Tahquamenon Falls State Park

I love the sounds of a campground settling down for the night.  We are near the Lower Falls on the Tahquamenon River and I can hear the rumble of the falls.  Although it was warm earlier, this is September and the air is cool so we built a campfire.  I like the snap and crackle of good dry wood.  Most of our fellow campers are grey haired folks like us, but I can hear a few tired kids laughing and playing.  There’s a little breeze rustling high in the tops of the pines.  Our fellow campers are talking quietly.  This is September camping.  The sun sets earlier and everyone gathers around their camp for the warmth and light of a fire.

It has been a quiet day.  We continued our drive across the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) on State Highway 28.  It’s pretty much the main East / West route.  We have been blessed with another beautiful fall day with temperatures in the upper 70’s.  Each day we see more color in the trees.  Parts of our drive was through forests of hardwoods that were about 25% cloaked in their fall garb.

The campground is in a State Park with no WIFI, no TV reception or much cell phone service.  It’s a place for quiet conversation, good books, long walks, and relaxation.  The Tahquamenon River winds its way through much of the park.  The upper falls are huge in both volume of water and overall size.  The lower falls (near our campsite) consist of five smaller falls formed as the river winds its way around an island.  I thought that it was clever of the park folks to put walking paths on the island and have rowboats available to row across to the island so it’s possible to see all five of the waterfalls.

This park and the falls was on almost every “must see” list of places to go in Michigan.  Despite the fact that it is mid-week in September, the campground is pretty full.  As we walked around the lower falls area a bus load of tourists from another country (speaking a Slavic language I think) arrived to tour the falls.  Another large group of non-English speakers were setting up for a big picnic dinner.  This is a popular place that I never heard of before.  Who knew??