We left Mackinaw City to drive the quiet roads across the Upper Peninsula (or the UP as the locals call it) to Munising, Michigan and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior. There was no traffic, really few cars. A very quiet and easy drive. We are looking forward to this stop as we have seen stunning photos of the colorful cliffs, that look like they are dripping with green, black, red and gold paint. We have to keep correcting ourselves as we want to call this place “Painted Rocks” as opposed to “Pictured Rocks”.
We originally planned on dry camping at this stop but, after the annoying midges actually squeezed through our screens in Mackinaw City, we switched to a full hook up campground on the shore of Lake Superior. With a name like the Munising Tourist RV Park we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we had a stunning lakefront spot and electric, sewer and water. Elle stuck her finger in the lake; it was ice cold; there would be no swimming here! But who cares, the views were simply amazing (and not a midge in sight, of course). We wished we had more than two nights here. Our spot was right on the lakeshore. This is what we imagined when we were planning this trip – the Airstream parked on the edge of a lake, looking out at the water, listening to the waves lapping against the shore.
As we only had one full day here, we got moving quickly. One full day/two nights sounded sufficient when we did our planning, but now it felt a bit rushed. After we set up camp we got moving and went to downtown Munising and after much debate we purchased tickets for the 7:00pm Picture Rocks boat tour. We were concerned that it would be too late for Elle, as the boat wouldn’t return until after 9:30pm, but the woman selling us the tickets told us that the cliffs were really spectacular at sunset, so we decided to go for it.
Next we went to the national park visitor center to get Elle’s Junior Ranger book and our stamps for our passports, as well as to obtain information on what other things to see and places to hike.
As we were a quite low on food, we ordered a takeout pizza (amazing gourmet choices at Pictured Rocks Pizza), took it back to the Airstream and enjoyed it along with our lakeside view. We were so happy just relaxing by the lake that it was hard for us to drag ourselves away for our cruise! It was a completely full boat, so we were glad we had gotten in line early so we were able to get a seat on the top deck. The cliffs of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore were dramatic, dripping with green, red, copper, yellow, orange and blacks. And as the sun went down the cliffs really lit up. It was the perfect night for a sunset cruise, warm air and calm water, although the cruise was long; almost three hours was a little too much Pictured Rocks for us. Nonetheless, we took hundreds of photos. Elle was only mildly interested in the cliffs, she deemed the cruise “for adults” and she was much more impressed that she was allowed to stay up so late. We were happy we had opted for the sunset cruise, the rocks really stunning when the sun was setting; it turned them to gold!
The next day we decided to drive along the lakeshore and do some hiking. We first walked the half mile Sand Point Marsh Loop and got to see some tiny frogs! We heard them croaking before we saw them. We searched for beavers which also were commonly sighted there but to our disappointment, there was not a single beaver to be found. We returned to the visitor center to hike up to the Munising Falls Trail. Munising Falls was a small waterfall and a popular trail for both visitors… and mosquitoes.
We had gotten a late start and not thought ahead to pack lunch. We debated going back to the Airstream for lunch… but we didn’t want to waste the time. Instead, we stopped for sandwiches at the Falling Rock Café and Bookstore. What a cozy, homey place. The sandwiches were good and we ate surrounded by books. Then off to drive up the lakeshore and do some hiking. We hiked the flat 2-mile trail to the aptly named Mosquito Falls – beautiful green trail, marred somewhat by the buzzing bugs. We did not push on further to the cliffs of the lake because 0f the mosquitoes.
We continued the drive along the lakeshore stopping at Twelve-mile Beach, Hurricane River and Log Slide Overlook – all full of buzzing, biting mosquitoes that descended on us the moment we stepped out of the truck. It was beautiful other than that – we were simply there for mosquito season. Our final stop in the park was the Grand Sable Visitor Center for Elle to submit her completed junior ranger book and get her badge. Successful, we strolled out of the visitor center. As we walked towards the truck, Elle suddenly pointed to the grill of the truck, shouting “NOOOOOOO!!!” Plastered to the grill of the truck, winged splayed, was a bird… a dead bird! We held a hasty funeral on the edge of the forest by the visitor center. It was a low point for the day.
Our last stop of the drive was the Grand Marias Lighthouse and Agate Beach, just outside the National Lakeshore. Very pretty light house and the agate beach was right next to it. Beautiful colored rocks on the shore of the lake. It was really fun to search through them for pretty colors: pinks, reds, greys, green and whites. Elle enjoyed this more than the cruise along the cliffs.
We had the one-hour dive back to Munising and everyone was tired. But we HAD to go grocery shopping – we were entirely out of food. Fortunately, the Family Fare Supermarket was well stocked and we got everything we wanted. It was a long day and we were all more than happy to return to our Flying Cloud to enjoy the red orange sunset over Lake Superior. Simply beautiful.
