Name: Amnicon Falls State Park
Address: 4279 South County Highway U, South Range, WI 54874
Size: 825 acres
Activities: Camping, hiking, hunting and trapping, fishing, picnicking, swimming, snowshoeing. This is a great spot for photographers.
Reservations: Amnicon Falls has 35 campsites. Sites 1-6 are first-come, first-served only, the rest can be reserved in advance through wisconsin.goingtocamp.com. Site 35 is reservable by persons with disabilities only. Sites 32-33 are double sites, suitable for larger groups. Sites 16-17 are primitive walk-to sites. RVs are allowed at all but sites 6, 10, 16, and 17, which are tent-only.
Pros: Quiet, beautiful, excellent trail systems, gorgeous scenery, excellent interpretive information.
Cons: A busy park, consider reserving your campsite in advance if possible, wayfinding was put in decades ago so sometimes you have to look up to see where trail markers are attached to trees.
This year, Dave and I spent two nights at Amnicon Falls State Park, in Wisconsin, exploring the breathtaking falls, spring florals, and billions of years of geologic history within this magnificent park. The drive from Chicago to Grand Portage, Minnesota is a long one. I would rather spend a few nights at a state park along the way, instead of driving straight to the departure city before getting on the boat to Isle Royale National Park. (You can read about my trip to Isle Royale National Park here.) Amnicon Falls was the perfect place to spend a few nights before going on a much bigger adventure.
The Native American history of Amnicon Falls goes back at least as far as 5000 BCE. Old Copper Culture Native Americans came here looking for copper to make tools. From around 500 CE Woodland Native Americans hunted and fished here. Ojibwe Native Americans (also called Chippewa) lived here when Europeans first paddled through. These Native Americans bartered and traded with the European trappers, at first. But after signing the Treaty of 1842 this land was ceded to the U.S. government in exchange for money, goods, and safeguards for traditional hunting, fishing, and foraging rights. The provisions preserving those rights were largely ignored by the State of Wisconsin until a series of court rulings in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s that favored Native American rights on key issues like hunting and fishing, but also property ownership. Today the Chippewa people continue to live in the area and play a vital role in protecting the wildlife and biodiversity of the region. Just this week six Chippewa tribes filed suit in federal court against the state of Wisconsin for violation of those treaty rights, when the state allowed hunters to kill 200 wolves this past February.
The Amnicon River flows northeastward from its origin in Central Douglas County to its mouth at Lake Superior. In the heart of the park, the river separates into two streams and throws itself down three (sometimes more) waterfalls, of almost 30 feet each. Over the 30-mile course of the river, it descends a total of 640-feet. Within the short two-mile stretch of river within the park, it drops a full 180 feet.
As it flows northward the river collects water from a drainage basin that contains 125 square miles and eight lakes. This watershed contains the only native muskellunge populations in northwestern Wisconsin. From the swamps and bogs found at the headwaters, the river picks up decaying vegetation and tannic acid which gives the water a distinctive “root beer” color.
The main attraction at this park are the falls themselves. And they are, without a doubt, stunning, but for me, the real reason to visit this park is its geologic history and its excellent interpretive information. The falls are beautiful, sure, but what really knocked my socks off was the Douglas Fault, the geological formation that created the falls in the first place.
The first thing I recommend visitors to Amnicon Falls State Park do is to visit the ranger station and pick up two free publications: Amnicon Falls State Park Visitor newsletter, and Amnicon Falls State Park Geology Walk. Why? Because the falls are cool but learning literally how they got there is mind-blowing.
Ancient volcanic activity created the basalt trap rock that forms the falls. You can see this rock layer from the upper falls. From the lower falls, you can see the sandstone layer that predates the basalt layer by millions of years. At one point this spot was at the bottom of a deep seabed, and a result of that is the sandstone here is about four miles deep. Downstream the river has weathered steep walls through this sandstone and created a wide, flat, shallow bottom just below the falls.
From stop three, on the little island, you can see the Douglas Fault itself. The exposed reddish-brown rock behind the falls is the exact location of an immense fracturing and movement of that basalt bedrock about 500 million years ago. That fault extends from about Ashland, Wisconsin to somewhere around the Twin Cities. The bedrock south of the fault was slowly forced upward and to the north. Geologists think the rock may have moved upward as far as three miles. It is far more common for faults to move downward than upward, but that action would explain why the sandstone here is at the same height as the basalt layer. You can see this all plain as day with your eyeballs if you visit this park. Over millennia water did what it does best and eroded away the tougher basalt layer, and the softer sandstone layer, creating the magnificent falls within the park.
The campground is also a good bet. This park and campground are both very popular and limited in space, so if possible try to make your campground reservations in advance. Do not count on a walk-up site being available. Check out the Amnicon Falls State Park Visitor newsletter for the length of each campsite. Some are set as far as 70 feet back from the road, while others are as close as 30 feet to the road. Each campsite has a fire ring and picnic table. There is no separate space for tent campers away from RV campers, but the campsites are spaced well apart. It is easy to avoid seeing or being bothered by the other campers. Generators are not allowed to be used by anyone in this park, which does help keep the noise down.
There are about two miles of trails total in this park, so it’s a great option for a very relaxing trip, or if you’ve got kiddos and don’t want to roam too far.
A natural island in the river divides the falls and adds the trails that take you all over the Upper Falls, Lower Falls, and Snake Pit Falls, with extra trails you can take to see Now and Then Falls (when it exists.)
There are also a handful of covered bridges. The Horton Covered Bridge spans the river at the Lower Falls, and it’s a great spot to view the Upper Falls.
The Upper Falls are wide, and you can get down to splash in them using a questionable set of concrete steps.
The Lower Falls are bigger and best viewed from the main park trails just west of the parking lot. The state of Wisconsin has wisely put a cell phone stand at the very best spot for you to take a selfie of your whole group, with the Lower Falls in the background, so take advantage of that.
The trails on the island meander over rocks and roots, but give an up-close view of beautiful and rare flowers like the prairie wild rose, and the always lovely columbine.
If you can hike all the way down to the bottom of Snake Pit Falls, I recommend that you do. The trails are not well marked, often include switchbacks, and have steep drops or roots and rocks in the path. If you can manage all that, keep your peepers peeled for what looks like a concrete wall made of large, rounded pebbles. This is a natural geologic formation known as a conglomeration. Go and find all the glacial erratics you can see.
Walk further to the western point of the island where the river becomes one again. Especially on a bright sunny day, the light bouncing off tall red sandstone walls and the cool brown water at your toes, it’s easy to feel comfortably out of place in the ancient history of this land.
The river is clean and – as long as you stay out of the falls themselves – swimming and wading are allowed. There are definitely some spots just below the falls where you can easily sit and soak, but rockhounds will want to wade along the wide shallow river bottom looking for cool rocks. Fun fact: All those agates you find washed up on the shores of Lake Superior? Many of them formed within the rock layers just behind these very falls.
