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Tannery Falls
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Tannery Falls is the original name for these falls, which are now part of a nature preserve owned by the Michigan Nature Association (MNA). The MNA has renamed them Olson Falls in honor of Rudolph M. Olson. I don't know whether the new name will stick or not. It all depends on what people get used to, I suppose. Tannery Falls is the name listed in the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System database.
Where to Go, Where to Park
To get to Tannery Falls, take Munising Avenue east out of downtown Munising. Going east, Munising Avenue is the same as H-58. You don't have to go far. Look for the the intersection where Washington Street goes off to your left. Washington Street takes you towards the hospital and the Munising Falls Visitor Center. On your right, just before you get to Washington Street, you'll see a stairway leading from the roadside up into the woods. You should see a bridge as well, but the stairway is closer to town, and it's the stairway that leads to these falls. Do not park on H-58 to visit Tannery Falls! You'll get a parking ticket. I learned this the hard way. Park on one of the nearby side streets. Nestor Street is a good bet.
The Hike InClimb the steps, and just after you get to the top, look down and to your left. You should see a memorial marker embedded in concrete with the name Rudolph M. Olson, and the dates 1909-1982. One of these days I'm going to phone the MNA and find out the story behind this. From here to the falls it's just a matter of following the trail. Do be careful of falling debris. Much of the time the trail follows the cliff side. I've never witnessed anything falling myself, but there's ample evidence of it. On a trip in December 2000, I saw several trees that had fallen over the edge of the cliff and onto the trail. These had not been there when I visited in May of that same year. If you're visiting in the winter, be especially careful of the ice. You wouldn't want a falling icicle to land on your head. That may sound funny, but there is a real danger. Falling ice is heavy.
At the FallsWhen you get to the falls themselves, you'll see that the stream has undercut the cliff. You can easily walk around behind the falls if you don't mind getting your feet wet. If you're careful, you may even be able to stay dry. To your right as you approach the falls will be a smaller falls about waist-high that may be manmade. I suspect they may be manmade, because there is a six-inch brown pipe extending out from these. I have no idea why the pipe is there. Someday, hopefully, I'll meet someone who has lived nearby long enough to know the reason for this pipe. Right smack in the middle of the trail, just in front of the falls, is a large pile of dirt and rubble. The trail goes up to the top of this, and I think it's ok to walk up it, but otherwise try to stay off the sides of this mound. The nature preserve is trying to replant vegetation on the sides of the mound where foot traffic has caused erosion. I suspect this mound is the result of the rock walls caving in at some point in the past, but I don't know how long ago that would be.
Tannery Falls in the WinterTanner Falls in the winter is a site to behold. I've visited once in March, and again in December. Both times the falls were encased in a column of ice. You can actually stand there and hear the water falling, but you can't see it. At least you can't easily see it, because the water falls inside the ice column. There will be some breaks here and there in the ice through which you can see the spray falling.
Ice builds up all around the bottom of the falls, and you really can't even see where the water hits the ground. What you have is a column of ice coming down from the top of the falls and ending in a huge mound of ice on the ground. The stream flows out from under the edges of that mound. There's enough room in the ice column that you could probably climb inside if you didn't mind getting wet from the falling water. Don't do this! I'm not suggesting you do this. It would be extremely dangerous. You would be risking your life. But when I stand in front of that ice column, the sound of the water is hypnotic, and it calls out to me. I'm a cave explorer from way back, and to be inside a cave, next to a waterfall, with the sound of falling water echoing all around is a profound experience. Listening to these falls cascade down through the ice reminds me of very much of caving trips gone by. Upstream
The bank 50-100 feet to the east of the falls is climbable, but barely. I don't recommend climbing the bank. It's steep, you'll cause erosion, and you'll end up in someone's backyard. You'll actually be very close to the parking area for MNA Memorial Falls. The backyard you'd be in belongs to the house at the very end of Nestor street. I went back there once with the homeowner's permission, and it really surprised me how close Tannery Falls is to Nestor Street, and to MNA Memorial Falls. I wouldn't have guessed it based on the hike in from H-58. The photo to the right shows part of Tannery Creek upstream from the falls. There's actually two or three smaller falls just upstream from the large one that most people visit. The largest of these smaller falls is about two feet high. One is so small I'm not even sure it deserves to be counted. The stream is very scenic in the winter as it winds it's way through the snow. Also back in this area is an apartment complex. The stream seems to run around behind the apartments somehow, but I havn't followed it that far yet. A Quarter for Your Falls?
Recently, I was in Wheel's, a bicycle and ski shop on the corner of M-28 and Superior Street. I was renting some snowshoes, and while talking with one of the owners I discovered she had grown up on Nestor Street not far from Tannery Falls. She told me that when she was young the falls were owned by an older lady named Hattie Lukowski who charged tourists 25 cents to walk back and have a look. I think the tourists got the better end of that bargain—a visit to the falls is worth more than a quarter. I was also told that Hattie landscaped the area very nicely. Hattie's father, or perhaps father-in-law, purchased the property in 1935. The site was kept in the family until the mid-1980s when it was sold to the MNA, and was purposely kept undeveloped to protect the beautiful site from commercialization. Sometime after the MNA purchased the property, the Lukowski house was torn down. OwnershipMichigan Nature Association |
