North of Milwaukee in the suburb of Grafton is a very easily accessible waterfall called Grafton Falls (previously also Milwaukee Falls – shocking, right?). Anyways you can find it at the intersection on Falls Road where it crosses the Milwaukee River. There are several historical markers and signs nearby detailing how there used to be a chair factory amongst other things.
“What’s a chair factory got to do with anything?” Well as it turns out, that factory leased out space to Paramount Records. At the time they were famous for recording blues performers. Furniture companies recorded & sold albums as a way to promote sales of phonographs. Several prominent Mississippi-based artists drove to this studio and recorded classic albums. This is now a landmark on the Mississippi Blues Trail.
OK kids, history lesson is over. The falls are very easy to find by parking on the side street and walking a hundred yards or so. Here is the view at river level from the west side. The low sun was wreaking havoc on my exposure so this really isn’t the best vantage point. Including to show the water does drop a fair bit over a long stretch but the largest single drop is maybe 1-2 feet by my eyeballs.
Walking back up & across the bridge on Falls Road gives a much better view. From here it appears much more impressive. Though frankly I enjoy all things nature so it’s all pretty great to me. Make your own conclusions.
Downstream views are more serene with only small riffles and rapids. The sun is getting low which is a sign to keep moving closer to home.
Video
Here’s a short video of the falls in action. Enjoy!
Lat = 43.3096161 , Long = -87.9510651 -- Show at Google Maps