Dead,

Tourist Park Falls: CR 550 Bridge (0.3 miles)

Falls Overview

Falls Overview
Photo of D. Cowell @ 350

River Description

This is a "newly created" reach due to a flood in May 2003. The flood caused the river to bypass around a dam creating around a thirty foot drop in about a third of a mile. The run is easy to access, as it runs underneath the CR 550 bridge in Marquette. Just park and carry up to the top.

The run starts with Tourist Park falls. Only been run twice to my knowledge, the falls are a chaotic twenty-ish foot drop. Many lines exist. The easiest is one seen in the attached picture. It involves an approach from far river left. A large tongue exists in the middle of a monster hydraulic. This will rocket you down the final slide and into an eddy which is really more of a whirlpool. The "whirlpool" will most likely take you straight into the hydraulic on river right, so paddle hard if you want to avoid it. The rest of the run is a very easy class II-III jaunt (depending on water levels). Many opportunities for play exist (although at any level under 500 cfs the run is fairly shallow and could punish rolls and/or swims).

Overall, this is a great park and huck/ park and play section. It can be easily combined with a run on the Upper Dead, Marquette Carp, Yellow Dog, or other local runs.

The resolution on Google Maps for this area is excellent. Therefore, we highly recommended going to the 'Map' tab, clicking 'Satellite', zooming in to the maximum resolution available (without losing image), to have a fine 'virtual look' at this reach!