Beginner Backpacking in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan

The Young Adventurers Fund is offering adults 18-35 years old a full $300 off this trip. Visit our scholarships page to apply.

The Trip

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore offers an ideal environment to learn the basics of backpacking. We’ll cover 38 miles of moderate terrain at a relaxed pace that allows everyone to become comfortable with the world of backpacking. We’ll be hiking along the south shore of Lake Superior on the spectacular North Country Scenic Trail. When completed, this trail will be the longest National Scenic Trail in the U.S., extending 4,600 miles through America’s northern heartlands.  More experienced backpackers are welcome, but please understand that our pace will be slower and the emphasis will be on learning backpacking skills. It’s also important to note that even though this is a beginner trip, excellent physical conditioning is necessary.

Pictured Rocks stretches along the Michigan coast from Grand Marais to Munising and features spectacular scenery, including 15 miles of multicolored sandstone cliffs rising 200 feet above Lake Superior. The splash of color is caused by minerals: red and orange from copper, green and blue from iron, white from lime, and black from manganese. Waves, wind, rain, and ice have eroded these cliffs into arches, columns, promontories, and thunder caves. 

This is the nation’s first designated national lakeshore, identified in 1966 to protect the inspiring cliffs, miles of pristine beaches, waterfalls, and Grand Sable Banks, which extend for five miles and rise 300 feet above the lake. We’ll also hike through the 12,000-acre Beaver Basin, one of the nation’s newest wilderness areas.

The leaders are excited to share their love of the outdoors and introduce you to the world of backpacking. They foster a friendly environment for learning and practicing skills and working together as a group. From tent setup to techniques for managing a healthy kitchen to leaving a minimum impact on the environment, you will learn to be at home in the wilderness. As we hike, you’ll enjoy the unique scenery and the perfect blue of Lake Superior, which is the deepest, coldest, and most pristine of the Great Lakes.

Our trip will be in the land home to the Ojibwe tribe, ceded in the 1836 Treaty of Washington that led to a civil war among the tribes involved.

During our adventure, we will cover 38 miles as we backpack along Lake Superior. The leaders like to take a slower but steady approach to backpacking. Their goal is not to set any speed records; rather, it is to appreciate and delight in our time together. A typical day begins with coffee (and hot water) around 7:30 a.m. and breakfast at 8:00 a.m. On the trail an hour or so later, we’ll spend the morning hiking, enjoying the scenery, and exploring the sights, including a lighthouse and shipwrecks still visible on the beach. A tasty lunch in a scenic spot precedes a few hours of afternoon hiking before we arrive at one of four reserved, backcountry campsites. There is plenty of time to relax in camp before dinner and watch sunsets from beaches that are near every campsite. As the stars come out, we’ll light a campfire if conditions allow, and enjoy hot drinks and good conversation before climbing into cozy tents to fall asleep.

Pre-Trip: On Sunday, the day before the trip officially begins, an optional cruise is available on Lake Superior to view Pictured Rocks from the water. (Participants pay for this excursion.)  

Day 1: The trip starts Monday in Munising, Michigan, where we leave our vehicles and board a private shuttle for a one-hour drive to the trailhead near Grand Marais. Today’s hike is about five miles and skirts Grand Sable Banks and Dunes. Lunch will be at the Log Slide, the site of a long-gone wooden chute that occasionally caught fire from the friction of logs sliding down the dunes to ships waiting in the lake. Au Sable Lighthouse, built in 1874, may be open to hikers a short distance from camp.

Day 2: The day starts with one of several shipwrecks near Au Sable Point and it ends at isolated Sevenmile Creek in the Beaver Basin Wilderness. Much of the 7.3-mile hike will be on the edge of Twelvemile Beach, which connects Grand Sable Banks with rocky cliffs farther west. Once we walk through two car-accessible campgrounds, we’ll be in the most remote and rarely visited section of the park.

Day 3: Today’s 8.8-mile hike skirts Trappers and Beaver Lakes, home to eagles, loons, and other denizens of the North Woods. Just before our campground, we will begin to experience the colorful cliffs that give Pictured Rocks its name.

Day 4: After viewing Spray Falls, which pours over a 70-foot cliff into Lake Superior, we’ll stop frequently for outstanding views of Pictured Rocks on our 7.3-mile hike, including 200-foot Grand Portal Point. Other than a short time on picturesque Chapel Beach, the path follows the edge of high cliffs on our way to Mosquito River.

