Saw Some Stuff

Two years in a row, a group of friends and I went to Pictured Rocks in the Upper Peninsula in Munising, Michigan. I plan to go back many more times. It is one of my favorite places to travel in Michigan. The campsite we found is super rustic and right on the side of cliffs off of Lake Superior. Even though there are usually other campers in the area, the spots are spaced pretty far apart, so it still feels pretty secluded. Usually the best sites that are right on the cliffs are taken before we get there – probably because of bad timing, since our drive is about 7 hours from Detroit.

The campground we go to is called Paradise Point, about 20-30 min from Pictured Rocks, in Christmas, Michigan. You don’t have to reserve or pay for the site, because it is a very rustic location (a.k.a. no bathroom or showering facilities). The road to get back to this these rustic campsites is a little hard to find and is a pretty rugged dirt road. It would be difficult to ride on without some kind of SUV or truck. Luckily, our friend has a pickup truck. The rocks around the campsites are amazing to explore and swim around. We spent days just swimming and exploring the caves around these campsites. We bathed in the Lakes, snorkeled around the water, explored caves, made bonfires on the cliffs as we watched beautiful sunsets over Lake Superior.

The Pictured Rocks trails were about 30 min from our campsite. The first year we hiked the Chapel Loop Pictured Rocks trail, which was about 10 miles total. It takes between 5-8 hours depending on how many times you stop or how long you hangout at the beaches. We hung out on Chapel beach for a while to take a break, swim, jump off some rocks, and eat lunch. The elevation gain on this trail is 754 ft, so it’s definitely not flat or easy, but it’s manageable.

I feel like this is a hike everyone should do at least once. I think that the Chapel Loop trail is the best way to see most of the beauty of Pictured Rocks in a day. It’s beautiful and really does not feel like Michigan. Lake Superior honestly looks like an ocean on this hike and is super blue. It’s beautiful to see the views from up on the high cliffs. This trail is so pretty and has a good range of different sites to see, like beaches, bridges, babbling brooks, rivers to walk through, and other fun spots to explore along the trail.

It’s best to go as early as you can to beat the crowds. My friends and I ended up arriving pretty late, around noon. Once it started getting later in the day we actually started picking up our walking pace quite a bit, afraid that it was going to start getting dark soon. I would imagine the trail would be much harder in the dark. Overall the trail isn’t too difficult, but there are lots of steps, uphill climbs, and small hurdles- like little logs, branches, and muddy spots- to watch out for. Hiking shoes with good traction and at least semi-waterproof would be ideal. A walking stick would be helpful, as well.

The first year we went to Pictured Rocks, we did a guided canoe trip around the Rocks. After being on the trails within Pictured Rocks the day before, it was really cool to see the the same rocks from a different perspective from the water. I don’t believe you’re allowed to bring your own canoes to explore the waters – that we know of at least. We could only find information about guided tours. So, we ended up doing a guided tour that cost a little over $100. It was worth it though. You get to explore some of the caves at the bottom of the rocks in the water. The tour has everyone paddle in tandem kayaks, so it makes it a little easier & faster to paddle with two people. Lake Superior waters can get a little rough, so luckily we went on a calm day, but I’d imagine it being a lot harder to paddle if the winds were any stronger. That’s probably why they encourage people to do guided tours.

The second year we went to Pictured Rocks, we went to Grand Island. We rented some bikes and took a quick ferry to the island. We took ours bikes on the 17 mile trail, and only made it 10 miles. That was mostly because all they had left at the bike shop were beach cruisers, which I would never ever recommend doing a trail like this with a one speed bike. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a choice and decided to do it anyways. It was really hard on beach cruisers, but other than that, the scenery was so beautiful and worth the ride. We probably would have been better off walking this trail. Still to this day my friends and I jokingly use the term “FBC” because of this trip, which means “f*ck beach cruisers” haha!

On our way home from Munising, we stopped at the Oswald’s Bear Ranch in Newberry, Michigan. We got there just a little bit before they closed, so we only had a half hour or less there, but it was still really cool to see the bear ranch. You can also pay a little fee to take a picture with and pet one of the cubs. I believe it was $20 to get in to the ranch.