Tagged: Matthiessen Giant’s Bathtub

Waterfalls Map

July 3rd, 2023

Wisconsin Waterfalls

Several years ago, I came across a map showing “all” of the waterfalls in Wisconsin – a simple PNG file with an accompanying table listing 90 or so dots in Wisconsin. I attended college in Marinette County and knew that there were several close by, but after seeing that map, I decided to visit all of the listed falls. While you can still find the map online, the accompanying table has been lost to the depths of the internet, and I haven’t been able to find a similarly detailed list online of Wisconsin’s waterfalls.

As for visiting all 90, children and moving to Illinois in 2008 derailed those plans; however, each time that we plan a trip we ask the question “are there waterfalls nearby? And as I visit and photograph each waterfall, it gets added to the map above.  (Each segment of thumbnail photos below represents a different state.)

Which of course, brings up the question “What would you consider a ‘waterfall’?” I have included everything from rapids where the water falls to completely artificial waterfalls over manmade damns. I’ve also included a guide to identify the “nature” of the waterfall: (A) – Artificial, not only was the waterfall manmade, but it uses artificial means to move the water up in order to come down. (M) – Manmade, while the water flowing over is from a naturally occurring stream or pond, the fall itself is over a manmade barrier or the stream was redirected to create the waterfall. (N) – Natural, as near as I can tell from research or observation, the waterfall is largely created by a stream’s path and natural erosion.

Lastly, Bob Schneider of Waterfalls Wisconsin lists more than 600 locations on his website and most of them are listed in his guide. From my searching, he has by far the most extensive list around for Wisconsin.

 

1.     Piers Gorge (N) 2.     Eau Claire Dells (N,v) 3.    Grandfather Falls (N)
***    Marinette County Waterfalls 4.    Dave’s Falls (N) 4a.    Lower Falls, Dave’s Falls (N)
4b.    Upper Falls, Dave’s Falls (N) 5.    Long Slide Falls (N) 6.    Smalley Falls (N)
7.   Veterans Memorial Park Falls (N) 7a.   Veterans Falls (N) 7b.   Veterans 3ft. Falls (N)
7c.   Veterans Falls Lower (N) 8.   Cascade Falls (N) 9.   Willow Falls (N)
10.   Horseshoe Falls (N) 11.   12 Foot Falls (N) 12.   18 Foot Falls (N)
13.   8 Foot Falls (N) 14.   Bull Falls (N) 15.   Pewit’s Nest Falls (N)
16.   Parfrey’s Glen Falls (N) 17.   Grant Park Falls (A) 18.   Devil’s River Falls (N)
19.   Nachtwey Falls (N) 20.   Wequiock Falls (N) 21.   Sheboygan Falls (N)
22.   Root River Falls (N) 23.   Sauk Creek Falls (N) 24.   Menominee Falls Waterfall (N)
25.   Estabrook Falls (N) 26.   Stephens Falls (N) 27.   Pine Cliff Trail Falls (N,v)
28.   Cox Hollow Falls (M,v) 29.   Big Falls (N) 30.   Hayman Falls (N)
31.   Lower Baird Creek Falls (N,v) 32.   Fonferek Glen Falls (N) 33.   Cato Falls (N)
34.   Big Smokey Falls (N,v) 35.   Tea Kettle Rapids (N) 36.   Ledge Rapids (N,v)
37.   Upper Wolf River Dell Falls (N,v) 38.   Lower Wolf River Dell Falls (N) 39.   Sullivan Falls (N)
40.   Ducks Nest Rapids (N) 41.   Ducks Nest Falls (N) 42.   Upper Baird Creek Falls (N)
43.   Middle Baird Creek Falls (N) 44.   Spring Cave Waterfall (N) 45.   Cedarburg Falls (N)
46.   Durward’s Glen Waterfall (N) 47.   Devil’s Punchbowl (N) 48.   Lost Falls (N)
49.   Roaring Creek Waterfall (N) 50.   Perry Creek Waterfall (N) 51.   Rock Dam Falls (N)
52.   North Bend Upper Falls (M) 53.   North Bend Lower Falls (N) 54.   Trout Falls (N)
55.   Lake Redstone Falls (M) 56.   Baxter’s Hollow Rapids (N)

 

 

1.     Chicago Botanic Gardens (A) 2.     Starved Rock State Park (N) 2a.    St. Louis Canyon (N)
2b.    French Canyon (N) 2c.    Wildcat Canyon (N) 2d.    LaSalle Canyon (N)
2e.    Kaskaskia Canyon (N) 2f.    Tonti Canyon (N) 2g.    Ottawa Canyon Waterfall (N)
2h.   Illinois Canyon (N) 2i.   Aurora Canyon (N) 2k.   LaSalle Canyon Upstream (N)
3.   Matthiessen State Park (N) 3a.   Matthiessen Cascade Falls (N) 3b.   Matthiessen Giant’s Bathtub (N)
3c.   Matthiessen Lake Waterfall (N) 4.   South Elgin Waterfall (N) 5.   Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve (M,N)
5a.   Waterfall Glen Main Falls (M) 5b.   Bluff Road Falls North (N) 5c.   Bluff Road Falls South (N)
6.   Huntley Del Webb (A) 7.   Rock Creek Waterfall (N) 8.   Prairie Creek Waterfall (N)
9.   Delnor Woods Waterfall (M) 10.   Thunder Bay Falls (M) 11.   Apple Canyon Falls (M)
12.   Fox Bluff Waterfall (M) 13.   Anderson Japanese Gardens (A) 14.   Fel Pro RRR (M)
15.   Lake Katherine Waterfall (A) 16.   Jackson Park Waterfall (A) 17.   Lake Marmo Spillway (A)

 

1.   Hocking Hills Waterfalls 1a.   Whispering Cave 1b.   Ash Cave
1c.   Cedar Falls 1d.   Old Man’s Creek First Falls 1e.   Old Man’s Creek Upper Falls
1f.   Devil’s Bathtub 1g.   Old Man’s Creek Lower Falls 1h.   Rockhouse Cave Waterfall

 

Cynthia, my oldest daughter, and I took a day trip down to Matthiessen State Park for our October birthdays.  The weather was perfect, and the colors were just starting to turn, so we enjoyed some yellow and just the hints of red that were just beginning.  In the fall it’s very unusual for there to be much water flowing, but when we walked north, toward Matthiessen Lake, there was some water flowing near the Giant’s Bathtub and then a small amount off of the Lake Falls.

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