Above: Cliffs along the trail east of Miners Castle Stories in Sand Sandstone cliffs-ochre, tan, and brown with layers of Moving ice ground volcanic and sedimentary rock from Twelvemile Beach are horn coral from an ancient sea, white and green-tower 50 to 200 feet above the water. previous eras into rubble and slowly enlarged river valleys polished granite and quartz rounded like eggs, and Vast, blue Lake Superior glistens against a cloud-streaked into the wide basins that would become the Great Lakes. disk-shaped fragments of the Jacobsville sandstone. sky. Deep forests of emerald, black, and gold open onto small lakes and waterfalls. The images are like a painter's The last glacier began retreating about 10,000 years ago. Colorful Cliffs The name Pictured Rocks comes from the work. A palette of nature's colors, textures, and shapes Over time its meltwater formed powerful rivers and streaks of mineral stain decorating the face of the cliffs. sets the scene at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. scattered rubble onto outwash plains and into crevasses. The streaks occur when groundwater oozes out of cracks. Water scooped out the basins and channels that harbor The dripping water contains iron, manganese, limonite, This place of beauty was authorized as the first national wetlands in the park today. Eventually, as the weight of copper, and other minerals that leave behind a colorful lakeshore in 1966 to preserve the shoreline, beaches, the glacier lessened, the land rose and exposed bedrock stain as the water trickles down a cliff face. cliffs, and dunes and to provide an extraordinary place to lake erosion. This onslaught by the lake-centuries for recreation and discovery. Just over six miles across at of crushing ice and battering waves-carved the bedrock The cliffs' ramparts are composed of 500-million-year-old its widest point, the park hugs Lake Superior's shoreline into young cliffs. Water continues to pound and sculpt Cambrian sandstone of the Munising Formation, which for over 40 miles and consists of the Lakeshore Zone, the cliffs, eroding them inland while enlarging the lake. makes up much of the angled slopes and features like federal land managed by the National Park Service, and Miners Castle. Closest to lake level is the Jacobsville the Inland Buffer Zone, a combination of federal, state, The force of water, solid or liquid, profoundly altered this Formation, a late-Precambrian mottled red sandstone and private ownership. Together these nearly 73,000 acres landscape and created the world's largest freshwater lake that is the oldest exposed rock in the park. Covering all protect some of Lake Superior's shoreline and watershed. system. It sculpted arches, cliff profiles, and the inland is the 400-million-year-old Ordovician Au Train Formation, lakes that formed when glacial outwash buried enormous a harder, limy sandstone that serves as a capstone and llcy Architects Massive glaciers, inching back and forth blocks of ice. Melting ice formed depressions that filled protects the underlying sandstone from rapid erosion. over a million years, scoured and molded this land. with water and became kettle lakes. The stones along Right, top to bottom: Water-sculpted basalt, horn coral, and red jasper The bounty of the lake and land has European Adventurers Booming Commerce Lighthouse Service (later the US A Powerful Lake attracted people since the glaciers In the 1600s and 1700s European The demand for lumber attracted Coast Guard) built lifeboat rescue Measured by surface area, Lake retreated northward. Archaic and explorers and voyageurs searched businessmen who bought vast stations and light stations along Superior is the world's largest Woodland Indians made summer here for furs and minerals. These forests of white pine, beech, and the shore. Remnants of this era freshwater lake-350 miles long, camps along the coast between expeditions give us many of the maple. Through the late 1800s still exist in the park. 160 miles across, and over 1,300 what is now Munising and Grand area's earliest written accounts boomtowns along Lake Superior's feet at its deepest point. The lake Marais. Later, Anishinaabek Indians and left place names like Miners southern shore supported large basin holds so much liquid that, hunted and fished here, as their Castle and Grand Marais. In the logging operations and blast if drained, it could fill a pool the descendants still do, while en route 1800s American and European furnaces that produced pig iron size of the lower 48 states to a to summer fishing areas farther settlers arrived to make fortunes for the nation's growing railroad depth of nearly five feet. east. Today, little evidence remains in mining and logging. industry. By the early 1900s both within the park logging and ironworking had Lake Superior acts like an inland of these early We had been told of the variety diminished due to loss of natural sea, creating powerful storms people. in the colour and form of these resources. and exerting a great influence on the surrounding land. Its cold rocks, but were