Wednesday, October 5, 2016

The Black River National Scenic Byway: Black River Harbor and Lake Superior

This is a continuation of a travel series of a camping trip I took with my family back in July.  If you want to start at the beginning go HERE.  The rest of the posts, in chronological order, are HERE and HERE.

After we finished looking at the first two waterfalls on the Black River National Scenic Byway, we decided to just drive to the end of the road, (it's a dead end road), have a picnic lunch, and then hit the rest of the waterfalls on the way out.  Black River Road ends with a beautiful park, an amazing suspension bridge, a boat house, and the gorgeous Lake Superior with a swimming beach.

Here is the entrance onto the suspension bridge.  It is pretty impressive, and scary, as it's one of those bouncy ones.  And of course my family just had to make it bounce while I was trying to walk around it.  UGH!  Two things I am most afraid of heights and water...and crossing this bridge involved them both!


Just look at the braces on those wooden beams not to even mention the length of the suspension wire.


As beautiful as this bridge is, I couldn't get across it fast enough!


This is the boat house with the pines mirrored in the back waters below.  The Black River Harbor is the only Great Lakes Harbor administered by the USDA Forest Service.  It has services for both day and transient boaters.  It is one of the area's few access points to Lake Superior.

There is no launching fee, and boat fuel and snacks are available through the concessionaire.




Lake Superior is the waters in the distance.  From the park and over the bridge, it is about 1/4 mile walk to the beach.


Beneath the bridge and along the waters edge are beautiful wooden walkways with picnic tables.



Once we made it to the shores of Lake Superior, I just sat on a piece of driftwood and enjoyed the view.  My son and husband went to walk along a barrier that was covered in shattered pieces of driftwood.



Ashley and Jason ventured out and explored a little bit, but then they joined me on the beach.



A view of the beach as seen from the barrier.



 Of course Jordan had to walk to the very end of the barrier to scare me half to death.



After our time on the beach, it was time to head back to the car and see the rest of the waterfalls.  Although I wasn't too happy to cross that bridge again.


But as you can tell in background of this photo, I made it safely across. :)


I should also mention that there is a trail from the beach to get a great view of Rainbow Falls.  It shows the falls from the opposite side of the river and is the one professional photographers prefer because the view is unobstructed.  Unfortunately, we didn't take that hike, so no pictures.  We did catch those falls from the byway and I will show those pictures in next week's travel post.

In addition, you can also camp in the Black River Harbor Recreation Area.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE and Travel Tuesday!


12 comments:

  1. Great pics! What a wonderful hike and I love the pics of the driftwood - so artistic.

    Erica
    www.pumpsandpushups.com

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  2. Nice photos, love the lake and the bridge does look beautiful! But like you, I am always happy when I'm over the bridge, mostly because I always feel like the kids are bending down too far (at least that's what I think) to look at the water below. Of course my husband thinks I'm overreacting and that they are just fine.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Elli! I would be terrified to take little kids across this bridge!

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  3. I'm scared of heights but not too bad with bridges, my mum is scared of them though so I understand your fear!

    It looks like a great day otherwise.

    Hope you're having a fantastic week :)

    Away From The Blue Blog

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  4. The lake photos are so pretty and I love the reflection! The Rainbow Falls sound beautiful, can't wait to see those photos in your next post!

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

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  5. It's always a pleasure to visit your blog and look at your wonderful photos, Amy. Armchair travel at its best :-)
    Thank you for taking part in the Travel Tuesday meme, I look forward to your next contribution.

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