Hidden · Munising, Michigan, United States
Pictured Rocks
Thirteen miles of streaked sandstone cliffs on Lake Superior, with arches, caves, waterfalls and a perched dune field at the other end of the shore.
Cliffs that rise 200 feet from the lake, painted by minerals.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore runs 42 miles along Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, between Munising in the west and Grand Marais in the east. It covers about 73,000 acres. The name comes from the 13 miles of sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising, which reach up to 200 feet above the water.
Over time the cliffs have been sculpted into shallow caves, arches and shapes that look like castle turrets or human profiles. The colors are stripes left where groundwater seeps out of the rock and dries: iron gives red, manganese black and white, limonite yellow-brown, and copper pink and green.
The rock itself is 500-million-year-old Cambrian sandstone of the Munising Formation, resting on the older red Jacobsville sandstone, the oldest rock in the park, and capped by harder Ordovician sandstone. The same formation produces many of the waterfalls in the area, such as Munising Falls, Miners Falls, Chapel Falls and Sable Falls.
From a dangerous passage to the first national lakeshore.
The cliffs were a hazard for canoes and open boats long before they were a park. In 1658 the fur trader Pierre Esprit Radisson made the passage and wrote that his Native American companions left an offering of tobacco to the spirit of the cliffs. In the 1800s writers and explorers described the scenery, and around 1850 developers planned a resort called Grand Island City near today's Munising.
After logging ended around 1910, much of the land reverted to the state of Michigan over unpaid taxes. In October 1966 Congress authorized Pictured Rocks as the first national lakeshore in the United States. The National Park Service manages it, and in 2009 about 11,740 acres were protected as the Beaver Basin Wilderness.
The cliffs keep changing. On April 13, 2006, the Inner Turret of Miners Castle collapsed. The sandstone is poorly cemented, and rockfalls typically happen in spring and fall when freezing and thawing work on the rock. At the eastern end, the Grand Sable Dunes sit on top of a glacial moraine and rise as high as 275 feet above the lake; loggers once built a wooden slide there to send timber down to the water.
Cliffs, arches, falls and dunes.
Practical notes.
Before you go.
Why is it called Pictured Rocks?
The name comes from 13 miles of sandstone cliffs near Munising, streaked with red, black, yellow-brown and green mineral stains left by groundwater seeping through the rock.
How do you see the cliffs?
Roads reach the shore only in a few places, so most of the cliffs are seen from the water. Boat companies run daily trips from Memorial Day weekend through fall, and experienced paddlers can use sea kayaks.
Was Pictured Rocks the first national lakeshore?
Yes. Congress authorized it in October 1966 as the first national lakeshore in the United States, and it is managed by the National Park Service.
Can you visit in winter?
Yes, but most park roads are closed from December to March. Winter activities include snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and ice climbing on frozen waterfalls and cliffs.
Around Michigan
Walking tours, day trips and experiences around this area, on GetYourGuide.