Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

By Jen.

Dates: 2021/07/21 to 2021/07/24

Outside of Marquette, there is a rest area called Lakenenland, an artist’s playground. We stopped to stretch our legs after a bit of shopping and driving.

A bit of our old stomping grounds made its way to Michigan.

We also made a quick stop at Wagner Falls.

 

Then we found ourselves at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It looks fairly similar to the national lakeshore in Minnesota, but with less-available kayak access. We had considered kayaking out there, but the distances were a bit long. Then we considered catching a boat, but the crowds and price of such an endeavor, was not enticing. So we settled for driving and hiking to a few of the spots.

Miner’s Castle.

The limestone formations don’t end at the lake. This is inland, near Little Beaver Lake.

Little Beaver Lake.

Chapel Rock Falls.

Different view.

Chapel Rock. How long must that tree have been growing there to have roots that stretch across?

The beach was beautiful. Even though it was crawling with tourists, I was able to get a few tourist-free shots.

Years of tourists of walking to the beach.

The view of log slide from behind. They used to take timber logs and throw them down the bank here into the lake.

It was super steep! They had warnings that while it may only take a few minutes to get down, it could take an hour to get back up. No thanks!

Some major dunes along this way.

 

The next day was rainy, so we thought it might mean there weren’t very many people at Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Boy, we were wrong! The place was packed, and barely any parking. We did find a couple of quiet nooks from which to view the upper falls, but decided that was all we could take and moved on.

Upper Tahquamenon Falls

The gorge walls (when you could see them through the trees/plants).