4th of July Weekend 2014 - "Up North"

Mackinaw Bridge

Typically, we just stay home for the holiday since places are usually packed. With the 4^th being on a Friday, this year we just could not resist – we headed to northern Michigan. We had not been “up north” in quite a few years. We camped at Wilderness State Park, which we had not stayed at before. The park was nice, but there were a lot of mosquitos. It seems that there are a lot of mosquitos everywhere this year so it was not a big surprise.

We spent the 4^th checking out the campground (lots of trails) in the morning and then headed to Mackinaw City in the afternoon. Mackinaw City was not overly busy, which was a bit surprising. We walked around at the park near the Mackinaw Bridge and lighthouse and snapped some pictures. Fort Mackinaw is near the park, but we had visited the fort last time we were in that area so we skipped it this trip.

After the park , we headed to the downtown area. We bought some fudge and ice cream and then headed to the McGulpin Point Lighthouse. This lighthouse opened for tours in recent years. There was no fee, but they do ask for donations. There is a lovely wood chipped trail down to the lake. Once to the lake there is a nice view of the Mackinaw Bridge.

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse

As we headed back to the campground we checked out some of the day use parks along the lake – they were a little bit busy but parking was easy to find. We rounded out the day with a campfire.

On Saturday, we were up early to get a head start on the day. The plan for the day was to head to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which was about a three hour drive from Wilderness State Park.  The drive did not have much traffic. We stopped at a few places once we got over the bridge to take some photos along the US-2 lakeshore.

Sable Falls -
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

We attacked Pictured Rocks from east to west, with our first stop being Sable Falls near Grand Marais. Sable Falls was a nice view, there was a staircase that provided a viewing platform. The falls are said to be about 75 feet tall. The mosquitos were really bad, so we did not stick around too long.

The next stop was the Sable Falls Visitor Center where we were able to pick up the Park pamphlet and get some passport book stamps. The guide recommended stopping just up the road at Log Jam. The site provided a great view of the sand dunes.

Au Sable Light Station -
 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

The Au Sable Light Station was next on the docket. Parking was available at the Hurricane River Campground and there was about a 1.5 mile hike to the lighthouse. There were lots of mosquitos and flies along the hike – yuck! For a portion of the trail, the water is far enough back from the woods that walking on the beach is an option. There are a few shipwreck remains that dot the shore near – with a majority being near the lighthouse. Lighthouse tours are only offered a few days a week and cost $3/person. The tour was interesting and if you are luck and have a clear day you can see a large portion of the rock reef that extends a mile into the lake.

Continuing west, we arrived at Miners Castle Information Station. There was a passport stamp available, as well as some rock cliff overlooks. There is also a waterfall nearby – just down the road. Miners Falls is about a 1.2 mile hike round-trip. The falls are about 50 feet tall. There are two overlooks, the one down the stairs being far superior.  The falls and information station area were both VERY busy.

Miners Castle -
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Nearing the west end of the park, we stopped at the Munising Falls Visitor Center. We had been to this Visitor Center on our last trip up north. After obtaining yet another passport stamp, we hiked out to look at the Munising Falls. Munising Falls is about 50 feet tall. There were a couple of viewing platforms with the best being the one up stairs on the right. The lower platform is quite good also. Definitely skip the upper left platform.

The last visitor center that we visited – Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore/Hiawatha National Forest/Interagency Visitor Center - is the only one that is open year-round. There was not a lot to see there, so we got the passport stamps and headed out of town. There is a very popular boat trip in Munising that takes you around to see the neat rock formations along the lake, but since we had done that last trip we skipped it.

Just south of Munising, there are a few other waterfalls that we visited. Wagner Falls is a State Park and located near the MI-28/MI-94 junction. It is a short walk to the falls and a nice view of the 20 foot tall falls. Right at the intersection there is another waterfall called Alger Falls.

Wagner Falls

Our drive back to the campsite was uneventful and we stopped at a turnout along US 2 to take a few more lake photos.

That pretty much sums up our quick trip up north. Until next time…happy trails!