This past weekend we indulged ourselves by visiting some of the greatest waterfalls in the Midwest, along the shore of Lake Superior in MN.
At Tettegouche State Park we visited High Falls and Two Step falls, this time rather than stopping at high falls we hiked the additional third of a mile to the foot bridge that spans the river just above the cascade. We had a stunning view down the falls and across the valley. Two Step falls was the usual knee killer with close to two hundred wooden steps leading down to the base of the lower falls. The water flow was low, the summer drought having diminished the river considerably from its usual level.
Caribou River was a new destination for us, we were stunned by the 100 foot falls which even with the low water where magnificent, plunging into the deep pool at the foot of the steep cliff face. While not a state park, the trail and wooden stairs were well maintained, the six car parking lot helps to keep them relatively free of visitors. Apparently when the river is in spate the water shoots out horizontally from parts of the falls and sprays out across the gravel “beach” below.
Cascade River this year revealed a wealth of new falls which we had missed in previous years hiking the Look Out Mountain trail, instead we veered right down the 96 steps to the river bed, hiking inland we came across a plethora of cascades and falls culminating in a 15 foot cascade that we could get within a foot of. We did also complete the hike to Lookout Mountain which still remains a favorite of ours (we hiked it on the morning before our wedding day).
We made the trek up to the Canada border and visited the falls at Grand Portage, an amazing 150 foot torrent! It was amazing to drive right up to the border and then do a U -Turn we felt like criminals making a dash for the border. When we hiked to the river it would have been very easy to cross over simply wadding up to the top of my hiking boots… we didn’t.
There were numerous other stops along the way you can find a full set of photographs here.
