Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Monday, 22 June and Tuesday, 23 June 2026

250 miles east on the south shore of Lake Superior is another national lakeshore - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising, Michigan. The park stretches most of the way between Munising and Grand Marais, Michigan - almost 50 miles of lakeshore. We had more time at Pictured Rocks, so in addition to a boat ride along the shore, we also got in a couple of short (1 mile) hikes.

Sand Point Marsh Trail

While waiting for our boat ride, we drove the short distance to Sand Point where there is a nice sandy beach and a marsh with a boardwalk trail.

This deer was right next to the boardwalk, enjoying a diet of marsh plants. As we approached, it eventually moved away, but was generally unconcerned with visitors. This was an adult white-tailed deer and gives you an idea of how tall the marsh plants are.

Black spruce on the far shore of the marsh.

Pictured Rocks Shoreline Cruise

The only way to really see the rocky shore is from watercraft. We opted to take the Spray Falls boat tour with Pictured Rocks Cruises. In places there are long walls of cliffs stained by mineral-laden groundwater. In other places there are cliffs and headlands eroded into fantastical shapes. And finally, there are also miles of sandy beaches and turquoise waters. I took about 150 photos on the cruise. A small selection of the most notable landmarks are below.

Miners Castle. Miners Beach is visible at the left.

Bridal Veil Falls

A classic example of "pictured rocks".

Lover's Leap arch.

Indianhead Rock

"Battleship Row" with Chapel Beach at the left.

To show just how steep the shoreline is in parts, the boat drove up into Chapel Cove until you could nearly touch the rocks.

Chapel Beach Falls is a popular wading/bathing/swimming spot.

Chapel Rock is topped by a pine that tenuously clings to life via a single root to the mainland. The tree is obviously quite old, since this root had to have been established before the arch connecting the rock to the mainland collapsed.

Spray Falls - the turnaround point for our trip. The cliffs continue for about another mile, followed by Twelvemile Beach, which is still not the end of the park.

East Channel Lighthouse.

Munising Beacon (red light near center bottom). With modern navigation aids such as GPS and radar, most of the old lighthouses have been shut down. Some have been replaced with energy efficient beacons.

A closer look at the beacon (no longer flashing red).

Miners Falls & Castle

After the cruise, we took a short hike to view Miners Falls.

Miners Castle as seen from the Miners Castle overlook.

Lake Superior Overlook

The next morning we went to a couple of additional sites before setting our sights on Sleeping Bear Dunes and Ludington in the Lower Peninsula.

The view of Lake Superior from the overlook. The far shore is not visible.

Log Slide

Our last stop in Pictured Rocks was the Log Slide overlook. This turned out to be an interesting site that explained logging practices around the turn of the 20th century. Horses supplied the hauling power. Most of the timber was gone by 1910.

These "big wheel" carts could haul logs under the axel. The wheels could be used year-round since they didn't get stuck in the spring muds.

The log slide down to the lake. It's about 400 ft down to the water.

Looking down the slide. Once in the water, the logs were bundled into rafts and floated to sawmills along the lake.

The Au Sable Lighthouse is visible from the Log Slide area.

The Grand Sable Dunes start just east of the Log Slide and continue for about 5 miles.