Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is so beautiful! On land, there are beaches, waterfalls, lakes, and lighthouses to explore. Then there’s Lake Superior. From Lake Superior, you can really appreciate the beauty of the pictured rocks. We took a boat tour of the colorful cliffs, and I’m so glad we did.
Hiking
The main draw for us at Pictured Rocks was getting out on the water, so hiking wasn’t our main focus, but we did do quite a few short hikes to see more of the area and several waterfalls
North Country Scenic Trail
We hiked from Hurricane River Campground to Au Sable Light Station on the North Country Scenic trail. This was a fairly short (3 miles roundtrip) and flat hike along the lakeshore. There are remnants of an old shipwreck that can be seen along the shore between the campground and the lighthouse.
It was really cool to be able to explore the lighthouse grounds. At the time we visited, the lighthouse was not open for tours, but if you plan to visit when the lighthouse is open, it is possible to tour the inside.
Sable Falls Trail
This was a short hike (0.4 miles round trip) to a waterfall. Don’t let the short distance fool you; this trail has lots of steps (168 according to the park website). You can follow the trail along Sable Creek all the way out to Lake Superior.
Log Slide
We also took a short hike to the Log Slide, which was in an old logging area. You could see where they would slide logs down the sand dunes and into Lake Superior for pick up. There was also some old logging equipment on display, which was pretty cool.
Munising Falls
The trail to Munising Falls starts at the Munising Visitor’s Center. It is a short trail (800ft one-way) with a great view of the falls. There are several different viewing platforms at various points on the trail.
Miner’s Castle Overlook
It was a short walk from the parking lot to the overlooks at Miner’s Castle. This is the most popular location in the park. We visited late in the day and it was not packed but was still fairly crowded.
Miner’s Falls
This was another short hike that we were able to squeeze in before sunset one evening. It is 0.6 miles one-way to the falls. Miner’s Falls flows over an impressive 50 ft cliff. This short hike was a great way to end the day.
To read more about hikes in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, visit the park website day hikes page here.
Water Activities
We brought our kayaks/gear and planned to paddle on Lake Superior, but while we were there, the water was just a little too rough for our comfort level. We quickly pivoted to Plan B, which was taking a cruise along the cliffs. This turned out to be a great option, and I’m so glad we did it! There’s something so cool about seeing magnificent rock formations from your own kayak, but we were able to see so much more from this cruise.
We could obviously cover much more ground by taking the cruise rather than paddling ourselves. Additionally, we had the benefit of a guided tour. We were able to learn more about the unique rocks from the local experts. I was initially bummed about not getting to do our own paddle, but I was so happy we took this tour. We dealt with a little rain at the end, but it was definitely worth it!
Inland lakes are also an option for paddling. Grand Sable Lake and Little Beaver Lake are located within the park. To read more about kayaking at Pictured Rocks from the NPS website, click here.
Camping
We camped at two different campgrounds within the park: Hurricane River Campground and Twelvemile Beach Campground. We enjoyed our time in both campgrounds, but we particularly liked Twelve Mile Beach. The sites were well-spaced, and you could hear the waves of Lake Superior even from the inland side of the campground. Both campgrounds are rustic with vault toilets, no showers, and no electric hookups. The weather was great for dry camping. It was warm during the day but cooled off nicely in the evenings.
We were at Pictured Rocks in August during the height of the Perseids Meteor Shower, so we woke up early one morning while it was still dark, wrapped up in blankets, and headed out to the beach where we were treated to some meteor sightings.
Click here to read more about our experience camping at Twelvemile Beach Campground and click here to read about our time camping at Hurricane River Campground.
Time to Visit
We visited in August and I thought this was a great time to be at the park. The weather was fantastic with nice, cool evenings, and warm days. We also had the added benefit of being somewhere with dark skies during the meteor shower. I’ve heard that certain areas can be very buggy in the summer, but we only had a real issue with bugs (biting flies) by the Au Sable Lighthouse. There are some seasonal waterfalls that were not running at the time we visited, so that may be something to look into on a future trip.
Wish List
I’d love to come back to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore! We definitely could have used more time here. I’d like to take an even longer boat tour because that was such an amazing experience. Additionally, I would like to kayak on Lake Superior if the conditions are favorable. There are several additional hiking trails, I’d like to explore.