A full day of hiking and wandering through Tahquamenon Falls State Park was before us. I had maps printed of the trails and home-made beef jerky stuffed in my camera bag. I was READY.

So we drove clear past the Upper Falls and hit the Lower Falls first, which in hindsight I think was a better decision than hitting the Upper Falls first. The Lower Falls are smaller, and the area was much quieter.
We decided to try and hike the Tahquamenon River Trail, which is 4 miles to the Upper Falls (and then 4 miles back since the shuttle service isn't running anymore). I had beefy jerky. I could do this.
We got about a mile and a half in and I wimped out. It was a lot of going up and down rocks, trees and brush, all the while making a slight, but steady, trek uphill. There was no way I could make it 4 miles there and 4 miles back. Magic of beef jerky be damned.

So we marched back and drove to the Upper Falls.
The Upper Falls, as you can imagine, are larger than the Lower Falls. They also appear to get a ton more visitors. There's a much more elaborate gift shop, restaurant with air conditioning, fact shack, huge bathroom, plus wide, paved walkways. And there were a lot more people milling about.
Where there wen't paved walkways, there were boardwalks. Both ends of the trails had a flight of stairs (116 and 94) that lead down to scenic views of the falls and Tahquemon River.
We spent a good while enjoying the boardwalk down near the river, then we finally headed back to the parking lot via a nature trail.

I can't help but laugh every time I see that sign.

Here's a few of the shots I took while at the park.

Chris also did a nice recap with his photos. He's so much better at composition than me, so I stole his photo and put it here!

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