Cornucopia Wisconsin

Chasing Waterfalls in Northern Wisconsin

/ mariezhuikov / 14 Comments

Listen to me
Don’t go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to
—Waterfalls, lyrics by TLC

My friends and I didn’t obey these song lyrics. Last month, we found new rivers, and best of all, new waterfalls while staying in a cabin near Brule, Wisconsin.

Lost Creek Falls

The first was Lost Creek Falls. The trailhead for the falls is near the town of Cornucopia. From there, it’s a fairly easy 1-1/2- mile hike to the falls and a small picnic area. The falls feature an eight-foot plunge with a few feet of cascades above and below it.

You can get close to the falls by walking through Lost Creek, which was shallow when we were there (we were able to rock hop across). A tree has recently fallen in front of the falls, so if you want good photos, you need to get past this visual barrier.

Behind Lost Creek Falls
Town of Bell Cemetery

My friends and I enjoyed walking behind the falls, which is not common for waterfalls around Lake Superior. The spray refreshed us, and we were heartened to see how many families were out on the trail, showing this natural wonder to their children.

When we returned to our car, we took time to explore the small Town of Bell Cemetery across the road. It’s home to 23 graves from 1902-1915. They feature simple wooden crosses, and many are for infants.

Next was Siskiwit Falls, which is also near Cornucopia. A short walk from the parking lot brings you to this series of gentle ledges. The falls are known as a good “butt slide” area, but we did not partake in that particular activity.

Siskiwit Falls

On another day, we visited Mays Ledges. I guess they aren’t technically a waterfall, more like a series of cascades, but they were part of our trip, so I’m including them!

Mays Ledges

The ledges are in a nature reserve on the Brule River. The walk to them isn’t very long. It’s downhill with a series of stairs on the way there, which means uphill on the way back. Some of the ledges feature interesting circular holes, which I assume were formed when rocks were trapped in softer stone and whirled around during high water. This time, we took a dip. Beware of poison ivy along the trail.

The Brule River, which is famous for trout fishing and past visits by U.S. presidents, empties into Lake Superior. We meandered over to that site and spent an afternoon soaking up sunshine and Vitamin D on the sand spit.

My friends at the mouth of the Brule River

One waterfall we noticed a sign for but didn’t get to was Twin Falls near Port Wing. One of my friends went there later and said it was worth a visit.

On a different trip the next week, I revisited Amnicon Falls. They are in a state park outside of Superior, Wisconsin. I was last in the park during COVID and spring runoff. The falls were tamer this time, but still impressive.

Amnicon Falls

Exploring these waterfalls and ledges reminded me how much beauty is tucked away in Northern Wisconsin. Each site offered its own unique charm, from tranquil cascades to lively sprays and quiet moments of reflection. If you’re ever in that area don’t forget to chase the promise of discovery that lies beyond the familiar.

Marie’s (Fish) Cheeks

/ mariezhuikov / 15 Comments

Did you know that fish have cheeks? And did you know you can eat them?

Well they do and you can. Several species of fish, both saltwater and freshwater have cheeks that are large enough to harvest. These include halibut, grouper, cod, walleye, whitefish and lake trout. About the size of a scallop, fish cheeks are prized for their firm texture and tenderness.

They’re usually not available in supermarkets, but if you’re near a commercial fisherman, you might be in luck. For work, I recently meandered along Lake Superior to the Bayfield Peninsula in Wisconsin. I stopped by Halvorson Fisheries in Cornucopia where they had frozen lake trout fish cheeks for sale. I’d never had them before, so was intrigued. I bought a half pound and took them home in my cooler.

To find out what happened and get a free recipe, please visit a blog post I wrote for work. You can visit it here.

An Unexpected Wander of Cornucopia Harbor

/ mariezhuikov / 11 Comments

A coworker and I meandered over to Cornucopia, Wisconsin the other day. This is a small town (more officially known as a census-designated place) on the South Shore of Lake Superior, population 98.

Our goal was to speak with some of the good folks with Halvorson Fisheries for our “Fish Dish” podcast. Our next episode is about burbot – a slimy bottom-feeder of a fish that tastes great and is under-appreciated. Halvorson’s is a fifth- or sixth-generation commercial fishery in Cornucopia and they know their burbot and other, more typical Lake Superior fish like lake trout and whitefish.

We arrived at their business on the harbor, but nobody was around. While my coworker made some calls and wrote texts, I had a chance to wander and take photos of the icy harbor and boats. These are the results. I felt like it was time well-spent!

After cooling our heels in the only open restaurant in town (along with about 40 snowmobilers), we were able to meet with the Halvorsons, do our interview, and get burbot. The problem was they had decided to stop fishing for the season but hadn’t anticipated that when my coworker made arrangements to speak with them a few days previously. But that’s life on the lake. You gotta go with the flow.

We haven’t cooked the burbot yet. That comes this week. I’ve never eaten burbot before, so am looking forward to the experience. I’ll include a link to our podcast in this post once it’s available.

In the meantime, please enjoy the scenery.

Update: You can hear all about my burbot-eating experience on “The Fish Dish” podcast. The eating part comes at about 18:18. It was great! Today I’m going to make burbot chowder – substituting burbot for steelhead in my chowder recipe you can find here.