Piers Gorge Falls

The big Menominee River has cut a deep, dramatic gorge here where the river, normally 300 feet wide, is constricted to a narrow 80-foot channel, creating powerful rapids of foaming water as it rushes towards Green Bay. Extraordinarily beautiful place where steep-sided bedrock walls up to 70 feet high contain the rushing river for a mile and a half as it roars over a series of stone shelves in 4 distinct waterfalls. Piers Gorge is a much subtler experience than the typical tourist waterfall. The trail is maintained by the Norway-Vulcan Civic Club. It's not steep, but exposed roots would make it difficult for shufflers.  The perspectives and views are constantly unfolding as you walk. Here you look down at steep rock walls, where rushing water undercuts islands below and tears at loose rock. Water tumbles over and smoothes smaller chunks of rock lodged in the riverbed. The changing sounds of rushing water and smells of the forest envelop you. The power of water - and of natural forces - is everywhere evident. If a wild and lonely forest spectacle like Piers Gorge were in Germany, it would have been the subject of many Romantic-era poems of contemplation and spiritual yearning.  What with the drama of the water, rock, and forest, it's easy to overlook the area's big, fish-eating birds. Bald eagles roost and occasionally nest in tall trees along shore. Eagles and osprey can sometimes be seen scouting for fish in the shallow water or soaring above. Loons frequent the quiet pools.  Despite the spectacular beauty, this isn't a big tourist spot, though local people love to ski these somewhat challenging trails. The road to the Piers Gorge parking lot is not plowed in the wintertime. Signs are few. The landowners, Champion International forest products and Wisconsin Electric Power, do provide some amenities like a parking area. And they cooperate with local groups which maintain the trail.