Ecstasy Falls

giant staircase of water along the Slate River Gorge

The second named waterfall within a deep and rugged Slate River Gorge, Ecstasy Falls is a unique stepping set of drops with wide, flat pools ending in sudden plunges over sharp lips of rock. Several more drops sit downstream, a long stretch all the way to Slate River Falls, and Slide Falls is only a few short twists upstream. Ecstasy Falls also marks the point where the eastern river bank lowers from the high gorge down to water level.

Directions

Park on either side of Skanee Road’s bridge over Slate River, about 11 miles east of L’Anse. Follow the river upstream past Slate River Falls to reach Ecstasy Falls. A path high up on east bank lowers down to the waterfall, otherwise take the more scenic route is right along (and sometimes within) the river itself.

Photographs

Visits

Seen in March, April, June, August and November.

April 28, 2009 a powerful and wide set of stepping drops
We stood on the bank of the wide river here, gazing out over the brown waters. What is normally a set of rock stairs with a mild flow pooling and flowing around little breaks was now a powerful and wide set of stepping drops.
March 7, 2009
We were just too high up to see the waterfalls. I guessed at a few spots, marking them on my GPS, but it was hard to say just how close to the other three drops we got.
November 16, 2008 icy water, and numb feet by the time we arrived
When Steele and I had visited this spot a few months ago we chose to simply climb up the stepping drops, each one between 2 and 4 feet tall with a deep smooth pool in between. There was no way we were doing that today. By the third crossing the water had seeped into our boots, the fifth started to bring on pinpricks and needles, and by the time we reached Ecstasy Falls we were walking with numb clubs for feet.

2 earlier visits

August 5, 2008
These stepping drops are pretty neat to check out and relatively easy to climb. The deep pools collecting on each tier was a bit deep though, so we bypassed the river along the east bank. The gorge walls, which had been too steep for everything but tiny, hardy plants, were starting to mellow out on the inside of river bends.
June 27, 2008 misty rain
When I bumped into an incredible set of wide, stepping drops I decided to call it a day. I didn't do a lot of research on Slate River so I wasn't sure what the names were; I would find out later that I had turned away at Ecstasy Falls, which is only the second of four drops on this stretch.