AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Copper Falls State Park is one of Wisconsin's most scenic escapes, built around a gorge where the Bad River plunges over a 29-foot cascade and carves its way through ancient lava rock. The park's steep-walled canyons rise 60 to 100 feet on either side of swift water, creating a landscape of rare beauty just two miles from the small town of Mellen in Ashland County.↗↗
Established in 1929 and developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the park layers remarkable geology, human history, and accessible recreation across 3,068 acres. Today it draws hikers, anglers, campers, and families who come for its waterfall trails, Loon Lake swimming, and a living legacy of CCC log architecture — earning it a place on the National Register of Historic Places.↗↗
A Gorge Carved by Deep Time
The Bad River originates in Caroline Lake in east-central Ashland County and flows northward toward Lake Superior. About four miles north of Mellen, it hits an outcropping of resistant rock and plunges 29 feet over what we now call Copper Falls — the first of several drops through roughly two miles of canyon. Downstream, a tributary called Tyler's Forks joins the main river by tumbling over Brownstone Falls. The walls on either side are sheer and ancient.
