supposed to be one of the best waterfalls in the state. 

I was originally going to buy my state park pass at Amnicon Falls State Park but we decided to get it when the hubby renewed his license plate. In hindsight, I am glad he did as it was only a self-pay station and besides we would have needed it at Copper Falls State Park.

Amnicon Falls State Park is located in South Ridge, or about 30 minutes from downtown Superior. A state park is required which is $14/day or $26/year. It is open 6 am to 11 pm unless you are camping. There is an parking lot that is close to the falls.

There are three different falls all within a short walk from the parking lot. We first viewed lower Amnicon Falls which is a 20 wide waterfalls that drops from the edge of the sandstone canyon. You can swim in the river and pools.

We crossed the covered bridge to get to Upper Amnicon Falls.

Upper Amicon Falls is more of flowing water fall as it makes it way down the rocks into the river. Like Lower Amicon Falls you can swim and climb the falls. 

The last waterfall is Now and Then Falls as it only appears now and then.. especially when it rains. Due to the drought conditions, it was definitely in it's then stage. 

The Douglas Fault also runs through the park.

Amnicon Falls State Park also has a very short hiking trails. The main attraction is the waterfalls. 

If you are headed to Duluth or Superior, definitely check out Amnicon Falls State Park. Take your swimsuits and play in the waterfalls. 

3171. Go to Tahquamenon Falls in McMillan Township

 Besides Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and a glass bottom boat ride, the other thing that was a must do while we were in the U.P. was see Tahquamenon Falls. They used to be a boat/train ride to Tahquamenon Falls but it has since closed so I had to settle for just seeing the falls.

Tahquamenon Falls is located between Newberry and Paradise in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is about 90 minutes from either St. Ignace or Munising. Tahquamenon Falls is located in Tahquamenon Falls State Park. There is a $12/day fee to enter Michigan State Parks for out of state residents. It is good for the entire day and all the parks you can fit into one day. It is open year round.

Tahquamenon Falls has two separate waterfalls known as Upper Tahquamenon Falls and Lower Tahquamenon Falls. You can drive or hike between the two. It's a short drive or a 6 mile (one way) hike between the two falls. There is enough parking at each of the falls. Each falls has it's own visitor center/gift shop, restrooms, and food available. 

We went to Lower Tahquamenon Falls first since that is the one that we came to first. There is a short walk from the parking lot to the first overlook of the falls. You can get a decent look of the falls. 

To get a better look of the falls, we followed the trail (about 1/3 mile one way) to the scenic overlook. Here we could feel the spray of the falls. 

If we (okay, the hubby) were more adventurous, we could have continued down the trail to the bridge to get a better view of the falls. We could also enter the river here to play swim and play in the falls. You can also rent rowboats to get to the falls as well. 

After checking out the lower falls, we drove to the Upper falls. There are two options to view the Upper Falls. We followed the crowd to the overlook. which is to the right. If we went left we would have seen the falls from the Gorge. 

There used to be stairs leading down to the overlook. Now there is a ramp to get to the overlook with benches and other overlooks. We get down to the main overlook and discovered the hubby didn't have his phone. So we didn't spend much time at the overlook as we raced to retrace our steps to find his phone which was safely in the car. 

The overlook was crowded which made it difficult to get a good view of the falls. It also deterred us from lingering to enjoy the falls.

I wonder if the gorge view would have had better views.  

 Both views were spectacular but we liked the lower falls better than the upper falls. It might have been the view of the lower falls was better. Maybe there were less people. Maybe we didn't have to worry about a missing phone.

Tahquamenon Falls definitely needs to be on everyone's Upper Peninsula bucket list. Even if you don't like or have mobility issue, you can still see both falls easily. 

503. Hike the Smoky Mountains

 When I was planning our trip to the Smoky Mountains, there were a few things I knew I wanted to do. A couple of them involved "hiking" and that is not the hubby's cup of tea, especially of late. I knew I had to keep hiking to a minimum. I don't know why when I wrote the original bucket list almost 25 years ago, I thought it was a great idea to include all these hikes on the list. I enjoy a good, easy hike but I probably thought I'd have all the time and money to go hike, camp, and do outdoorsy things. Now it's baseball and road trips. 

One of the hikes I wanted to do was hike the Smoky Mountains. I didn't need to a strenuous or even moderate hike. Something short and easy for the hubby would suffice. Initially I found a nice short boardwalk nature trail hike to do. Somehow in my planning, I forgot to write down where said hike was in the park. I saw a sign for a nature trail from Sugarlands Visitor Center but it was .7 miles and listed as moderate. That was not my hike.

Also on the sign, it said Cataract Falls was .5 mile hike and easy. The hubby and I decided to hike to Cataract Falls. So we went chasing waterfalls. 

The hike to Cataract Falls from Sugarlands Visitor Center is about .5 mile round trip. It is a super easy, pretty flat hike. Part of it is across a parking lot partially due to construction. We did the hike in flip flops. Did you expect anything less?

Cataract Falls is a small waterfalls but has some height. I like waterfalls of any kind. 

The hike to Cataract Falls is a popular hike since it's close to the visitor center and short. It also meets up with the Gatlinburg Trail which does take you into Gatlinburg. No I didn't cross the water to the get to the Gatlinburg Trial. I'm sure the hubby would have had a heart attack if I attempted that. He's so not adventurous. 

Everyone needs to hike the Smoky Mountains at least once even if it's a super short trail. There is just something about being out in nature and mountain air that makes life all better.

If the hubby can make it to Cataract Falls, there's a good chance you can too. Visit the Smoky Mountains, get out of the car, and explore a trail. It's worth it. 

2931. Explore the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising

 When we got our National Park Pass this year, the hubby decided we should get as much use out of it as possible as well as try to knock of the two sites in Wisconsin. After a bit of a research, I learned that Apostle Islands National Lakeshore was 5 hours away and required no park fee while Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, MI was only 3.5 hours away and had a park fee. Based on this, the hubby agreed it made most sense to head to Michigan this fall. 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore spans the shores of Lake Superior from Munising to Grand Marais which is 47 miles. You can drive or hike the North Country Trail to explore the park. The park fee is $10. It is open year round so you can explore ice caves in winter.

There are plenty of options to view the National Lakeshore from without much hiking. 

Our first stop was the Munising Visitor Center which is currently under construction. We showed the park pass and got our map. Then we walked a very short trail to Munising Falls. I figured the hubby could handle the 800 foot paved trail to see the falls. 

The 50 foot waterfall was stunning. We viewed it together from the main view platform. 

I then walked up to the middle platform and view it from there. I decided not to walk the stairs up to the upper viewing platform. The views were gorgeous especially in early fall.

Since we had some time before our boat tour, we drove the 10 miles to Miners Castle Overlook. This is another easy hike. We walked to the overlook from the parking lot. It was about 200 feet. The view was again stunning. It was one of those iconic Pictured Rock billboard pictures.

I did walk 10 feet on the North Country Trail just to say I "hiked" the North Country Trail.

That is all we had time to explore before we had to head back to Munising for our boat tour. Hopefully we will make it back to Pictured Rocks to keep exploring the lakeshore. There is plenty more to see including more overlooks, waterfalls, and museums. I will gladly pay the $10 to see more of the Lakeshore.