Woke early to finish what I missed yesterday at Copper Falls State Park (see part 1 by clicking here). This time I stayed east of the Bad River and made the loop counter-clockwise. Still amazes me this was built by the Doughboys WWI veterans and CCC so long ago – can you imagine making these trails 100 years ago before power equipment was common?
Really have no words for just how amazing these trails are. Huge granite stairs, crushed granite trails covered in pine needles, and wood platforms and walkways everywhere.
At the first viewpoint you get an eastern partial perspective of Copper Falls. While not a full view, you do get much closer and can “feel” just how much water is moving over the rocks.
Another few minutes down the trail you reach Brownstone Falls. Views from the side and above are partially blocked by foliage, but you can see a very long way down the Bad River Gorge. Tyler Forks River intersects with the Bad River. (Don’t forget to click images to see a larger view!)
The trail now turns east and follows the Tyler Forks River. At points you can get down near water level and see the large rapids / small falls.
Bridge crossing over the Tyler Forks River. Trail turns back west from here and follows the north river bank.
About 1/4 mile from the bridge you will reach a wild viewing platform. Generally when you find construction like this, it’s going to be something special…
And today it was! Tyler Forks is a huge combination waterfall/dells/cascades that runs a huge length of the river. I’m not sure how tall the drop is here (10-20 feet maybe?), but what’s impressive is how long this runs for.
Here’s a zoomed in view. It’s like looking down a huge tunnel with the tall trees lining along the riversides. Without a doubt, to this point in my adventures this spot is a top 5 view in the state of Wisconsin.
Points in the trail are routed directly around huge old growth pines. I wanted to include this image for scale on just how large these old trees are.
Last bridge over the Bad River on the far west section of the loop.
Friendly dragonflies were everywhere here and didn’t seem to mind my presence much.
One final view of the Bad River from the bridge. I’m sure I stood here for quite a long time as there were no other people on the trail yet this early.
But wait, there’s more!
Here’s a quick compilation video of the falls in Copper Falls State Park from both days of hiking. Don’t forget to adjust YouTube’s quality to 1080p for higher detail of the landscapes. Enjoy!
Hiking Data
Overall this is a very easy hike. Only a few sections have any elevation gain (mostly the stone staircases near bridges). For a two mile hike, you would be hard pressed to beat the scenery anywhere else. Make plans to go here, you won’t regret it.
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