Wanda and I both have a 40 year-old memory of swimming in a pool of water below a waterfalls in northern Wisconsin where we could actually sit behind the waterfall in a roomy alcove. I thought it was Copper Falls, but yesterday’s visit to Copper Falls State Park disabused me of that notion. There are two more state parks, Amnicon Falls State Park and Pattison State Park, that are within striking distance of our campsite and host major waterfalls. One of those parks, I figured, must be the source of our distant memory.

Amnicon Falls State Park was first up. I was surprised as to how small the park was compared to Copper Falls State Park. It pretty much followed the Amnicon River as it rushed over the bare red rocks for about a half mile. The rapids and falls were delightful and with the low water level, we could boulder-hop across the river in many places. I couldn’t help but think, “if only Aminicon River could borrow some of that Pigeon Lake flood water.”

Amnicon State Park is a series of waterfalls and rapids.

We loved the great rock formations.

This is a tiny tributary feeding the Amnicon River.

No, my mysterious water falls with the swimming pool and alcove wasn’t in Amnicon State Park. That left Pattison State Park, our next stop. Pattison is home of Wisconsin’s tallest waterfalls, Big Manitou Falls, clocking in at 165 feet. Granted, it is just a ribbon of water, especially in these low river water levels, but it is striking as it drops into a deep river gorge carved through a dense green forest. The trails on both sides of the river provides several strategically placed viewing platforms to get the best views of the falls from just about every angle. Without the platforms, you wouldn’t be able to see the falls through the thick forest hugging the cliff ledges of the river gorge.

I remembered Big Manitou Falls from the last time we were here, 40 years ago, and I knew it wasn’t my secret swimming hole. That left Little Manitou Falls a mile up river in the southern end of the park. Pattison State Park is fairly large with several miles of trails. We followed the aptly named Little Manitou Falls Trail to reach our final falls. The trail was recently refurbished and gorgeous with a number of brand new wooden bridges.

Little Manitou Falls turned out to be a twin falls. And no, it wasn’t the falls we were looking for. I know it exists. Both Wanda and my memories match and both are vivid. The search goes on.

Big Manitou Falls.

Looking down from the top of Big Manitou Falls.

Little Manitou Falls.

Some of the hiking trails in Pattison State Park have been refurbished. This is Little Manitou Falls Trail. When combined with Beaver Trail, it follows the river for 1.5 miles.

After our waterfalls tour the weather turned a little blustery. Since we were only 15 miles from Superior, we decided to drive to Superior’s public library and use their WiFi. The library turned out to be a large modern building with some terrific paintings depicting the local history. The WiFi was blazingly fast and we got caught up on emails and downloaded a couple of episodes of “Bosch” to my iPhone, a detective series that we recently got hooked on.

Back at camp, we luxuriated in our hot shower setup and settled in to watch a Bosch episode. I think it was the first time we watched a TV show on a camping trip in over a year. It felt a bit like cheating, but an addiction is an addiction.

Paintings from the Superior Public Library.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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