Au Sable Point Lighthouse, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan
Au Sable Point Light, on the shore of Lake Superior in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is a remote but easily accessed lighthouse, if you don't mind driving the area's scenic back roads and then taking an easy 1.5-mile hike.
To reach this very picturesque lighthouse, take Alger County Road 58 west from the harbor town of Grand Marais through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. This is a well maintained dirt and gravel access road that winds through lush, deep northern forestland. When you reach the Hurricane River Campground, park near the Hurricane River and walk the two-track access path (a gated forest road) to the lighthouse and buildings.
A park ranger is on duty during the summer months at the keeper's house to give interpretive tours of both the house and the light tower itself.
In the 1.5 mile stretch to the lighthouse, you can easily walk the level forest road through the forest near the top of the cliffsides. Alternately, you can hike the shoreline below. If you do, you can see the wood and iron remains of several old shipwrecks, a sobering reminder of the incredible power of Lake Superior, and the reason for the existence of this lighthouse, even with today's high-tech navigational aids.
Administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service, Pictured Rocks is a fantastic natural treasure exhibiting many faces and environments. Multicolored sandstone cliffs along Lake Superior give the park its name. It also features beautiful beaches, sand dunes, waterfalls, inland lakes, wildlife and forest in an area totalling over 73,000 acres. At its widest point, the Lakeshore is only five miles and hugs the Superior shoreline for more than 40 miles. This was the first National Lakeshore, having been authorized by Congress in 1966.
Photo location: Au Sable Point, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Alger County, Michigan.
