Picture This

Views of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore from HoneyRock Trips

By HoneyRock Center for Leadership Development

May 23^rd, 2022

Who Goes to Pictured Rocks?

Traveling to some of the best trails, rivers, and lakes in the United States, HoneyRockers enjoy some of the finest midwest wilderness destinations in the United States. One notable U.S. site students and campers travel to is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore located on the south shore of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In the summer months, SALT Staff head up to these multicolored sandstone cliffs for training trips where they will return with their 2:22 Campers later in the season for 8-day wilderness trips. In mid-September, Vanguard Gap Year students backpack the North Country Trail (NCT) through Pictured Rocks, with Vanguard Coordinators and Fellows, as part of their community formation and Backpacking & Orienteering class.

Natural diversity & breathtaking views at your finger tips.

Pictured Rocks is home to a plethora of beautiful scenery and constantly changing environments. The notorious sandstone cliffs of Pictured Rocks are a perfect image of change in slow motion. Sandstone is not the sturdiest of rock over long periods of time. Due to the erosion that life along the Lake Superior shoreline brings, the cliffs and dunes are always in a state of change which allows the brilliance of God's handiwork to be put on full display at every turn! Along the drastic drops lie miles of deciduous and coniferous forests, and trails lined with native ferns and wildflowers.

Deciduous forest along the North Country Trail.

Visual representation of the natural erosion process and layers of sandstone.

Mineral stained sandstone bordering Lake Superior

Time on the rocks, taking in the sun and crash of the waves.

Atop Grand Sable Dunes (east end of park).

Looking west toward Grand Portal Point. The pile of sandstone below the opening is a great look at the ever-slowly-changing cliffs.

Vanguards take in dramatic sunsets on the Grand Sable Dunes at the east end of the park.

There's nothing quite better than life on the trail.

As the North Country Trail winds its way through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore it provides upwards of 35 miles of eroded and mineral stained sandstone, which includes plenty of freshwater beach access, making way for ample play and exploration. Truly, one of the best parts of hiking through Picture Rocks are the beaches. Many beaches and shoreline access points require the use of a ladder as to not cause further or unnecessary erosion caused by foot traffic. Sometimes hikers will come across stone beaches, comprised mostly of large sheets of flat sandstone, slowly reaching into Lake Superior. Often these sheets break up into smaller pieces and lay about on the sandy beaches, these super flat pieces of sandstone make for a great game of skipping rocks when Superior is calm enough.