Tahquamenon Falls State Park

Virtual Travel – Michigan

Architecture, Art, Festival, History, Museum, Nature, Sciences, Sports, Transportation, Water Features

Welcome to Michigan.

Great Lakes

Michigan is known as the Great Lakes States, and the plethora of road map covers featuring them is evidence of the importance to the state.

Maps – 1947 – Lakeshore 1968 – Soo Locks 2000 – Lighthouses 2001 – Great Lakes Great Times 2010 – Fishtown in Leland 2012 – Unidentified Small Harbor

Bordering 4 of the 5 Great Lakes gives Michigan 3,288 miles of shoreline – more than any state other than Alaska. With that much shoreline, they have a large collection of lighthouses.

Below are two from the Lake Michigan area near Ludington.

Below photos are from various internet sources

Transportation in Michigan

Maps – 1951 – Unidentified Country Road 1974 – Modes of Transportation 1975 – Interstate 75 1993 – Boats and Cars 2005 – 100 Years of Michigan Transportation

For more than 100 years Michigan has been the automobile manufacturing capital of the world.

Detroit area map from 1951 – before freeways. Detroit, and other midwest cities, were the first cities in the world built with the car in mind.

Most of the main roads are multi-lane, with very wide median strips to enable ‘Michigan Lefts’.

In virtually the entire world there are left turn lanes, and protected by traffic light left turns. In Michigan where there is a boulevard, there are no left turns – rather you turn right, immediately jump over to the left laen, do a U turn, and go on your way.

This photo from the Woodward Dream Cruise shows the northbound traffic, with a U turn to return to Marshall Street Westbound . Also note the No Left Turn sign at the intersection itself.

Michigan has a long history of railroads throughout the state. While much of the passenger traffic is gone there are still some nicely restored stations throughout the state.

2018 09 03 675 Battle Creek MI Train Depot

In the small town of Hickory Corners is the Gilmore Car Museum. Built across a campus like a small town, they have a fantastic collection of American cars, plus numerous buildings that have either been moved there or built there to recreate the original.

Below are some examples, a diner moved from Connecticut, and the Cadillac dealership.

The Sinclair station is in a nearby town.

2018 09 03 52 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 5 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 481 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 309 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 03 251 Hickory Corners MI Gilmore Car Museum

2018 09 02 225 Cassopolis MI Restored Sinclair Station

Grosse Pointe is a wealthy suburb of Detroit. Each year they the Great Lakes Boating Festival at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club.

2017 05 20 52 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

2017 05 20 48 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

2017 05 20 72 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

2017 05 20 60 Grosse Pointe MI Great Lake Boat Festival

Parks

Maps – 1965 – Douglass Houghton Waterfall 1980 – Au Sable River 1989, 2011, 2014 – Sleeping Bear Dunes 2009 – Roadside Parks 2013 – Pictured Rocks National Seashore Cruise 2016 – Isle Royal National Park

There are a number of National Park Service locations in the state.

Government State Michigan 2016_renamed_32458

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It spans 35 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, and has dunes over 200′ high.

2008 08 17 98 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

2008 08 17 46 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

2008 08 17 16 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

2008 08 17 6 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park MI

Tahquamenon Falls State Park is in the Upper Peninsula. There are two waterfalls in the park, with the upper falls dropping 48′, with a width of 200′ making this one of the highest volume waterfalls east of the Mississippi River. It’s nickname is Rootbeer Falls, due to it’s color.

Grand Marais is at the eastern end of Pictured Rocks National Seashore.

Pictured Rocks is one of the most dramatic locales in the east.

2015 09 05 212 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 88 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 126 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 150 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

2015 09 05 196 Pictured Rocks National Park MI

Variety

1970 – Winter in Michigan 1976 – Bicentennial 2003, 2006, 2018 – Collages of Seasons and Regions

Frankenmuth is a faux German town. It is a huge tourist spot.

Grand Rapids is the second largest city in the state, far behind Detroit.

Meyer May House is a classic Frank Lloyd Wright design located in Grand Rapids.

Also in Grand Rapids is the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

2008 08 19 116 Grand Rapids MI Meijer Gardens

2008 08 19 115 Grand Rapids MI Meijer Gardens

2008 08 19 163 Grand Rapids MI Meijer Gardens

Battle Creek had a forest of trees killed by the emerald ash borer disease. Rather than just clear cut them, they had a number of carvers come turn it into something special.

2018 09 03 666 Battle Creek MI Fantasy Forest

2018 09 03 665 Battle Creek MI Fantasy Forest

2018 09 03 655 Battle Creek MI Fantasy Forest

Marquette is the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. It is also home to Northern Michigan University. With the long, cold, snowy winters they have opted for a domed football stadium. This one is special as it is primarily wood.

The Upper Peninsula people (affectionately known as Yoopies) are a unique bunch, with a creative side.

Bridges

1971 – History of Bridges 1984, 1997, 2007, 2017 – Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge is the most famous bridge in the state. It connects the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula.

Among the others in the state is the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada

In Battle Creek they have a park where they take all the old obsolete county road bridges and used them in the hiking/biking trail.

2018 09 03 685 Battle Creek MI Bridges Park

2018 09 03 678 Battle Creek MI Bridges Park

2018 09 03 691 Battle Creek MI Bridges Park

Detroit – 1973, 1978, 2015

Tiger Stadium – Home of the Detroit Tigers from 1912 until 1999. It sat empty for 10 years before the city tour it down – but not without much fight from the community.

It was replaced by Comerica Park.

The Detroit Institute of Art has an amazing Diego Rivera mural depicting the industrial life of the city in the 1930s.

