Things to Do in Munising, Michigan

The cliffs rise 50 to 200 feet above Lake Superior, and the Park Service says the best view is from the water. Pictured Rocks Cruises, the park’s authorized concessionaire since 1974, runs narrated trips of 2 to 3 hours from the Munising City Dock. Routes pass Miners Castle, Lovers Leap, Chapel Rock and, on the longer cruise, Spray Falls.

★ Good to know Cruises run mid-May through mid-October, and sunset departures are an option; the company posts a daily weather outlook on its home page.

About 11 miles northeast of town, this is the only place in the park where you can drive to overlooks on the cliffs. A short, paved, wheelchair-accessible trail leads to two upper overlooks of Lake Superior and Grand Island. One of the castle’s two turrets fell into the lake in a 2006 rockfall.

★ Good to know The loop to all three overlooks is about half a mile, and the lower one involves stairs and a steep incline.

Grand Island sits about half a mile offshore in Munising Bay. It has 300-foot sandstone cliffs, 13,500 acres of forest, sandy beaches and inland lakes, managed by the Hiawatha National Forest. Most visitors come to hike or mountain bike for the day.

★ Good to know The passenger ferry leaves Grand Island Landing on M-28, about 2.5 miles west of town, from late May into October; e-bikes aren’t allowed on the island’s trails.

This two-hour narrated tour floats over two wrecks through viewing wells in the hull: the Bermuda and the Herman H. Hettler. It also passes the East Channel Lighthouse and the cliffs and caves of Grand Island. Boats leave from 1204 Commercial St.

★ Good to know It pairs well with a Pictured Rocks cruise, since the two cover different stretches of shoreline.

Miners Falls is the park’s most powerful waterfall, where the Miners River drops about 50 feet. The walk is 0.6 mile each way, with 64 steps down to the lower platform. Nearby, Miners Beach runs nearly a mile along Lake Superior, with cliffs at both ends and Elliot Falls at the east end.

★ Good to know There are no lifeguards at park beaches, and Lake Superior can have rip currents.

About 4 miles northeast of town, Sand Point has the park’s warmest swimming, in shallow Munising Bay. It’s the only park beach with picnic tables on the sand, and it’s a local favorite for sunsets. The 0.5-mile Sand Point Marsh Trail is wheelchair accessible and good for birding.

★ Good to know In summer, a small boathouse museum here shows artifacts from the old Munising Coast Guard station, free of charge.

Just 1.5 miles south of town, a 0.1-mile gravel trail and boardwalk lead to a platform over Wagner Falls. Wagner Creek cascades over rock ledges on its way to the Anna River. It’s the quickest waterfall stop near Munising.

★ Good to know There are no restrooms or water, the lot holds only 8 to 10 cars, and a Michigan Recreation Passport is required.

Inside the city limits, a paved 800-foot trail follows Munising Creek up a shaded canyon to a 50-foot waterfall. Its road and parking lot are plowed all winter, and the falls freeze into a column of ice. The Munising Falls Visitor Center is the park’s contact point in town.

★ Good to know The trail has been closed for storm-damage repairs, so check the park’s current conditions before you go.