wholly unprepared The Life-Saving Era water moderates the climate, to encounter the surprising groups As businesses flourished, Lake keeping summer cooler and of overhanging precipices, towering Superior's commercial activity also winter somewhat warmer. Mist, The lake continually reshapes With each season Lake Superior increased. To help ships navigate fog, wind, and lake effect snow the park's beaches and shoreline. shows a different mood: summer's walls, caverns, waterfalls ... min­ the treacherous rock reef, the '--------'--------'z affect the park's soil, vegetation, Wave energy and the forces of gentle waves, autumn's furious gled in the most wonderful disorder. US Life Saving Service and the US Powered today by sunlight and not Paddling along the Pictured and wildlife and the people who ice and thaw work on the porous storms, or winter's icy stillness. kerosene, the 1874 Au Sable Light Rocks cliffs live nearby. sandstone cliffs, causing erosion Station still warns mariners of the -Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, that may result in rockfalls. regional explorer and scholar, 1820 dangerous Au Sable reef. bark storage basket NPS Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore consists of two Lakeshore Zone Paved road 4-wheel drive (NPS) Beaver Basin Wilderness Congress has designated road zones. The Lakeshore Zone is federal land managed nearly 12,000 acres in Pictured Rocks National Lake­ by the National Park Service (NPS). The Inland Buffer Inland Buffer Zone shore for protection under the 1964 Wilderness Act. Unpaved road Trail (mixed ownership) Zone is a mixture of federal, state, and private Included are forests, streams, lakes, wetlands, and ownership. Please respect the rights of private Wilderness within 13 miles of Lake Superior shoreline. Lakeshore access Au Sable Woodland landowners. Lakeshore Zone via paved and Park (NPS) . Light Station unpaved roads Hurricane River I Au sable Point Wilderness is meant to protect forever the land's Au Sable Light Station Trailhead North A - _A -~ ~~ natural conditions, opportunities for solitude and gam1m /"-~- \ r- T ., - - .... "'~~ ~ primitive recreation, and scientific, educational, and ~ ' "\ Log Slide GRAND MARAIS ; , historical values. In wilderness people can sense be­ ' Scenic Overlook GD ing a part of the whole community of life on Earth. \ 1:\11 Natio~~~~~r~~:!ri L.-. Preserving wilderness shows restraint and humility --iAJ- l 0 5 Kilometers ' and benefits generations that follow us. Learn more Twelvemile Beach 1m; ' ''----./--..._ __ _ White Birch Trail 2km I 0 5 Miles at www.wilderness.net. ggm1m,_ /' "/"r I ,,,,. .... / .._/ \. I Grand / National Park Service Boat launch Picnic area / Marais g campground / I Airport e m -</ Other public Self-guiding trail Wheelchair-accessible 0 IT A campground ml g ', \ ' _, I A Private campground ~ Cross-country ski trail Hospital Cl ',\ I / ( I River _r-·-~b 'I Kingston 't r'-'t{/''"~ } '~ Lake ,/ , '>,,i (/ ~ ~ ( C l \\ 0 Chapel .,... Grand Portal Point Beach Chapel ; I\ r --__. _,. \ Roc k,.... ,- i ) '- "-7 ~ - J , 1 Nawakwa ~ •• :•" • • • •• ••• ,,,,-/ J ( L--r Lake : • ••• I r I 1 Q II ) I ... HIAWATHA I CHAPEL (chapetl .··· ..n (c. / M "t BASIN I Lake / NATIONAL FOREST 0 /r I / I infMMtiM ~t ~ p"Be~'ci"' ~ ,--.._, ,,.-:;.:-/ _,,,.~~pel Falls ...······· .. ······ I US Forest Service Office ....... ~ ,,, ; ,.-- ... · ~ /" '---'\ ~.. ~/Trailhead ·· ..... ····· I Echo I Lake ~ / ·;--"' .?--' """f:.\ 1 _.,, am ( ~ 1\\ \ Miners Castle---- ~ ... 1 GRAND Scenic Overlook 1,~~ ~ Smi am / ', <!- Skm l Williams / ~ )7 ~ Island / i~ y Miners Lake Oq,.,, I .c,,; "i ,.,./e,~c,,, Min rs Falls ,./ ~c.f Miner 1" ~<§' Trail I ~,,, ! ~ ; MELSTRAND I So ml East Branch / § FoxRiver \ .········ .... ---1..,~., . '{'o H11 [Eill.!!.O!\!_ "tJ "'0 ...... · 0:.. ······ ... J t: u"' ;~ 11 ~ .... ················· _.···· • • Hanl~i~~I~ T ·... · HIAWATHA NATIONAL FOREST To Seney National Wildlife Refuge Munising Falls Visitor Center is located on the or strenuous. Get maps and information at the Camping is also available in state forests and Superior should use sea kayaks only and make year-round and hypothermia is always a threat. Observe These Regulations Bicycles are park's western end. Stop here for information, visitor centers. Portions of the North Country parks, private campgrounds, and Hiawatha sure they have all necessary safety gear. See the Bring rain gear and layers of warm clothing. prohibited on all trails.• Motorized or wheeled brochures, backcountry permit information, a Trail and other trails give you spectacular vistas National Forest. Kayaking Safety brochure for details. Munising Black flies and mosquitoes can be aggravating vehicles are prohibited in the backcountry. bookstore, and activity and program schedules. of the lake, cliffs, dunes, and waterfalls. Plan and Grand Marais have launch ramps for motor mid-May to mid-July. Stable flies are common • ORVs are prohibited in the lakeshore except Exhibits explain blast furnace and logging history ahead. Tell someone where you are going.