Eagle River Falls and the Historic 1915 Bridge

Sometimes you go looking for a waterfall and end up finding a whole lot more.

That's pretty much what happened to me at Eagle River Falls.

I knew there was a waterfall there.

I knew it was easy to get to.

What I wasn't expecting was to pull up and find the falls, this old steel bridge stretched across the gorge, and a whole bunch of history packed into one little roadside stop.

My first reaction was basically...

"Amagosh... this is cool."

And the more I explored it, the better it got.

You Pretty Much Drive Right Up to It

One of the things I really liked about Eagle River Falls was how easy it was to visit.

This is Lower Eagle River Falls, right beside M-26 in the community of Eagle River. There's parking near the site, and from there it's just a very short walk to the old pedestrian bridge overlooking the falls.

No miles of hiking.

No wandering around trying to figure out if you missed the trailhead.

You pull in, park, walk toward the bridge...

and there it is.

But the waterfall wasn't the only thing that immediately caught my attention.

That bridge is pretty darn cool too.

Actually, the bridge is a huge part of what makes this whole stop so interesting.

You're Standing on a Bridge From 1915

The steel bridge overlooking Eagle River Falls wasn't originally built for people like me to stand around taking waterfall pictures.

It was a highway bridge.

Completed in 1915, the Lake Shore Drive Bridge replaced an older Pratt through-truss bridge that had deteriorated.

The Michigan State Highway Department designed the new bridge, with Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Company of Milwaukee constructing the steelwork and Smith-Byers-Sparks Company of Houghton supplying the concrete abutments.

It's a steel-riveted Warren deck truss, with a main span stretching 105 feet across the gorge.

And this isn't some little creek crossing.

The Michigan historical marker describes the gorge here as about 53 feet deep.

For decades, vehicles actually drove across the same bridge you're standing on today.

That changed in 1990 when the neighboring timber bridge opened and took over vehicle traffic.

And here's the part I'm glad about.

They didn't tear the old bridge down.

Instead, they kept it for pedestrians.

That turned out pretty well for waterfall hunters like me.

More than a century after it was built for highway traffic, the old bridge now gives you the main established overlook for Eagle River Falls.

Not a bad second career for an old bridge.

Then I Went Down Below

Seeing the waterfall from the bridge was already cool.

But of course...

I wanted to see more.

During my visit, I made my way down near the bottom of the falls.

And man...

that changed the whole experience.

There's a big difference between looking down at moving water from a bridge and being down there where the sound of it is all around you.

The water.

The gorge.

The noise.

You could just feel it.

That's probably the part of the visit that stuck with me the most.

But I'm not going to give directions for getting down there.

I haven't verified the route I took as an official maintained public trail, and I'm definitely not going to send somebody scrambling into a gorge just because that's where I went.

For a normal visit, you don't need to do that anyway.

Park near M-26, walk onto the historic pedestrian bridge and enjoy the waterfall from there.

Believe me...

that's still one heck of a view.

So... How Tall Is Eagle River Falls?

You'd think this would be a pretty easy question.

Turns out, not really.

You'll sometimes see Eagle River Falls described as a 60-foot waterfall.

But it's not quite that simple.

Published measurements of the natural falls put the drop somewhere around 35 to 40 feet.

So where does that bigger number come from?

Look toward the top of the falls and part of the answer is sitting right there.

There's an old industrial dam.

Remnants of that dam alter the crest and extend the overall descent, which is why you'll find different numbers depending on what exactly somebody is measuring.

And just to make things even more confusing, remember that 53-foot number from the historical marker?

That's the depth of the gorge.

Not the height of the waterfall.

So rather than spending too much time arguing over which number should go on the brochure...

I'd just look at the thing.

It's plenty impressive.

And that old dam?

Turns out it has a story too.

That Dam Has a Copper Country Connection

The remains at the falls aren't from some forgotten little farm pond.

They're connected to Eagle River's industrial past.

A fuse making operation was established here in 1862, using waterpower from the Eagle River to manufacture blasting fuse for Copper Country mining.

Historical sources refer to the operation as the Eagle River Fuse Company and later the Lake Superior Safety Fuse Company.