The Guardian Building in Detroit is one of the best art deco skyscrapers in existence.

2019 04 07 174 Detroit Guardian Building

2019 04 07 228 Detroit Guardian Building

2019 04 07 217 Detroit Guardian Building

The Fisher Building is another great art deco building.

Detroit is Motown.Unfortunately many of the auto factories have long closed like this massive former Packard factory.

2019 04 06 164 Detroit Vacant Packard Factory

2019 04 06 145 Detroit Vacant Packard Factory

2019 04 06 165 Detroit Vacant Packard Factory

The Woodward Dream Cruise is the largest classic car gathering in the world. It occurs each August in the suburbs just north of Detroit.

2016 08 20 48 Detroit Piquette Avenue Model T Factory

2016 08 20 3 Detroit Piquette Avenue Model T Factory

2016 08 20 180 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

2016 08 20 176 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

2016 08 20 139 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

2016 08 20 119 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise

Detroit is home to one of the most important New Car Shows as well.

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 20

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 115

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 98

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 93

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 88

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 84

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 61

2016 01 13 Detroit International Auto Show 55

Henry Ford spent much of his fortune on building Greenfield Village. He moved actual buildings in (like the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop) to build the town.

1987 – Mackinac Island

This entire island became Michigan’s first state park in the late 1800s.

Main Street (from Wikipedia)

Hotel

1996 – State Capitol

Lansing is Michigan’s state capital.

State Flag

State Seal

State Wildflower – Dwarf Lake Iris

State Children’s Book – Legend of Sleeping Bear

Michigan Upper Peninsula – National Parks Road Trip – Day 2 – Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore & Tahquameon Falls State Park

Nature

After an early start we left St Ignace at the break of dawn, continuing north across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our first destination was Tahquamenon Falls State Park. There are very few towns on the UP though the last one before the park was called Paradise. The centerpiece of Paradise, Michigan is a mini mart/gas station with a 12′ high wooden carving of a bear with a rifle.

The park is just west of Paradise. This park follows the Tahquamenon River over the Tahquamenon Falls, and eventually into Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior. The upper falls has a single 50′ drop, while the lower falls has more of a cascade. Both are very scenic and impressive, as in the springtime the river drains as much as 50,000 gallons of water per second, second only to Niagara Falls in the eastern United States.

Tahquamenon Falls is also called “Rootbeer Falls” because of its golden-brown color, caused by tannins from cedar swamps that drain into the river. In winter, the ice that accumulates around and in the falls is often colored in shades of green and blue. The waterfalls were impressive and had a nice boardwalk trail. Climbing down 94 steps to the falls and also 116 steps down to the gorge offered a bit of exercise for us. We asked a park ranger how to pronounce the name of the falls and he said the way to remember is that it rhymes with phenomenon. So now Tah qua me non, is easy to say.

Next stop on the trip was the small town of Grand Marais, at the eastern end of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Once we arrived we stopped for lunch at Breakwall Bakery & Cafe in Grand Marais, where the local specialty is an olive burger made with a special green olives and mayonnaise sauce. It was tasty and strictly an upper peninsula thing!

Next door was the Pickle Barrel Museum – a cool building but it was closed.

At the end of the breakwater was the small Grand Marais Lighthouse.

The first highlight of the National Park is Sable Falls. The waterfalls were very pretty but the dunes were closed due to erosion from that point. We drove to the log slide overlook at Sable Falls Park, towering 300′ above the lake. People walked down the steep sand dune and trekked back up. The view was beautiful along the coastline of Lake Superior but we are too familiar with how hard it is to climb dunes and passed on the climb.

Arriving closer to Munising, and the park headquarters, we hiked the trail to Miners Castle. The cliffs here are gorgeous with 200′ + drops to Lake Superior. Divers dove off the cliff as kayaks floated below. Caves at the bottom of the cliffs attracted swimmers into the clean and clear water.

The small town of Munising (population 2500) is the center of activity for Pictured Rocks. In addition to being the park headquarters it is the harbor that all of the tour boats leave from. Before our cruise however we attempted to find dinner, eventually settling on sandwiches at the Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore. It was literally a counter in a bookstore with tables scattered throughout.

We took the 6 pm Sunset cruise, which is so popular they sent out two boats at the same time.

As we left the harbor we first passed Grand Island, and the historic lighthouse on the southern end.

Continuing further out we passed Miner’s Castle, this time on water which provided a very different view than that from the cliffs. It is strongly recommended that if you are going to Pictured Rocks you take the cruise as it is difficult to get a true view of the cliffs from land.

The cliffs and coves of the park are amazing as they seem to change based on the sunlight. They were created from groundwater and springs rich in minerals such as iron, copper and lime that leak out of the cracks and down the face of the cliffs.

There are a few rock arches that extend from the shoreline to an outcropping in the lake. One of the more famous arches is Lover Leap, as with all places named that for the lore that two lovers jumped when they couldn’t be together. In addition to the arches there are numerous caves, including Rainbow Cave, which has significant mineral stained walls with the forest just above the top of the cave.

Another of the arches, Grand Portal, gives you a sense on how massive they are as our boat looks tiny when going past. Just beyond we reached Chapel Cove – a tight cove that the boat went into far enough you felt you could reach out on 3 sides and touch the cliff walls. Finally we went past Chapel Rock, the most photographed location in the park. It’s towering cliffs punctuated by a single tree from the rocky top. The sun setting and casting light on the rocks and sandstone cliffs throughout the trip provided many different effects. Shades of white, purple, blue and black were seen. The narrated boat tour lasted about 2-1/2 long and traveled nearly 40 miles round trip, returning to harbor in the dark.