A new 1,100-foot accessible boardwalk has replaced the steep 94-step staircase that kept the U.P.’s most famous waterfall out of reach for so many
For years, the closest some visitors could get to the brink of the Upper Tahquamenon Falls was the top of a 94-step staircase they had no way to climb. That has finally changed.
A new 1,100-foot, fully accessible boardwalk now winds through old-growth forest all the way to the edge of one of the largest waterfalls in the eastern United States.
For the first time in the park’s history, wheelchair users can get there under their own power.
The Michigan DNR cut the ribbon on the new walkway in mid-May, replacing the aging staircase that had long stood between many visitors and the 200-foot-wide, amber-colored falls.
“We heard time and time again from people that because of accessibility, they had never been to the brink, had never been able to feel that spray hit their face or smell the river,” said Kevin Dennis, park manager at Tahquamenon Falls State Park.
Now they can.
Among the first down the new boardwalk were Ken and Missy Davert, both wheelchair users, who rolled out to take in a view of the falls that had been off limits to them their whole lives.
The walkway runs through old-growth forest with five switchback landings along the way. Each one has benches, interpretive displays, and what the DNR calls never-before-seen views of the river and the falls.
Here is a look at the new boardwalk and the falls it leads to:
Tahquamenon Falls State Park is Michigan’s second-largest state park, covering nearly 50,000 acres across Luce and Chippewa counties, with more than 35 miles of trails. The Upper Falls is its crown jewel, fed by water stained a deep amber by tannins from the surrounding cedar swamps.
It is the second major accessibility upgrade at the park in five years.
“With the Lower Falls boardwalk extension and island bridge project completed in 2021, and this new walkway at the Upper Falls brink, both the Lower Falls and Upper Falls are fully accessible for our visitors,” said Kristen Kosick, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division.
The roughly $1.6 million project took close to two years to build. Most of it was covered by a state grant through Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Building Michigan Together Plan, with another $70,000 coming from DNR capital funds.
“Access to public lands for everyone is a priority for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Tahquamenon Falls is a prime example,” DNR Director Scott Bowen said at the opening ceremony.
The park is open year-round, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
If you are planning the drive, the falls sit in the backcountry north of Newberry, the same stretch of woods that is home to America’s largest bear ranch and the century-old Toonerville Trolley. Make a weekend of it.
The roar, the mist, the amber water tumbling over the edge: it all belongs to everyone now.
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Topics: Tahquamenon Falls, Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Newberry, Luce County, accessibility, Michigan DNR, things to do, Upper Peninsula
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