Grand Marais is one of the prettiest towns in Michigan.
It’s located at the mouth of a gorgeous bay on Lake Superior at the eastern end of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Because of its relative remoteness, it is not overrun with tourists and may be best known for its kayak symposiums – training for preparing paddlers for kayaking the Pictured Rocks along the shores of Lake Superior.
Every July, I had head up north with a group of old friends, picking a different location and spend five days hiking, biking, swimming and having a great time.
Our trip a few summers ago to the Grand Marais area, with perfect weather, great trails, waterfalls and swimming in a somewhat warm Lake Superior, was one of our best.
The plan was to make the seven-hour drive from Kalamazoo to the 36-site 12 Mile Beach Campground on a Wednesday and easily get a campsite. We quickly found that many others had the same idea and the campgrounds at 12 Mile Beach and at Hurricane River were both totally full. Our group ended up at Kingston Lake in the Lake Superior State Forest – a very pretty campground in the middle of a half dozen small lakes. We got up early the next morning and did some kayaking.
The 48-mile, H-58 County Road between Grand Marais and Munising has recently been paved and makes it much easier to get the various campgrounds and trails.
We got up early the next morning and were very lucky to get a site at the 12 Mile Beach Campground on the Lake Superior shore from a family packing up and heading back to Florida. I just read an MLive story stating that this campground is the second hardest to book in the U.S. with it being full 99% of the time. The nearby Hurricane River campground was also listed as 6th hardest in the US to book and full 96% of the time.
Each morning began with a cup of coffee from my trusty Coleman stove and a few miles hike along the beach, picking up multi-colored agates.
Our morning shower consisted of jumping into the cold, rocky, lake. With this being mid-July and one of the hottest summers on record, I cannot imagine what it would be like any earlier in the year.
We spent our days hiking a handful of the main trails leading past waterfalls, lakes and huge rock formations, ending at a gorgeous beach.
The Log Jam trail took us to the top of a very large sand dune with an opening leading to the beach a few hundred yards below. We read that lumberjacks used this opening at the turn of the century to slide logs down the steep bank to waiting barges down below. We also learned that one log hit the water at a bad angle and skipped out to the barge killing two loggers along the way.
Our favorite hike was to an area called The Cliffs, a few miles of ledges, pools and smooth rocks that were great for climbing and jumping off. The water here was warmer, and we continued to walk and walk, not knowing what we might find around the next corner.
The next day we hiked to several waterfalls and the Hurricane River, ending at the mouth of the river and about 25 kayaks parked on the shore. The waves were quite large and the Boy Scout group had a little trouble. One kayak pair had to be rescued after flipping a hundred yards or so offshore.
Our favorite spot in Grand Marais was the Lake Superior Brewing Company with great pizza and beer. Being big Tiger fans, we had to catch parts of a few games while we were in town. Other highlights included the Old Post Office Museum, the Pickle Barrel House (A house shaped like a barrel inspired by the early 1900’s comic strip the Teenie Weenies) and the West Bay Diner.
I had a great Blue Moon milk shake at the West Bay Diner and learned that the diner was built in 1949 in New Jersey, sat empty for years in Pennsylvania and eventually went to Rockford, Michigan, where it was owned by Jerry Berta, former owner of the famous Rosie’s Diner. He sold it to Ellen Airgood and it was moved across the Mackinac Bridge in 1997 and eventually restored.
While looking around in the diner I noticed a stack of books on display in a corner. After a closer look, I noticed that Ellen had written “South of Superior”. She autographed the book for me and I loved the great story about the joys and challenges of living in a remote, small town. Airgood sold the diner in 2022 and it has been renamed Archie’s West Bay Diner. Airgood now runs a bakery out of an Airstream trailer in Deer Park, east of Grand Marais.
So take a trip to this great small town at the edge of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and experience one of the prettiest and most unique locations in the state.
