“This is the most impressive waterfall I’ve seen in Wisconsin,” said Kelly Haas, standing at Big Manitou Falls in Pattison State Park in May 2025. She and her husband, Tom Slaten, both of Madison, were visiting for the first time. “We love waterfalls and this by far is one you don’t want to miss.”
FOX 11 News reported on the park on June 9, 2025, as part of coverage of the 125th anniversary of the Wisconsin state parks system, a year-long celebration that invites people to head out to public lands.
165 feet, and not many taller
The Black River gathers strength over more than 20 miles before it crashes over the falls near Superior, in Douglas County. Big Manitou Falls drops 165 feet, which makes it the tallest waterfall in Wisconsin. Gervase Thompson, the natural resources property supervisor for Pattison and Amnicon Falls State Parks, told FOX 11 it is also the fourth-tallest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains. “So when people hear about that, they want to see that,” he said.
Pattison was dedicated in 1920, which made it Wisconsin’s sixth state park. Thompson said the falls bring in nearly 180,000 visitors each year.
Timing matters. Slaten said he had been told it was a great time of year to come, with plenty of water going over the edge. “The flow of the falls right now is pretty impressive,” he said.
Dark rock, light rock, root beer water
Thompson also pointed visitors to the geology. Millions of years ago, he said, shifts in the rock left a mix of darker igneous basalt and lighter brown sedimentary rock, and both are visible at the falls.
The ice did the rest. About 10,000 years ago the glaciers in Wisconsin began to disappear. As the ice sheet receded, Thompson said, it stripped away much of the material lying on top of the rock. That exposed more of the sedimentary layers and scoured the dark basalt over which the falls pour.
The water itself has a tint that surprises first-time visitors. Thompson attributed the root beer colour to decaying vegetation combined with seasonal runoff.
For Haas, that is part of the pull. She said she likes to see Wisconsin on foot, and on bikes and hikes, and finds the park a good way to explore. Slaten put it more simply: seeing waterfalls is a reminder that you can get out in nature, relax and unwind.
Wisconsin has 50 state parks, along with dozens of other public forests, trails and natural areas, FOX 11 noted.
Sources
- Wisconsin's tallest waterfall is big draw for Pattison State Park
- Big Manitou Falls and Manitou Falls Trail, Wisconsin – 462 Reviews, Map | AllTrails
