Kayaking Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to kayak the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and just over 3 hours’ drive time from Petoskey, Michigan. I paddled the area with a friend from across the bay, and we traveled Southwest to Northeast from Munising to Grand Marais, a 45-mile route, in three days’ time.

In my limited experience, I place Pictured Rocks as the most beautiful lake shore in our country – towering sandstone cliffs rendered in warm sunset shades, rising over deep blue-green waters of Lake Superior, and topped by mixed forest habitat clinging to the cliff tops. About halfway through the trip, the cliffs give way first to lower rock outcrops interspersed with cobble beaches, then to the giant Sable Dunes, before finally reaching the terminus of Grand Marais, an idyllic little harbor town with an end-of-the-world ambience not unlike the town of Cicely, Alaska in the TV series Northern Exposure.

This area also has great sentimental value to me, having visited several times on family vacations and later in life with a mother who helped instill my enjoyment of the outdoors. I’ve also hiked the trails with friends and acquaintances. But until this summer, I’ve never had the opportunity to view the entire coast from the water. We were blessed on our trip by great weather, open backcountry campsites, and sparse park population, and only plagued by the notorious stable fly during the last day.

The trip left a few tangible personal impressions on me, but two were paramount: first, the old
familiar feeling of being drawn back to my love for backcountry travel was rekindled as it is every time I get off the beaten path; secondly, gratitude for my recently departed mother’s selfless efforts in making the outdoors such an important and appreciated part of my life literally knocked me to my knees at one point. I’ll never stop wishing I could somehow turn back time and give the thanks to her I long to.

Other impressions were made: We encountered a fair amount of younger people traveling by foot on the park’s trails, which I found reassuring. At first glance it seems less and less people are interested in the backcountry experience and the lack of interest gives me pause for the future of our parks systems. In a time when we seem to be more focused on material goals, surviving the rat race and training our children to compete in that race early on in life it was refreshing to see mainly younger backpackers. I was also reminded of the potential of Superior’s moods; even though we had decent weather, one cannot paddle near to the towering golden cliffs without feeling vulnerable and wary of changing conditions. As always, I was struck by the beauty and remote feel of this park and the surrounding area, but for the first time, the unique perspective caused me to be moved by the sheer scale of the Pictured Rocks. For the first half day I suspect we were both grinning like schoolkids.


I’m sure I’ll return as often as possible – one of the wonderful things about my home town is it’s proximity to places like this – and I recommend the trip to anyone. In terms of safety, the lake is best traveled in summer, after the temperatures stabilize and before the fall winds begin. One should be properly prepared, coordinated with others for any action required by difficult conditions or emergency situations, and packed and dressed for a range of weather and temperatures. When we were there, water temperatures were in the 40s, which doesn’t give you much time to endure exposure. Having said all this, there are various options for travel distance, level of isolation, and amount of exposure to the elements.If you live anywhere near the Great Lakes and enjoy Sea Kayaking, there aren’t many destinations I’d place higher on a paddling wish list than this spectacular creation of nature.