Think about that for a minute.

Today, we're standing here taking pictures of a waterfall.

Back then, the power of this same river was being put to work supporting the copper-mining industry that helped shape the Keweenaw.

Same river.

Very different reason for being here.

The factory was eventually destroyed by fire in 1957, but remnants of the old industrial dam are still visible at the falls.

And more than a century and a half after the fuse operation began, those remains still affect the way the waterfall looks today.

That's pretty wild.

I came here because there was a waterfall on the map.

Now I'm standing there looking at the remains of something tied directly to Copper Country mining history.

That's the kind of stuff I love finding.

The Bridge Got Some Help Too

The bridge might date to 1915, but that doesn't mean every piece of it has been sitting untouched for more than a century.

It has been repaired and rehabilitated over the years.

In 2019, a major rehabilitation replaced the deck and railings and included repairs to the trusses, abutments and piers. The work was based on the historic design.

So this isn't an untouched bridge frozen exactly as it looked in 1915.

But much of its historic design and appearance survives.

The bridge became a Michigan State Historic Site in 1990, and the historical marker followed in 1991.

More than a century after automobiles started crossing it, we're still using the bridge.

Just for a much different reason.

Instead of driving across it...

we're stopping in the middle to stare at a waterfall.

I think it worked out pretty well.

Two Bridges, One Gorge

One of my favorite views around the site actually puts both bridges together.

You've got the old steel bridge from 1915.

The newer timber vehicle bridge beside it.

And the Eagle River running underneath them.

It's almost like you're looking at two different eras of U.P. transportation sitting side by side.

One carried traffic for decades.

The other took over the job.

And instead of disappearing when its working days were over, the old bridge stuck around.

The newer bridge does the work now.

The old one gets to enjoy retirement as a waterfall overlook.

Not a bad retirement, either.

A Lot of History for One Little Waterfall Stop

That's what surprised me most about Eagle River Falls.

You could stop here, look at the waterfall, take a couple pictures and be back in the vehicle pretty quickly.

And if that's all you want to do?

It's an incredibly easy waterfall to visit.

But slow down a little.

Look around.

There's a natural waterfall whose appearance is still influenced by an old industrial dam.

There's history going back to an 1862 fuse-making operation tied to Copper Country mining.

There's a 1915 steel highway bridge that survived after its replacement was built.

And today that same bridge gives us one of the best places to stand and take in the falls.

That's a lot packed into one little spot beside M-26.

And none of that was really what I came here looking for.

I came for the waterfall.

Everything else was a bonus.

Before You Go

Eagle River Falls is in the community of Eagle River in Keweenaw County, immediately beside M-26.

The waterfall we're talking about here is Lower Eagle River Falls.

Don't confuse it with Upper Eagle River Falls, sometimes called 10-Foot Falls, farther upstream.

Parking is right near the site, and the historic pedestrian bridge provides the main established view.

You don't need a serious hike.

You don't need special equipment.

You can pretty much pull in, walk over and start enjoying the place.

And that's another reason I liked it so much.

For the amount of scenery and history packed into this little stop, you don't have to work very hard to get to it.

Just give yourself enough time to actually look around.

More Than Just Another Waterfall

I went there for the waterfall.

And don't get me wrong...

the waterfall is awesome.

Seeing it from that old bridge over the gorge already had me kind of in awe.

Then I got down near the bottom and could actually feel the power of the water around me.

Amagosh.

That was pretty amazing.

But once I started learning what had happened here, I appreciated the place even more.

The waterfall.

The old dam.

Copper Country industry.

The 1915 bridge.

More than a hundred years of people crossing this little gorge.

And now people like me pulling off M-26 because we saw a waterfall on the map and wanted to check it out.

That's exactly the kind of place I love finding around the Upper Peninsula.

Because sometimes the thing that gets you to stop isn't even the most interesting part of the story.

I stopped for a waterfall.

I got the waterfall.

But I also got an old dam, a piece of Copper Country history and a 1915 bridge that somehow ended up becoming one heck of a waterfall overlook.

You stop for one thing...

and discover there's a whole story sitting there with it.