Munising Falls

This gorgeous waterfall once was the source of power for the Schoolcraft Blast Furnace, a part of northern Michigan’s 19th Century iron boom. A question about the geology of the area led to a lively conversation that involved three rangers at the Munising Falls Visitor Center who told us that the value of the iron mined in Michigan in the 19th Century exceeded the value of the gold extracted during the California Gold Rush. We were fascinated with the Recipe for Pig Iron and curious as to how it was developed. Of note it’s iron in the rocks that yields that orange color behind the falls and that supplied the raw material that became railroad track and fed westward expansion 150 years ago. Today it’s a lovely hike to a beautiful falls.