This lighthouse is absolutely gorgeous and definitely worth the walk! There are tours at certain times throughout the day, and the tours are about 30 minutes long. I didn't have time to do one, but there were quite a few people there for the tours and rangers were leading them. The walk from the parking lot is about 1.7 miles one way on a flat, well-maintained gravel path, so it's an easy and accessible walk to get there. There's also a beach path where you can walk along the water and see remnants of a shipwreck in the water. Once you get to the lighthouse, you can walk around inside and see the furnishings, which were beautiful and really fun to look at. You can also climb the lighthouse! Kids just have to meet a certain height requirement to climb. There's a bathroom at the trailhead by the campground and a National Park Passport stamp available here too. Between the beautiful scenery, lighthouse, shipwreck remains, and easy trail, this was definitely worth the walk! read more

Au Sable Light Station - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Seney, Michigan

See all

Beautiful walk and scenery. It's an easy walk along a sandy trail. May need bug spray in the middle of July. Interesting historical information with great views! read more

See all

A lovely place to visit. It's a good-looking lighthouse and you get a great view on the Log Slide, without the need to climb the slide yourself. The walk from the parking lot is very flat and easy. You can also walk along the beach, where has some shipwreck remains. The tour is not available during Covid, but the view makes it still worth the visit. I enjoyed the part walking along the beach too. Overall, it's a good place to visit and I'd recommend. read more

See all

We really didn't have time to stop here, but I love lighthouses and light stations, so we made the time during our two half days at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and if you like Lighthouses, you should make the time too. You can see this lighthouse in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore from the Log Slide overlook to the east. It is beautiful. Problem is, it is not easy to get to, even today, though the NPS now offers a bus to it from the Hurricane River parking lot area between 11am and 4pm daily. Six ranger lead tours take place daily during season at 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 230pm, 330pm & 430pm (2014 schedule). The tours are $3 (bring exact change, they cannot and will not make change for you there) per person over 6 years old, and we LOVED IT. The ranger leading our tour was interesting, knowledgeable and interested in answering our questions and providing a sense of how isolated this place was for many, many years. The tour begins in the light house itself where the family lived, and it is currently being redone as it might have been about 1910. The building was rather neglected from when it stopped being lived in in the late 1950's until it was acquired by the NPS, but because it was so far out of the beaten path, vandalism was minimal, and structurally, the place is in great shape and is being restored quite nicely. Still, this will likely be a many years project before it is completed with more furnishings and period pieces in the living quarters. The reason to go to this lighthouse, as with all lighthouses, is to make the 98 step climb and to get to go outside on the catwalk and survey the surrounding park, lakeshore and national forest from about 100 feet up. This view is impressive, and worth the 3 bucks all on its own. After that, don't forget to check out the life boat house on the water too. Besides the light station, there is an information center open seasonally in the old light station's keeper's house. For those of you who collect NPS stamps, there are two here you may want. Lighthouse enthusiasts, one of those stamps is of the light station for your passport books. Just outside of the information center are two clean outhouses that we were thankful to have in this remote location. It is a long walk back to the parking lot once you get here. This light station was put here because it was a sailors graveyard, and remained so even after the light station was constructed. Over 50 ships have sunk here, and at least one is visible on the beach walk to or from the light station on the 1.6 mile walk there or back, which is how I'd suggest you make at least one of the legs. What is it about shipwrecks that so fires up the imagination? PLUS, the beach walk is filled with amazing rocks and beach front that is completely worth the time to explore. Of all our stops in Picture Rocks National Lakeshore, this is the one I wish we had allotted more time for. We had to jog out to the station on the 1.6 mile path to make our 330pm tour, and after the 40 minute tour and climb up and down the lighthouse, we walked back along the beach. But we had to get to Musining for a 6pm boat tour, and that hemmed us in from what would easily have been another hour or more of exploring if we had had the time. Maybe not for everyone, and if you don't take the bus, this side trip will take 2-3 hours with the hike. But if you like lighthouses, lakeshores with shipwrecks and amazing views of the lake and surrounding national forest, this is a stop you really have to make inside Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. read more

See all