2931. Explore the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising

 When we got our National Park Pass this year, the hubby decided we should get as much use out of it as possible as well as try to knock of the two sites in Wisconsin. After a bit of a research, I learned that Apostle Islands National Lakeshore was 5 hours away and required no park fee while Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, MI was only 3.5 hours away and had a park fee. Based on this, the hubby agreed it made most sense to head to Michigan this fall. 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore spans the shores of Lake Superior from Munising to Grand Marais which is 47 miles. You can drive or hike the North Country Trail to explore the park. The park fee is $10. It is open year round so you can explore ice caves in winter.

There are plenty of options to view the National Lakeshore from without much hiking. 

Our first stop was the Munising Visitor Center which is currently under construction. We showed the park pass and got our map. Then we walked a very short trail to Munising Falls. I figured the hubby could handle the 800 foot paved trail to see the falls. 

The 50 foot waterfall was stunning. We viewed it together from the main view platform. 

I then walked up to the middle platform and view it from there. I decided not to walk the stairs up to the upper viewing platform. The views were gorgeous especially in early fall.

Since we had some time before our boat tour, we drove the 10 miles to Miners Castle Overlook. This is another easy hike. We walked to the overlook from the parking lot. It was about 200 feet. The view was again stunning. It was one of those iconic Pictured Rock billboard pictures.

I did walk 10 feet on the North Country Trail just to say I "hiked" the North Country Trail.

That is all we had time to explore before we had to head back to Munising for our boat tour. Hopefully we will make it back to Pictured Rocks to keep exploring the lakeshore. There is plenty more to see including more overlooks, waterfalls, and museums. I will gladly pay the $10 to see more of the Lakeshore.