Big Manitou Falls

Pattison State Park / Superior, Wisconsin, USA

About Big Manitou Falls


Hiking Distance: almost roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2015-09-26
Date last visited: 2015-09-26

Waterfall Latitude: 46.53598
Waterfall Longitude: -92.12142

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Big Manitou Falls was said to be the highest waterfall in the state of Wisconsin at 165ft. As you can see from the photos on this page, we had to contend with unseasonably foggy weather during our Autumn visit as the fog conspired to keep the falls from being clearly visible (let alone photographable). The photo at the top of this page was probably as clear as it was going to get during the morning of our visit. Given the waterfall’s notoriety due to its height, it wasn’t surprising to see that it was both popular and it had a lot of infrastructure to make it accessible to almost anyone. Thus, our daughter didn’t have any trouble viewing the falls from the sanctioned lookouts, and we also noticed a handful of families with kids experiencing the falls as well.

Although there was a signposted road and car park for the main office of Pattison State Park (where the Big Manitou Falls resided), it turned out that the easiest way to experience the falls was from a separate parking lot (see directions below). From that nearest car park, we carefully crossed East County Road B before going around a small lawn and picnic area. On the other side of the picnic area was the small lookout area, where we were able to get the picture you see at the top of this page between an opening in the foliage. Other views from this side of the Black River further downstream along the trails were obstructed and unnecessary if this waterfall was the primary purpose of a visit.

That said, we noticed that there was another lookout closer to the waterfall on the opposite side of the river. Although it would’ve been possible to directly reach that other overlook from the Park Office (about a mile in each direction), it turned out that we could’ve taken a 0.5-mile walk leading to a footbridge above the waterfall before ending up at the lookouts on the opposite side of the gorge. Given how foggy it was, we didn’t bother doing it, but in hindsight, we probably could’ve driven to Little Manitou Falls first then come back and more thoroughly explore Big Manitou Falls and the various ways to experience it from both sides of the Black River.

So given our limited experience from what we think was the best overlook, we only spent about 15 minutes away from the car. That would make this as close to a roadside stop without actually being visible directly from the road. However, had we experienced the falls from both sides, it probably would’ve taken more like 45-60 minutes (30 minutes of it would be from walking). The walking distance would take 15 minutes more had we walked from the park office instead of the Falls Parking Lot.

Big_Manitou_Falls_001_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_002_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_003_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_004_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_006_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_007_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_014_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_034_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_024_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_048_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_060_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_062_09262015
Big_Manitou_Falls_064_09262015


The nearest city of note to Big Manitou Falls was Superior, Wisconsin, which was also a twin city across the state border to Duluth, Minnesota. We’ll describe the directions from Superior, Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin State Route 35 (WI-35) heads south of the town of Superior from the intersection of the US-2 at Belknap Street and Tower Ave (which eventually would become the WI-35). From this intersection, the most direct route would be to head south on the WI-35 for about 13 miles to the East County Road B. Turning right onto the East County Road B, the Big Manitou Falls Parking Lot was immediately to the left.

Note that the main office and car park was less than a quarter-mile north of the East County Road B turnoff on the east side of WI-35. This was where I paid the $5 for a one-hour visit. The $9 non-Wisconsin-resident fee was for the entire day, which meant that if I happened to be visiting any other Wisconsin State Parks on the same day I paid for this pass, then I’d be covered.

Unfortunately during our visit, there was a bridge washout at the Nemadji River. Therefore, we had to take a detour about 6 miles south of the Belknap St and Tower Ave intersection on the WI-35, then head east on the County Road C. We’d follow this road for nearly 9 miles (County Road C became County Road A after just under 2 miles), then we turned right (west) onto County Road B. We followed County Road B for a little under 3 miles before rejoining WI-35 about a quarter-mile north of the signed turnoff for the main office and campgrounds of Pattison State Park or under 0.5-mile north of the car park for Big Manitou Falls.

This detour drive took us roughly 30 minutes though I’d imagine it would be more like 20 minutes without the detour.

For geographical context, Superior, Wisconsin was 153 miles (about 2.5 hours drive) north of Minneapolis, Minnesota, 196 miles (about 4 hours drive) southwest of Thunder Bay, Canada, and 392 miles (6 hours drive) northwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Find A Place To Stay

Focusing on the gorge view of Big Manitou Falls before looking around the picnic area

Related Top 10 Lists

No Posts Found

Trip Planning Resources


Nearby Accommodations



Tagged with: pattison, state park, superior, wisconsin, duluth, minnesota, douglas county, waterfall, great lakes, midwest, usa, black river



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

Big Manitou Falls, Pattison State Park Wisconsin April 15, 2015 12:34 am by Daniel - Big Manitou Falls is a waterfall situated on the Black River, a tributary of the Nemadji River. The falls are located within Pattison State Park in Douglas County, Wisconsin, approximately 13 miles south of Superior. At 165 feet, Big Manitou falls is the highest waterfall in Wisconsin. ...Read More

Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls

The Waterfaller Newsletter

The Waterfaller Newsletter is where we curate the wealth of information on the World of Waterfalls website and deliver it to you in bite-sized chunks in your email inbox. You'll also get exclusive content like...

  • Waterfall Wednesdays
  • Insider Tips
  • User-submitted Waterfall Write-up of the Month
  • and the latest news and updates both within the website as well as around the wonderful world of waterfalls


How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps