Great campground. All national park campgrounds at Pictured Rocks are now 100% online reservations…read moreso all the comments here about people stalking for sites are no longer relevant. Reservations can be made at recreation.gov six months in advance. Very poor if any cell service. The west "generator free" loop was mostly all tent campers and apart from wailing children, very quiet. Pit toilets, running (cold) water, and garbage bins (ignore what recreation.gov tells you). Short walk to the beach from every site; many sites are right above the beach.

This campsite is incredible and the pros very much outweigh the cons. We stayed at site 15 for our…read morefirst night and 26 for the second night. Site 15 is 1 of 2 sites that are non reservable until 4 days prior to your approval date, great for last minute planners! We were bummed we couldn't snag 15 for our second night because holy moly it was such a beautiful view. But it also ALL SAND so we had sand all over us and on everything for the 2 days we were there. Site 26 was alright, it's nice because you really only have your neighbors at 27 otherwise you're pretty secluded on the road but it is still bit wide open from the road, so lots of people walking by. Overall the campground isn't the most secluded but being so close to Lake Superior is worth it! The lakeshore campsites are definitely the best imo. I was bummed to see they had no recycling here and unfortunately only pit toilets but the toilets were clean and they had plenty of trash cans. The camp host was incredibly sweet and knowledgeable of the area.

Miner's Castle is a nice gentle hike for folks who aren't big hikers, with an upper viewing (in my…read moreopinion the better of the two), and a lower viewing point. Parking is limited, so we circled until someone left; bathrooms were more plentiful at the Miner's Castle than at National Lakeshore, but they did have some there as well. We loved the beach at the National Lakeshore; clean sand and the beautiful, Caribbean-like waters you expect from Lake Superior. Water is cold, but was so refreshing after a day of hiking and sun! Miner's Castle is a one and done spot for us, but we will definitely be back to the beach at the National Lakeshore!

I didn't visit Miners Beach, but Miners Castle is a must-see! Finally, I got to see in person the…read moreview that the vast majority of Pictured Rocks photos are of and it definitely didn't disappoint! You can view Miners Castle from an upper viewing deck and a lower one. The upper deck is only 250 feet away from the parking lot, the lower deck is about 1000 feet further and all downhill, meaning a pretty extensive uphill trek on your way back up that definitely gets the heart pumping. Both are highly worth it since the lower deck gets you literally a few feet away (you could say...a *stone's* throw away...heh) from the Miners Castle rock formation, which is very cool, but the best view - the classic view - is from the upper deck. Loved it! Very cool-looking bathroom set of buildings as well in the parking lot, alas they were closed so I wasn't able to see how they were inside haha.

Beautiful sand and view with free parking! The river access makes for warmer swimming ‍ water and…read moreis very clean! Bathrooms too!

An absolutely amazing beach that I highly recommend. It's right along the M-28 and very hard to…read moremiss. It gets really packed around the entrance, but if you spend five minutes walking down the beach you'll have a whole stretch of beach to yourself. The water is beautiful - a bright and deep blue glistening in the sun. And you can walk really far out, maybe further than forty feet. At one point, about twenty feet from the coast, the water is as low as three feet deep, but then it gets shallow again as you keep walking onto a sandbar. Bring a beach chair, a towel, some drinks, and a snack, and be willing to walk with all of that for a few minutes away from all of the people, and you're going to have a great time. What a great spot!

Loved this campground. Site 17 had awesome view of Lake Superior. Staff was great in offering…read morehelp in broken front jack if we couldn't get fixed. Luckily we did. Even though the campground was full it was still quite. Lots of little shops and restaurants within walking distance. About an hr drive to Musing where we took the Picture Rocks boat tour. Again awesome. And the drive is nice also. Loved loved loved this park. I have heard flies and mosquitoes can be bad at certain times of year but we didn't experience that during our trip (end of August).

Leaving early:/ really beautiful spot and access to the lake but wow they need to do something…read moreabout the deer flies. we were getting SWARMED, probably around 20 flies attacking and biting us so we are sadly leaving a day early and finding a hotel 30 mins away. Also they clean the bathrooms around 8:30-9:30am so we had to run downtown to use a bathroom. overall really beautiful but pls spray the campgrounds WOW

Grand Island offers a bus tour! For those of us long past strenuous hiking or mountain biking but…read morestill wanting to explore Grand Island, there's a bus tour for day trippers! Experience and explore the highlights of Grand Island without worrying about mobility. The bus has a lift for mobility aides. Most walkways are plank board or firm gravel. Viewing area have plenty of room. The driver adjusts to the needs of the group. You get all the best of " pure Michigan " and then some. Yes, I'm talking about flies, mosquitoes, and no-see-in's. Dress accordingly and bring bug spray. Learn a bit of the fascinating history of Grand Island without over exerting yourself. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet are in the main office. Surprise! They're also your ferry captain and 1st mate. Rich, the bus guide, is a lifelong local who loves the area and especially Grand Island. Ask him anything. He tells great stories. You'll see some fauna and a lot of flora. Overall, a most enjoyable excursion in Munising.

Based on other reviews we got lucky when it came to bugs...I do't recall even using our bug spray…read moreand we didn't have any issues. We visited the first week of September, so maybe we just got lucky. My husband talked me into biking the west rim, then cutting down the middle of the island back to the ferry. Around 20 miles. Our rental bikes were a bit tough to use with not much padding on the seat and gears that were difficult to use. My husband's chain came off at one point. The good news is that we made it in just over four hours - I was so worried about missing the last ferry at 6pm, but we actually caught the 5pm ferry. I would love to visit the island again and stay over night so we don't have to race a clock. The bike trails are tough! I'm a decent bike rider, but trail riding is tough for me. I actually was okay for the first 12 miles, but my legs and rear became sore, making the last eight miles tough. I'm super glad that I was able to complete the ride, and once again had we gotten an earlier start and didn't have to worry about catching the ferry back I think I could have relaxed and not been as worried about having to push my bike up and down some tough and washed out trails. The views on the west rim were amazing! I actually wish we would have just turned around and retraced our steps instead of going down the middle of the island to get back, which is mainly a dirt road for atvs. We will be back to explore some more and work on our bike skills!

You can look at pictures of Pictured Rocks and think, "Wow, that's beautiful," but seeing it in…read moreperson is a completely different experience. It honestly makes you wonder how nature created something like this. The cliffs and colors are absolutely mind-blowing, and learning about the geology behind the different rock colors makes it even more fascinating. There are so many ways to experience this place. You can take a boat cruise, kayak along the cliffs, hike, relax on the beach, or even ice climb in the winter. The nearby towns are fun to explore too, so it's easy to make an entire trip out of it. This is one of those places that sticks with you long after you leave.

There is truly so much to do here, we barely scratched the surface…read more Our favorite spot was the Log Slide Overlook. We had a perfect sunny day so the water looked incredible. The walk to the overlook is nice and shady since you're walking through the woods. The overlook area is very small, so be respectful of those around you and take turns viewing the beauty. We also stopped at the Pictured Rocks overlook, they have flush bathrooms, a ranger on site, and recycling!! Miners beach was also pretty neat, a popular spot even in rainy weather.

We decided to visit the Falls today as it is only about a half hour from our current campground…read more You do have to have a state of Michigan recreation pass you can either buy an annual pass or just the day pass which we did which was $12 for out-of-state It is only about a quarter mile walk back through the woods, bring some bug spray and you'll get a decent view of the fall, but if you really want to get a little closer, you'll need to take the pretty long ramp way, which is wheelchair friendly to get all the way down to a huge viewing platform to get the picture that we took The path is all wide and paved, and even on a Thursday mid morning, it was pretty busy Today was a little marked by the fact that there is a lot of smoke and ash from the Canadian wild fires drifting over into the upper Peninsula, but we still were able to get a decent view Parking was free, although the lot is not very large so plan accordingly. There is also pretty limited cell phone service, from Verizon anyway, on the way out here so make sure you've got your maps downloaded. Clean restrooms are at the entrance to the trail as well

Great place, great food? great beer…read more... Just go you will love it. If you like beautiful scenic views and untouched nature you will love it. The have hard and easy hikes...it's built for everyone. Make sure you bring your swimming suit. You can get wet at the lower falls

Only spent one night here. Very busy park for how isolated it is. Lots are on smaller side, but we…read morehad lot right by lake so privacy not much of an issue. Rained entire time we were there. Restrooms nice. The road to the nearest town is not paved, so going over to grand marais for a beer from the brewery is an adventure.

Wonderful campground fronting on Muskallonge Lake. Nice swimming beach. You can easily walk to Lake…read moreSuperior from the campground.

This place is a garbage dump. I highly recommend finding another campground to camp in the UP, out…read moreof all the places I went camping in the UP. This place is the worst. So where do I begin, first off Its overcrowded, I mean, the campground owners must be desperate for money because they have this place packed, you can pretty much smell your neighbors farts your so close to the next camper, They pack them in here like sardines thats for sure. And garbage all over the place, the beaches I am sure at one time were pristine, but this place contributes to the trash on the beach and blowing all over the place, most the trash cans were full and the facilities are disgusting. Flies all over, worst I have seen then anywhere else in the UP. I went to go use the showers and they both sucked, the small one, was filthy, I don't think they clean them on the weekends, and the showers don't have any curtains, in any of them, so going to shower with grand kids is difficult at best, and the roof of the inside of the building is covered with dead flies and moths and spiders crawling all over the place, and it looks like they painted over them in an attempt to make it look nice. Made me want to vomit. My grand kids could not be convinced to use this one more then once and I will never come back to this campground again with them, and on that note the other shower building looks nice, but its a joke, whoever spent the money to build this thing got took, when you walk up at night the lights are literally shorting out making a buzz noise like the whole building might catch on fire, then when you go inside it looks really nice and new, but that is deceiving! The shower is ridiculous, its big enough to wash an elephant, and the water pressure is a joke, you got room in the shower to have a party with a full on DJ but there is no water pressure, I feel like this may be a gay bath house of some sort, based on some of the drunken riff raff we saw in this place. Why so much room for activities??? Worst part the drain was plugged or slow and the water pooled in half of them, so you literally standing in some one else waste water while it feels like you're getting pissed on and again did I mention that there is no water pressure. The only plus side of this whole place was the view, it's pretty nice when you dont have a million people right in front of you. So much traffic, I thought I saw a sign that said no ORV's but thats all I saw was people with loud smelly exhausts on off road vehicles cruising thru at all hours of the night and day. Terrible. Do not recommend.

Terrible campground. Rude Camp-host. Sites are way to close together. Showers broken. Find a better…read moreone if your going to travel the distance!

Miners Falls is another great, relatively easy hike that can be done by all skill levels and I…read morewould highly recommend it as well during your Pictured Rocks trip, either before or after you make a stop at Miners Castle as well. Clocking it at 1.2 miles, it takes about half an hour to complete out and back. Miners Falls is way bigger and grander than Munising Falls, so it's definitely impressive and worth the hike out. You aren't able to get as close to it as you do to Munising Falls, you view it from 2 different viewing platforms across a wide river, but it's still impressive just the same. The hike is more intensive. It's mostly shallow, sometimes steeper in areas decline through forest on the way there, but that just means that you know the way back is going to be a constant uphill, which is a bit killer. Total elevation gain here is about 150 feet. Great part about this hike is that the trail is so WIDE, tons of space to walk and be distant from other people, not that this trail was even all that heavily trafficked by any means. When you get to the falls, the first viewpoint you get to really doesn't give you a good view. For both viewpoints, you are already looking down at the falls, and the first viewpoint, which is much higher up, is blocked by trees and at too high of an angle for you to appreciate much of anything. So it's imperative that you head to viewpoint #2, which is down one final series of steep stairs. From this viewing platform, you get a great, impressive view of the falls, get a moment to take pictures, catch your breath, before you embark on the not-so-long-but-sort-of-feels-long-because-it's-all-uphill journey back up to the parking lot. I was definitely breathing hard by the time I got to the parking lot, but it was a great, short hike to do! It really didn't hurt either that there was gorgeous fall foliage all along the road leading into the Miners Falls parking lot and spots of color along the entire hike as well. Can't be anything but happy when looking at fall rolling in! :)

