High Falls of the Baptism River

Tettegouche State Park / Silver Bay, Minnesota, USA

About High Falls of the Baptism River

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The High Falls of the Baptism River was a gushing waterfall that really impressed Julie and I with its size.

Surrounded by native forest protected by the Tettegouche State Park, this waterfall was where the Baptism River dropped 100ft.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_055_09272015 - High Falls of the Baptism River
High Falls of the Baptism River

Thus, it was said that the High Falls of the Baptism River was the highest waterfall entirely in the state of Minnesota.

Although we didn’t visit them, the Baptism River possessed many other waterfalls such as Ilgen Falls and Two-Step Falls among others.

That said, judging by the sheer volume of water that we witnessed at the High Falls, I’m sure these other waterfalls would’ve been impressive in their own right.

Although we had seen pictures of this waterfall in lower flow during our pre-trip research, we suspect that the waterfall’s high flow must’ve been the result of some heavy (flooding) rains that hit the area in the weeks prior to our arrival in late September.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_089_09272015 - Looking over the brink of the High Falls of the Baptism River
Looking over the brink of the High Falls of the Baptism River

So I guess, we lucked out in terms of the weather in that we weren’t caught in the bad weather, but we benefitted from its after effects.

Hiking to the High Falls of the Baptism River

Julie, Tahia, and I had to go on a modestly long hike of about 0.7 miles (at least according to the signs) in each direction from the nearest trailhead (see directions below).

Although the 1.4-mile round trip distance didn’t seem too bad, it still took us 90 minutes away from the car (including stops) so it wasn’t as short as the distances would’ve led us to believe.

We suspect that the reason for this seemingly slow pace was either incorrect labeling or rough, slow-going terrain.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_014_09272015 - Dealing with some of the muddy stretches of the trail to the High Falls of the Baptism River
Dealing with some of the muddy stretches of the trail to the High Falls of the Baptism River

After all, our GPS log indicated that we had hiked closer to 0.9 miles in each direction (instead of only 0.7 miles).

Moreover, the up-and-down nature of the hike as well as the muddy conditions conspired to make the hike tricky for our four-year-old daughter.

Nevertheless, the hike began in earnest from the trailhead parking by climbing immediately.

When the climb flattened out after some 10-15 minutes, the trail then pretty much went level, but then we encountered more muddy stretches along the way.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_016_09272015 - Julie carrying Tahia over a sloppy and muddy stretch of the trail to the High Falls of the Baptism River
Julie carrying Tahia over a sloppy and muddy stretch of the trail to the High Falls of the Baptism River

At worst, I had to carry our daughter over the parts where it would’ve gotten real sloppy for her.

In any case, on the warm, sunny day that we did this hike, most of this trail was shaded as it was flanked by trees, which gave us some relief from the sun.

After about 20 minutes of hiking, we started to encounter stairs as well as other trail junctions (attesting to the many options available for experiencing this falls or partaking in longer hikes).

The sign said it was only 0.1 miles to the falls from this point, but I think the signs only meant reaching the first (partial) views of the High Falls of the Baptism River.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_028_09272015 - Julie and Tahia crossing the steel suspension bridge just upstream from High Falls of the Baptism River
Julie and Tahia crossing the steel suspension bridge just upstream from High Falls of the Baptism River

There was still a bit more of trail to get to the best views at the very end.

Continuing to the Banks of the Baptism River

Once we started to see where the High Falls of the Baptism River was, we started to see spur trails or lookout railings revealing various aspects of the waterfall.

The first one yielded a nice top down view from the brink of the falls.

As the main trail veered in the upstream direction while continuing to descend, we then crossed the river on a bouncy, enclosed, steel-wired suspension bridge.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_084_09272015 - Looking down over the brink of the High Falls of the Baptism River from the other side
Looking down over the brink of the High Falls of the Baptism River from the other side

Once we were on the other side, we continued along the trail in the downstream direction, which revealed a few more spots to check out the impressive waterfall from its brink on this side.

Next, the trail continued further downstream as it descended even more steps while junctioning with other longer trails following the Baptism River.

The final flight of steps descended all the way to the banks of the Baptism River, where we were able to enjoy a somewhat distant view of the High Falls.

Now given the high flow state of the falls, our options for trying to view it from other angles were limited.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_052_09272015 - Keeping a close eye on our daughter at the High Falls of the Baptism River
Keeping a close eye on our daughter at the High Falls of the Baptism River

While we did see some of the more daring folks scramble closer to the High Falls of the Baptism River, we were content with our distant views while keeping a very close eye on our daughter so that she wouldn’t get swept away.

This was the turnaround point of our hike.

Even though the excursion required quite a bit of time and exercise, it was still a very busy trail as this spot was shared with lots of people.

We encountered other families either picnicking or camping nearby as well as trekkers with backpacks hiking parts of the multi-day Lake Superior Trail.

High_Falls_Baptism_River_096_09272015 - Julie and Tahia returning to the trailhead parking to end our hike to the High Falls of the Baptism River
Julie and Tahia returning to the trailhead parking to end our hike to the High Falls of the Baptism River

Of course, we also encountered other individuals or groups doing what we were doing as we were merely content with visiting the falls before returning to the car and continuing with other waterfalling excursions along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

I’m sure the combination of gorgeously sunny weather along with the fact that we visited on a weekend further exacerbated the amount of foot traffic here.

Authorities

High Falls of the Baptism River resides in Tettegouche State Park near Silver Bay in Lake County, Minnesota. It is administered by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

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Tagged with: tettegouche, state park, silver bay, lake county, baptism river, minnesota, north shore, lake superior, duluth, waterfall, great lakes



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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