The U.S. Congress made Pictured Rocks the first officially designated National Lakeshore in the United States in 1966. It is governed by the National Park Service (NPS), and had 22 year-round NPS employees as of May 2006, and received 476,888 visitors in 2005. The two RV Gypsies booked a cruise to see Pictured Rocks, but the cruise was canceled due to rain and rough waters, so they were very disappointed, but they managed to do a bit of exploring by land instead. |
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Mineral-stained sandstone cliffs rise dramatically from Lake Superior at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The 70,000-acre park follows the south shore of Lake Superior for 42 miles. The awe-inspiring cliffs were shaped by wind, ice and pounding waves. The cliffs are colored in shades of brown, tan, and green by the iron, manganese, limonite and copper in the water. As the water trickles down the rocks or mountainous waves slam into the cliffs with a vicious suddenness, the sandstone Pictured Rocks are formed and changed. The sculptured rocks create images in your mind of fortresses and castles. Miners Castle, Battleship Row, Indian Head, Lover's Leap, the Color Caves, Rainbow Cave, and Chapel Rock are only a few of the breathtaking sights which can be seen. There are scenic overlooks, hiking trails, beaches, waterfalls, and campgrounds, but the Pictured Rocks are best seen by boat. |
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Some of the stairs on the steep trail to Miners Castle Overlook |
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Below: Karen Duquette at the Miners Castle Overlook |
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Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 15 miles of colorful sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising. The cliffs are up to 200 feet above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into shallow caves, arches, formations that resemble castle turrets, and human profiles, among others. Miners Castle, shown below, is 75 feet above Lake Superior. Miners Castle used to have another tower to the right of the tower shown below, but it broke off on April 13, 2006 and fell into Lake Superior. |
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Miners Castle is the most famous formation of the Pictured Rocks. |
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Below: Lake Superior and part of the Pictured Rocks as seen from Miners Castle Overlook. |
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Below: Photos are the same area as above, but photographed from the shoreline of Lake Superior. The below photos give a better perspective on the size of the waves, and the reason the boat trip was canceled. |
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Below: Karen Duquette checked out the big waves on Lake Superior. |
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Lake Superior as seen from an upper staircase. |
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