Okay so here is another decent/worthwhile waterfall to visit within Pictured Rocks National…read moreLakeshore. This is Miners Falls. And...it's really easy to find and hike to. From the trailhead it's a 0.6 mile walk along a gravel path. And the 0.6-mile stroll to Miners Falls takes you throughout an incredibly pleasant and tranquil forest setting. Even before I arrived at the falls, I was grabbing pictures on the walk being immersed in lush green trees and vegetations of the woodsy outdoors. Miners Falls is about a 50-foot waterfall that's one of the more majestic flowing falls you'll find in the small town of Munising, Michigan...and Munising is sort of the host town of Pictured Rocks NL. In Munising, you'll discover a bunch of other scenic waterfalls like Alger Falls, Chapel Falls, Munising Falls, Mosquito Falls and Horseshoe Falls to name a few. You can plug all these waterfalls into Google Maps on your phone to specifically locate them. Cell phone reception in Munising works just fine. Now, one of my issues with this Miners Falls and I know I'm nitpicking...is that once walk the 0.6 mile...you can only view the falls from an observation deck. And...this overlook platform had guardrails installed as high up as your waste. So...when trying to take optimal photos of Miners Falls for yourself and or family...you're sort of held hostage to these guardrails. It's sort of like you're being photobombed by a stranger but instead it's really the tiny platform and guardrails that taint the experience. Most visitors here at the overlook were taking selfie pics, which for myself...isn't worth the time. So, I gladly took a picture or two of Miners Falls before returning back towards the trailhead. I guess just in the end I'm a narcissistic person and I want myself in every picture to officially claim that I've "been there, done that", lol. Oh well, this miniscule platform vista point and the guardrails were out of my control. Here was another frustrating aspect... I was visiting back at the end of May 2021 and the parking lot and hike to the falls were pretty busy. In fact, it was congested enough to the point that there was a crowded line of people just waiting to step onto the observation area. And because the platform barely allowed tourists to step foot on it together at one time, the wait was about 10 minutes to get that photographic memory. Wow I thought to myself...this is a popular part to the Pictured Rocks NL area. And just a side note...when I was here this past summer, it was free to explore and hike to all the waterfalls. But for the 2022 travel season, starting on March 1, there'll be a $10 fee for visitors which will eventually over time get raised to $25. So, yes...people are coming. National parks, monuments, lakeshores, state parks, hikes and trails are all getting busier each year. Be prepared for maybe eventually losing that true essence for being outside in the heart of nature. Tourists are coming in droves and it's not stopping anytime soon. Anyways...finally, I got my time at the overlook deck for a quick couple of photos before yielding to the people behind me. Miners Falls was pretty impressive when looking down upon it. I just wished that the hiking path continued down towards the base of the falls because in my opinion...there's nothing like looking up at a scenic waterfall as the prime attraction within a scenic backdrop. Welp...lol, sorry for all my venting. From here at Miners Falls, I continued onto Munising Falls, about a 9-mile drive away. And yeah...once again, Munising Falls was simply a 0.5 mile walk each way to and from an observation deck, but at least the platform there allowed more space to accommodate tourists. Lastly, although I never found true fulfillment from the viewing platform looking down at Miners Falls, I still enjoyed the hike through the forest and simply getting a chance to witness another waterfall here at Pictured Rocks Lakeshore in the UP - Upper Peninsula of Michigan.