Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore pictured Rocks Caves 

 

Beautiful sea cave sunset on Lake Superior near Munising, Michigan and  Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore...

 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, America’s first National Lakeshore, is along the southern shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula. With stunning beaches, 10 inland lakes, and nearly 100 miles of trails, everyone can find something to enjoy at Pictured Rocks!

No matter the time of year, there is something to do at Pictured Rocks!

Awe-Inspiring Vista: Grant Portal Point

A beautiful sunset is captured at Grand Portal Point. 

 

 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is located along the southern shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

 

 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 mi (68 km) along the shore of Lake Superior and covers 73,236 acres (114 sq mi; 296 km2). The park has extensive views of the hilly shoreline between Munising and Grand Marais in Alger County, with picturesque rock formations, waterfalls, and sand dunes.

 

Grand Sable dunes looking towards Lake Superior near Grand Sable Lake.

A picture of the Grand Sable Dunes near Grand Marais Upper Peninsula Michigan.

The Picture was taken facing east.

 

Rising 300ft above Lake Superior, the Grand Sable Dunes 

 

Grand Sable Dunes

 

 Painted Rocks: Multicolored Sandstone Cliffs

Mineral stain along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. 

 

Picture Rocks Shoreline

 

Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 13 miles (24  km) of colorful sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising. The cliffs reach up to 200 feet (60 m) above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into a variety of shallow caves, arches, and formations resembling castle turrets and human profiles. Near Munising, visitors can also visit Grand Island, most of which are included in the separate Grand Island National Recreation Area.

 

The U.S. Congress designated Pictured Rocks the first National Lakeshore in the United States in 1966. It is governed by the National Park Service (NPS), with 22 year-round NPS employees as of May 2006, and received 1,313,179 visitors in 2021.

 

The Magic of Spray Falls

View from a Pictured Rocks Cruise of Spray Falls.

 

A Towering Rock Formation: Miners Castle

Miners Castle, a popular landmark in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

 

Pictured Rocks Sea Caves

 

 

 

Sea Caves

 

Geology

 

Au Sable Light Station

 

Au Sable Light, built in 1874 after numerous shipwrecks

 

The colors in the cliffs are created by the large amounts of minerals in the rock. The cliffs are composed of the Munising Formation of 500-million-year-old Cambrian Period sandstone. The Munising Formation sits atop Precambrian sandstone of the Jacobsville Formation. The mottled red Jacobsville Formation is the oldest rock in the park. On top of the Munising Formation, acting as a cap over the other layers is the hard sandstone of the younger Au Train Formation from the Ordovician Period. Streaks on the face of the cliffs come from groundwater leaching out of the rock and evaporating, leaving streaks of iron (red), manganese (black-white), limonite (yellow-brown), copper (pink-green), and other minerals.

 

The large formations along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

 

Bridalveil Falls

Bridalveil Falls in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. 

Bridalveil Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

 

 

Pictured Rocks in Fall

The East Channel Lighthouse in Fall from the deck of a Pictured Rocks Cruise.

 

 

Hidden-Gem Michigan Fall Road Trips

 

Chapel Rock Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising Michigan

 

 Chapel Rock

This stunning remnant of Cambrian age sandstone was carved by Lake Nipissing high water some 3,800 years ago and was dubbed Chapel Rock by French explorers. There once was an archway connecting the rock to the mainland, but it collapsed in the 1940s. The lone white pine growing from atop Chapel Rock is estimated to be about 250 years old.

 

 

This tree is amazing. There used to be a rock bridge across, but it fell, leaving the tree’s roots exposed but still anchored into the soil on land. This is what keeps this tree alive! There’s no soil for it on the sea stack.

 

Miners Falls : Pictured-Rocks-Miners-Falls

Miners Falls

 

 

Miners Castle Caves

Miners Castle 

 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Chapel Beach

 

Grand Island

Pictured-Rocks-National-Lakeshore-Munising-frommarrvantage

 

 

Tahquamenon Falls State Park

The second-largest waterfall east of the Mississippi River, visiting Tahquamenon Falls should be on your Upper Peninsula itinerary.

There are actually two falls here, Upper and Lower Tahquamenon Falls.

Upper Tahquamenon is like a mini-Niagara Falls. Lower Tahquamenon is a series of five smaller falls that flow around an island in the river.