AuTrain Falls was without a doubt my favorite of all the waterfalls we visited while in Michigans U.P.
Why you ask? Well, it was peaceful, had only three people at it when we arrived and they soon left, it was off the beaten path and the falls itself was just a nice slow water flow that brought peace and solitude after a long day of dealing with people waterfall viewing. It was beautiful.
For this waterfall you will follow a dirt road and come to a gate where there is a parking area for a good number of cars. You will then walk behind the gate and continue down a hill to reach the falls.
We viewed the waterfall and since we were with our son and his friend whom is also a photographer……we ventured off behind the AuTrain Power building down a trail we saw while they tried to capture the right light or whatever photographers try and capture…haha!
Trails are meant to be followed in my opinion so we did exactly this. It led us down along side of a river.
This river eventually got shallow enough for us to walk on the rocks and explore.
Until……….one of the boulders we were walking on began to move and we discovered this big guy.
Oh my goodness, I loved him from first sight. Turtles are so fascinating and since we have one as a pet I had to have a picture. Thankfully, my husband loves them also….or at least he loves me enough to pick up this very strong snapping turtle so I could capture a few photos before we released him back the the river where he happily swam away.
After this we made our way back to the boys who were still trying to capture that perfect shot and I shared my turtle pics with them. As usual, my son was not happy with me since he seems to never be close by when mom and dad stumble upon the coolest things in the wild.
If you visit this waterfall there are no restrooms, no fee and I can only assume in the winter months it will be closed since they may not plow a dirt road….but this I am not sure of.
