Little Manitou Falls Overlook

Little Manitou Falls carries the Black River over a ledge of ancient rock, sending it down in a broad, foaming cascade set among pines and hardwoods. It is smaller than the towering Big Manitou Falls downstream but no less scenic, and its shorter drop and easy overlook make it an inviting and approachable stop for visitors of all ages.

The Black River gets its name from its distinctive color, a deep tea-brown that can look almost black in shadow. This is not pollution but nature: the water drains northern bogs and wetlands rich in tannins, the same natural compounds that darken tea, staining the river as it flows. Against the pale foam of the falls, that dark water makes for a striking sight.

Little Manitou is one of two waterfalls that make Pattison State Park a destination. Downstream, the Black River plunges over Big Manitou Falls, the tallest waterfall in Wisconsin, a dramatic drop that draws most of the park's attention. Little Manitou, upstream, offers a gentler, quieter experience of the same river.

The park itself was named for Martin Pattison, a lumber and mining figure who bought up the land in the 1910s to keep the falls from being lost to a hydroelectric dam and then donated it to the state, preserving the waterfalls for the public. Visiting both falls in one stop gives a fuller sense of the river's character, from its calmer upper cascade to its thundering lower plunge.

The name Manitou comes from Ojibwe and related Algonquian languages, referring to a spirit or a sacred, mysterious power in the world. Applied to these falls, it reflects the reverence with which the Ojibwe, or Anishinaabe, regarded such places, where the power of moving water was felt and honored.

This region is the homeland of the Ojibwe, including bands such as the Bad River and Red Cliff whose reservations lie along nearby Lake Superior. The falls, the dark rivers, and the great lake beyond have been part of Ojibwe life, travel, and belief for centuries, and the name carried on the map today is a small echo of that enduring presence.

Pattison State Park sits just inland from Superior and the great inland sea of Lake Superior, the largest and coldest of the Great Lakes. This is the edge of Wisconsin's Northwoods, a country of dense forest, cold clear rivers, and long winters, where the pace slows and the air smells of pine and water.

The falls make a natural stop on a tour of the region, which includes the port cities of Superior and Duluth, the wild shore of the lake, and the Apostle Islands farther east. For anyone drawn to waterfalls and northern forest, Little and Big Manitou together are among the finest the state has to offer.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.