Day 5: Our final hike will take us 9.1 miles over cliffs, beaches, and bogs. We will visit one of the icons of the park, Miners Castle, which lost one of two huge sandstone turrets when it crashed into the lake in 2006. After lunch at Miners Castle, we’ll head into the woods for the final miles to Munising and our cars, where we will arrive by mid-afternoon.

Getting There

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is on the south shore of Lake Superior between Munising and Grand Marais, Michigan. Sawyer International Airport is 50 miles away near Marquette, Michigan. Participants will receive a roster to encourage ride-sharing. The trip begins at 9:00 a.m. Monday, in Munising, at a place to be determined. Cars will be parked next to park headquarters at Sand Point, where we will board a shuttle for the ride to the trailhead. Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip leader.

Accommodations and Food

After a day of hiking, there’s nothing as satisfying as a cup of hot soup and a tasty, nourishing meal. If your idea of wilderness dining is boiled ramen noodles and a PowerBar, then you’re in for a surprise. The leaders both love to cook—especially in the wilderness where taste buds are extra alert to flavor. Our group has four backcountry group campsites reserved along the trail. The campsites are undeveloped. All water must be boiled for cooking or filtered for drinking. The Sierra Club will bring the filters. All meals are provided from lunch on the first day until lunch on the last day of the trip. Meat may be included, and vegetarians can easily be accommodated. Participants with special dietary restrictions or requests are encouraged to contact the leader before signing up for the trip. All participants take turns helping with preparation and cleanup in the kitchen. 

Trip Difficulty

This trip is rated 2. The pace, 38 miles in five days, is relaxed with little elevation gain. While this is a beginner backpacking trip, we will be traveling from five to nine each day with 30- to 40-pound packs. The physical demands of the trip require good conditioning, a flexible attitude, and a sense of adventure. With those three traits, the rest will work out! You should be in excellent physical shape before the trip begins. If you're already in shape, that's great; and if your workout routine is uneven, you have time to rev it up. You will want to have strength and endurance. You should also have boots that are well broken in.  

Equipment and Clothing

The Sierra Club provides food, cooking gear, water filters, and more. You bring your backpack, tent, sleeping bag rated to 30 degrees, sleeping pad, boots, clothing, and personal first aid. It’s important to be prepared for wet weather, so rain gear is also necessary. The leaders will provide you with a detailed equipment list after you are approved for the trip. In addition to your gear, you will also carry eight to ten pounds of group food and kitchen equipment. The leaders will be happy to talk with you about your gear and equipment choices.  

The weather at Pictured Rocks in early September ranges from perfect to challenging. Average highs in September are in the 60s and average lows are in the high 40s. However, temperatures can easily exceed averages, and it can rain, so it’s important to be prepared for warmer, cooler, and wet weather.  

References

• The official Pictured Rocks website: http://www.nps.gov/piro/index.htm
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore brochures, maps, and other information: http://www.nps.gov/piro/planyourvisit/brochures.htm
• The leader will provide topo maps for hikers. To purchase a top of the park, visit the United States Geological Survey. 

• Hansen, Eric, Hiking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A Falcon Guide.
• Graham, Loren R., A Face in the Rock, The Tale of a Grand Island Chippewa. University of California Press.

Conservation

A band of Chippewa, the Ojibwa, made their home in Pictured Rocks long before French Jesuits paddled to the area. Native Americans left behind art, culture, and stories that we’ll discuss in an evening gathering.

Pictured Rocks is one of 40 national parks participating in the Climate Friendly Parks Program of the National Park Service. Among other accomplishments, Pictured Rocks has installed a photovoltaic power system at Au Sable Lighthouse and photovoltaic-powered water pumps in all car campgrounds, and they run diesel equipment on a 20 percent biodiesel blend. We’ll discuss what we have accomplished to reduce greenhouse gas emissions personally, and what we can do.

Pictured Rocks is not immune to environmental pressures faced by other parks. Invasive, non-native plant and animal species are considered major threats, including sea lamprey and zebra mussels in Lake Superior. The gypsy moth has defoliated as many as 12 million acres of eastern hardwoods in one year and is being monitored in Pictured Rocks with traps and pheromone baits. Moths have been trapped in Pictured Rocks since 1990, but not yet in great numbers. Aggressive measures continue to be taken for invasive plants, notably spotted knapweed and purple loosestrife.

Leave No Trace principles will guide our stay in Pictured Rocks. For more information, visit LNT.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.