Munising & Pictured Rocks

A national lakeshore of colourful sandstone cliffs on the south shore of Lake Superior, with the town of Munising as its gateway. Boat tours, kayaking, waterfalls and lakeshore hikes are the signature experiences of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Munising sits in Alger County on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the south shore of Lake Superior, and is the western gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Established in 1966 as the first national lakeshore in the United States, Pictured Rocks stretches about 68 km along the lake. The western section features sandstone cliffs up to 60 m high, streaked red, orange, yellow and green by minerals; the central section has classic hikes such as Chapel Rock and Mosquito Beach; and the eastern section includes Twelvemile Beach, Au Sable Light Station and the Grand Sable Dunes, ending at the town of Grand Marais. The main activities are cliff-viewing boat tours (about 2.5 hours from the Munising dock), kayaking, lakeshore hiking and waterfall chasing, plus glass-bottom boat tours over shipwrecks and ferry trips to Grand Island for cycling. About an hour's drive south is the crystal-clear Kitch-iti-kipi spring. The best season is Jun–Oct: Jul–Aug is the most popular time for boat tours and kayaking, so book ahead; fall colours peak from late September to mid-October; in winter the boat tours stop, but you can see ice falls and go snowmobiling. Driving is the main way to get around: Marquette is about 1 hour away and Detroit about 7 hours. Highway H-58 links the lakeshore's main sights, and parking areas require a national lakeshore pass (the America the Beautiful annual pass is accepted). Plan to stay 2–3 days. Conditions on Lake Superior change quickly, so kayak with a tour or check lake conditions first; mosquitoes are plentiful in summer, so bring repellent.

Top sights

• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Cliff Cruise) – The first national lakeshore in the United States, where tens of kilometres of coloured sandstone cliffs drop into clear blue water. The vi…
• Miners Castle & Miners Beach – The only landmark rock pillar in Pictured Rocks that you can drive to. From the viewing platform you look down on the green lake bay, with…
• Chapel Rock – A sandstone arch column topped by a lone white pine. A roughly 9.7 km round-trip hike takes in Chapel Falls and Chapel Rock.
• Munising Falls – A waterfall about 15 meters high beside Munising town, reached by a paved trail in a few minutes. In winter it freezes into an ice-climbing…
• Wagner Falls – A multi-tiered waterfall in the forest south of Munising, a five-minute walk away, most photogenic in autumn when the foliage turns red.
• Grand Island National Recreation Area – A forested island across from Munising. Take a short ferry over and cycle the island loop, passing sandstone cliffs and beaches.
• Kitch-iti-kipi (Big Spring) – Michigan's largest freshwater spring. Ride a hand-pulled wooden raft across emerald-clear pools and see sunken logs and trout below.
• Mosquito Beach & Mosquito Falls – A rocky beach in the middle section of Pictured Rocks, with shallow reef flats clear to the bottom. It can be combined with Mosquito Falls…
• Log Slide Overlook – A roughly 100-meter steep sand slope down which loggers slid timber into Lake Superior more than a century ago. Overlook the lake and the G…
• Grand Sable Dunes & Sable Falls – Towering lakeshore dunes and a stepped waterfall at the eastern end of Pictured Rocks, right beside the small town of Grand Marais. You can…
• Au Sable Light Station – A white brick lighthouse built in 1874 on the shipwreck-prone Au Sable Point. Along the walk you can see wreckage on the beach.
• Miners Falls – One of the most spectacular waterfalls on Pictured Rocks, a roughly 15-meter curtain of water over sandstone cliffs, with a gentle trail su…
• Chapel Falls – A roughly 18-meter waterfall on the Chapel Trail, tumbling into a deep gorge and flowing into Chapel Lake. It is the first stop on the way…
• Twelvemile Beach – A sandy beach about 20 km long on the eastern stretch of Pictured Rocks, backed by white birch forest. Quiet and uncrowded, it is good for…
• Alger Underwater Preserve Shipwreck Tours – Glass-bottom boat tours of Munising Bay reveal century-old wooden wrecks through the clear water. The waters are also a diving destination.

Where to eat

• Muldoon’s Pasties – A longtime Upper Peninsula pasty shop opened in 1989; its traditional Cornish pasty won the Upper Peninsula People’s Ch…
• Tracey’s at Roam Inn – A historic house restaurant overlooking Lake Superior, known for locally caught whitefish and trout, and the best dinne…
• Falling Rock Cafe & Bookstore – A downtown café and bookshop with tens of thousands of books, serving breakfast, sandwiches, smoked whitefish bagels, a…

Itineraries

• Lake Michigan Circle Tour – A counter-clockwise loop from Chicago featuring Indiana Dunes, Mackinac Island, Pictured Rocks, and Door County.
• Traverse City, Mackinac Island & Upper Peninsula – Depart from the cherry bays of the Lower Peninsula, cross the Mackinac Bridge, and traverse the Upper Peninsula to Lake…