Caribou Falls

Caribou Falls is a little gem where the waters tumbles down 35ft through a rocky gorge on Minnesota's North Shore, between Little Marais and Taconite Harbor. It's one of the quieter falls along Highway 61, easy to miss next to bigger names like Gooseberry or Temperance River. This means you will often have the place mostly to yourself, giving you lots of space to set up your gear and take your time. The trail starts at the Caribou Falls State Wayside parking area and follows the river for about half a mile, climbing gently through cedar and pine. The second half of the trail is a set of 150 wooden stairs that takes you down into the gorge. Along the way you get open views of the river gorge itself, worth pausing for a higher angle that takes in more of the gorge around it. The falls drops in a long slope over layered basalt, framed tightly by the rock walls and trees leaning in from both sides. You can easily work from the base of the stairs for a straight on view of the full drop. Overcast days are ideal here, creating an even light that keeps the detail in both the white water and the dark, wet rock without blowing anything out. It's a seasonal location that's only maintained from May through mid November and not in winter, so it may be tricky to access if you're planning a visiting in the colder months. There's a small parking lot right off Highway 61 at the trailhead. (Cramer, Minnesota, USA)