Snake Pit Falls Trail

Snake Pit Falls is the fourth and southernmost major waterfall in Amnicon Falls State Park, set slightly apart from the main falls complex and reached by a short spur trail that follows the river upstream from the covered bridge parking area. The falls drop about 15 feet over a particularly angular section of the Douglas Fault contact zone, where the boundary between the ancient lava flows and the red Orienta sandstone creates an abrupt geological step. The name derives from the numerous garter snakes that congregate on the warm sandstone ledges near the falls in spring and early summer, basking in the sun to thermoregulate after emerging from winter hibernation in the rock crevices. Dozens of garters may be visible simultaneously on warm April mornings, draped over the red rock in tangled clusters that give the falls their distinctive if somewhat alarming name. By midsummer the snakes disperse into the surrounding forest and the falls can be enjoyed without reptilian company. The spur trail is particularly quiet and sees far fewer visitors than the main falls loop, making it a good choice for solitude. The red sandstone walls here display excellent examples of the planar cross-bedding structure that characterizes these ancient Keweenawan aeolian deposits, each bed representing a fossilized sand dune surface from a Precambrian desert environment.