Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Munising, Michigan

We love beautiful places, and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of the best! With plenty of waterfalls, hiking trails, both sand & rocky beaches, and a lighthouse, it has something for everyone!

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore has the most amazing sandstone cliffs that have multiple colors running through them. The Lakeshore encompasses over 40 miles of Lake Superior shoreline and runs from Munising to Grand Marais on the northern coast of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

We started our Pictured Rocks adventure at the Munising Falls Visitor Center. Juliana and I are on a quest to see how many Junior Ranger badges we can earn, so we went to see the Ranger on duty. After we got our books to complete, we had some fun at the painting station. We love to visit Munising Falls, but the path was washed away earlier in 2025, so the falls are not accessible anymore. We still enjoyed it there and had fun planning our visit to Pictured Rocks.

The ranger we talked to at the painting station recommended a trip the Au Sable Light Station. The last time Joe and I had made the trek was many years ago, and the lighthouse was not open to visitors. We thought it sounded like fun, so we drove up to the Au Sable Light Station Trailhead near the Hurricane River. There is a 1.7 mile hike to the lighthouse. It’s not a difficult hike, but bug spray is recommended.

When we got to the lighthouse, a thunderstorm started to roll in. Due to safety reasons, the lighthouse is closed for 30 minutes after thunder. Well, it kept rolling in and we were unable to make the climb. Nancy was kind enough to give us a ground tour and we also toured the keeper’s quarters and learned about the lives of the previous keepers.

It was so interesting to learn about the lives of the keepers. Most only lived there a year or so, but one couple manned the lighthouse for 12 years! That’s amazing since the lighthouse is very remote and did not have many visitors or access to places to purchase necessities. In fact, they had to walk over 12 miles to get to a store! This board shows the maximum annual allowance of supplies provided to the keeper and their family in 1883.

After our tour, the rain was about to start. We helped Nancy take down the American flag to keep it safe from the storm.

After we finished, we started the hike back. The skies brightened back up, so we went to the Hurricane River to soak our feet in the clear, cool water.

The next day dawned bright and clear, so we took a quick drive to Miners Castle. There’s a very short walk to the overlook. We enjoyed the first viewpoint, then made our way to the second. It’s such a beautiful place and quite easy to access. We definitely recommend a visit!

Juliana and I wrapped up our Junior Ranger badge books, and we got our badges. Yay, us!!! Now it was time to see the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore from a different angle. There are a few different companies that offer cruises that go by the gorgeous sandstone cliffs. We had made reservations at Pictured Rocks Cruises, Inc. and took the Spray Falls Cruise. This is a 2 hour cruise that was an amazing way to see the Lakeshore. There are various cruises with different prices, so I would recommend checking around the area to see what would be best for you. For this guided tour, we paid $54 for adult tickets, and $19 for a child ticket for ages 4-12. Just an FYI, there are also processing fees. Was it worth it? We thought so. Here are some of the amazing views:

We loved seeing Lovers Leap, Battleship Row, Indian Head, Miners Castle, and the Grand Portal to name a few! They were so incredible!

Here’s our full Vlog post showing our Pictured Rocks adventure:

Our time in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was coming to a close. We had a fascinating time learning about the erosion and other events that made the cliffs the wonder that we see today!

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Thanks so much and stay tuned for more Traveling with the Trapps!

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