Awesome day on the island! We took the inaugural ferry of 2026 and had the inaugural tour at the…read morelighthouse! Just a really nice day hiking and having a picnic lunch. The lodge/boat house is really cool; take time to review the exhibits inside. (Enjoy some great soup at Jackson Harbor Soup Shop afterwards!)

This island is definitely worth the ferry rides to get there. You can tour the lighthouse and hike…read morethe entire island. The lighthouse attendants are so friendly and knowledgeable. Very beautiful place to see.

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.

Door Bluff Headlands was an unexpected find during my visit to Door County. It's off the beaten…read morepath, with just a small turnaround/parking area, a portable toilet and some trails. The trails take you along the bluffs overlooking the water, and meander inland. There isn't signage and I'll admit that I ended up taking a bit longer of a hike that I planned on because I lost track of where I was. Because of it's location and amenities, you're not likely to encounter a lot of other people on your hike (but the ones I did were friendly). There was some fog on the day I visited, which gave the trail and view of the lake a mysterious air, and I joked that it looked like I'd found the edge of the map as the view just disappeared a short way out into the water. Per a handwritten sign on one of the trees, the park is also home to the highest point in Door County!

Read through the reviews to get an idea of the trail and any markings. We did not and gave up…read moreafter 15 minutes as we had no idea where the trail was taking us. Other than that if you like paths through trees that go up and down then this is for you.

Well kept trails and beautiful scenery! Have been driving past this spot for most of my life and…read morerecently a friend hiked it and showed photos....gorgeous! Easy access and the vistas along the trails offer beautiful landscapes indicative of the great Upper Peninsula:)

Pete's Lake is an amazing campground on a beautiful lake with plenty of hiking. However, it was far…read morefrom peaceful. Having camped in rustic campgrounds for nearly 30 years, we were shocked with the amount of noise that we experienced. Thoughout the day and into the night there were generators running, barking dogs, and stereos playing with excess bass. A large family group of 50 or so, with 11 of the 41 sites, used a site in the middle of the campground as their congregating place, being loud with music and voices well past the 10:00 quiet hours (ranging from 11-12:30) and needed to be asked to be quiet three of the four nights that we were there.

I'm putting in an update since it has been 4 years since my last review of the Ridges, and will…read morealso post under the Ridges Nature Center as it seems more are reviewing this area under that listing in Yelp. Please do see my older reviews too. This is a lovely natural area with easy boardwalk and flat packed dirt trails. There are many swales with frogs and turtles and tons of wildflowers including so many dwarf irises! It's great seeing those doing so well here. 7 years ago they were excited about one small patch, and now they're everywhere! We even saw some wild orchids. This is a great spot for an easy, relaxing walk in a beautiful setting. Entry is $5 per person and parking is easy during non-peak times.

There is a $5 entrance fee. They have beautiful gardens around the office. We hiked the ridges &…read moreswales and out to the range lights. It was well worth the $5 per person entrance fee. They have a very nice trail system! Bring bug spray though!

Alger Falls is a quick 5-minute roadside stop convenient for checking off another waterfall here in…read moreMunising, Michigan. I tell ya...I can't get over how cool of a town Munising, Michigan is. Situated at one end of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, you can spend an entire day simply stopping at all the waterfalls within the area. And funny, once you visit and get a picture of one waterfall, it then becomes an obsession. Like some sort of mission to officially announce that you've been to them all, lol, at least that's from my view, hehehe. But...in the big picture around Munising, this Alger Falls is definitely the easiest of all the waterfalls to stop at and grab a fast picture of. It's a no-nonsense pullover, which can often be easily overlooked among the more commonly well-known waterfalls of Munising. In fact, the sign for Alger Falls is so small, it can definitely be missed while driving. But...good thing around town, cell phone reception works perfectly so you can just plug Alger Falls into Google Maps and find your way here. Again...be careful while driving you can easily pass this waterfall. I'd advise to go slowly. Then, pull over your car to the shoulder and that's it. You don't even need to hike anywhere. Alger Falls may not be statuesque or stunning in appearance, but for when I was here in late afternoon, the sun was at my back which reflected well onto the falls. I found the setting to be pretty pleasant. I took a few pictures and then went on my way. It was so simple and because of the time of day and accessibility, I enjoyed coming here. And that's it, a brief moment is all you need to check this waterfall off your To-Do-List without any hassles. Following here at Alger Falls, the next morning I visited Chapel Falls, Mosquito Falls and Horseshoe Falls. Like I said...the town of Munising is "waterfall central" within the UP - Upper Peninsula of Michigan!

Just outside Munising in the lovely Upper Peninsula of Michigan we happened upon this water fall…read moreon the way to our Holiday Inn Hotel. the falls are visible from the road. Nice to not have a hike or stairs to see a water fall. There was some area for cars to pull over. this was our visit time to the Upper P. a lovely trip.

Short walk from the parking lot is a little boat with an open view to the bottom of the little…read morelake. There are huge fish and awesome views of the springs.

This little attraction is worth the drive! A natural cold spring releasing 10,000 gallons of water…read morea day. Beautiful crystal clear water with lake trout just hanging out in 40 feet of water. A hollow centered raft with a cable takes you out to the center of the lake and allows viewing underneath and around you. A must see for any Michigan trip!