The Upper Peninsula abounds with stunning waterfalls, varying in accessibility and effort needed to reach them. Among these waterfalls, Warner Falls stands out as relatively easier and quicker to access, offering a satisfying experience to people of virtually all fitness levels.
Here is all the essential information to have before planning your quick visit to these falls.
What is Warner Falls?
Warner Falls is a smaller roadside water fall in the Upper Peninsula that offers relatively easy access for visitors who are willing to navigate a short trail with somewhat steep terrain and overgrowth.
Where is Warner Falls?
Warner Falls is located on the side of East State Highway M-35, just south of the city of Palmer. This puts it roughly 20 minutes west of Marquette and about 15 to 20 minutes from Ishpeming.
It’s one of those stops that is located very close to the side of the road making it a perfect “pitstop” destination. The GPS coordinates to the parking area (found on the side of the road) are: 46.43229537989792, -87.5986229624974.
It is possible to see the falls from the road although I would highly encourage you to make the short “hike” if you can because the views are substantially better.
Experiencing Warner Falls
We pulled up to the parking area on the side of M-35.
It’s not a large area but you’ll see the parking area when you pass the overpass over Warner Creek coming from the north.
From the parking area, you’ll see a faint trail running on the side of the guardrail and that is the direction you need to head to get to the waterfall.
After a short while, you’ll see a sign pointing down and that is where you need to go to get to the waterfall. I did this in tennis shoes without any major issues but hiking boots would have been much better.
It’s gonna be a short hike although a couple of portions of it are a little steep. If you are anything close to average fitness, you should be able to navigate this pretty easily but you do want to be careful not to slip on some of the steep terrain or loose rocks.
Some of the area can get a little muddy at the bottom so if it has recently rained you might want to wear shoes that you don’t mind getting muddy.
There is an alternate path you can take as well. If you pass up the sign that takes you down and just keep going straight along the guard rail you’ll eventually come to a rocky slope.
If you are experienced or comfortable with heading down a steep rocky scree path then this will be a shorter trip for you and you should be able to avoid some of the muddy parts. Just be warned that this path is much more treacherous.
Some of the trail was extremely overgrown and there were some low branches to dodge so just be prepared for that.
Generally, the trail is quite straightforward to trace, although it may become less distinct at a couple of points. Given the brevity of the hike and how close it is to the road, getting lost shouldn’t pose a significant challenge.
Once you are down by the waterfall, there is a small area for you to admire the falls from although it’s not the most spacious area.
There is a charming little pond that forms at the bottom and considering how close this waterfall is to the road, I’d say it’s a pretty darn impressive waterfall.
We had it all to ourselves and I really enjoyed just relaxing by it. It was also nice to have so many beautiful flowers in the vicinity.
If you’re feeling adventurous you can certainly scramble up the wall which is a pretty steep scramble, probably class three and four. Without my hiking boots, I just left that adventure alone but it could give you a unique vantage point and it looked like it had plenty of footholds to help you on the way up and the way down. I would not do any cliff jumping here as the water looked pretty shallow.
Final word
All in all, if you’re up for a quick hike to a gorgeous waterfall, I’d say it’s totally worth the small effort to reach it. Just be ready for a couple of some small sections of relatively steep terrain and some overgrowth, and you’ll be just fine.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.