Copper Falls and Brownstone Falls: When It Actually Flows
Two rivers meeting in an ancient lava gorge: Copper Falls on the Bad River and Brownstone Falls where the Tyler Forks crashes in, both gauged upstream.
April through mid June
Big water window
in a typical year
Snowmelt
What drives it
Bad River and Tyler Forks
Live USGS
Data on this page
gauge 04026511
Wisconsin DNR
Managed by
their rules govern
Trail status, closures and safety rules belong to each falls' managing agency, named and linked on every page.
The season
What fills Copper Falls and Brownstone Falls, and when
The Bad River and Tyler Forks drain the snowy Penokee country, so both falls peak with the melt and lean out by late summer, when their gauges can read single digits. The CCC-built trails and the lava-flow gorge, per the DNR, make this the most architecturally complete falls park in the state.
Typical best flow: April through mid June
JFMAMJJASOND
What the agency itself says
Ancient lava flows, deep gorges and spectacular waterfalls make Copper Falls State Park one of Wisconsin's most scenic parks. Log buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s add to the park's charm.
Copper Falls State Park (Wisconsin DNR)What a snowmelt year looks like at full send: Palouse Falls in mid April, when the Palouse River is still carrying the melt. The same falls in late August is a ribbon. Timing is most of the visit. “04-15-14-palouse” — Dsdugan — CC0
Source: USGS Water Services (National Water Information System). Instantaneous values and daily statistics services. U.S. Geological Survey data are works of the United States Government and are in the public domain. Gauge verified 2026-08-27.
The other half of the story: the same Palouse Falls in late August. Nothing is wrong; this is what a snowmelt river does every year once the melt is spent. “Palouse Falls 20100829” by Mark Wagner, CC BY-SA 2.5
Getting there
Access, in the agency's words and ours
The 1.7 mile Doughboys Nature Trail loops past both falls and the confluence, called one of the best hikes in Wisconsin by the DNR; the park is open 6 am to 11 pm year round.
Northern gorge water (Blackwater Falls, West Virginia). Copper Falls runs the same amber melt through million-year-old lava. “Blackwater Falls (15437499241)” by Benjamin Smith from United States, CC BY 2.0
Common questions
Copper Falls and Brownstone Falls flow season FAQ
The reliable big-water window is April through mid June. The Bad River and Tyler Forks drain the snowy Penokee country, so both falls peak with the melt and lean out by late summer, when their gauges can read single digits. The CCC-built trails and the lava-flow gorge, per the DNR, make this the most architecturally complete falls park in the state.
This page reads the USGS gauge on Bad River and Tyler Forks (Bad River at US Highway 169 near Mellen WI, upstream of Copper Falls on the Bad River) live in your browser, and shows the latest flow next to the median USGS publishes for today's date, so you can see where today sits in the year. The gauge reads the river, not the brink, so treat it as the trend rather than a turnstile.
Both falls narrow substantially in dry seasons; the two gauges on this page read each river separately, a luxury almost no falls page gets.
Copper Falls State Park (Wisconsin DNR). The 1.7 mile Doughboys Nature Trail loops past both falls and the confluence, called one of the best hikes in Wisconsin by the DNR; the park is open 6 am to 11 pm year round. Trail status, closures and safety rules are theirs, and their page is linked on this one; nothing here overrides what they publish.
Yosemite Falls in May, running on snowmelt that will be gone by late summer. The National Park Service tells visitors the falls can be dry by August, which is why every falls page here starts from its watershed. “Tourists below Yosemite Falls (39832011431)” by Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0
Wisconsin's tallest waterfall at 165 feet, by the DNR's own superlative, dropping the Douglas County Black River toward Lake Superior in Pattison State Park.
Flow windows are typical-year climatology drawn from the driver and the agency language quoted above, not forecasts. Live readings and per-date percentiles are U.S. Geological Survey data, public domain; the above-or-below-typical line is our comparison and is labelled as such. Access, trail and safety information belongs to Copper Falls State Park (Wisconsin DNR). National picture: waterfall season across the US → Hero image: “Blackwater Falls (15437499241)” by Benjamin Smith from United States, CC BY 2.0
Places to stay