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REGION
TEN
Pictured Rocks/Munising/Au Train
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Colorful cliffs meet clear Lake Superior in a region of memorable hikes, beaches, kayaking, waterfalls and shipwrecks.
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For many first-time visitors to the Upper Peninsula arriving from below the Bridge, Munising is the first place where they see Lake Superior. But it's not just the world's largest lake that marks the new visual scene here. After miles of flat, swampy terrain to the east, a very different-looking Upper Peninsula emerges, the reflection of a change from the younger bedrock (less than 500 million years old) to
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progressively older bedrock as one moves west. (The oldest part of the U.P. of all, which stretches southward from around Marquette, is over 3 billion years old.)
Much of this region in Alger County and neighboring Schoolcraft County is made up of four distinct components of public land: the vast west end of the Hiawatha National Forest, the 70,000-acre Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, swath of state forest land with campgrounds south of it, and a portion of the Seney National Wildlife. Most of this public land, after being logged over, eventually reverted to government ownership, often for nonpayment of taxes.
Today the area south of Munising and Au Train and southeast to Manistique is mostly national forest land, studded with small resorts, national forest campgrounds, and lakes and rivers with excellent public access. Much of this part of the national forest is wetland.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the Munising area's tourism magnet, is far from the area's only visitor attraction. The Munising /Pictured Rocks area has 16 waterfalls you can visit. West of Munising, a beautiful shoreline stretch of M-28 through Au Train (pronounced "aw train") to Marquette passes right by big pines and sandy beaches, largely open to the public.
Cautionary note: As beautiful as the lakeshore here is, in winter this same stretch is notorious for sudden snow squalls and whiteouts. Many winter motorists favor the longer, safer route from Munising to Marquette via M-94 and U.S. 141, passing through Chatham and surrounding farm country.
The Au Train Basin is part of the low-lying area of many lakes and streams extending south of Munising and Au Train all the way down to Rapid River and Manistique on Lake Michigan. Long ago this entire basin once drained into the Gulf of Mexico.
Well before European settlement, going back to the Algonquian Noquet tribe, one of the U.P.'s most important trails connected Lakes Michigan and Superior by following the Au Train Basin and the Whitefish River within it. Today the Forest Service has reconstructed it as the Grand Island-Bay de Noc Trail.
Several trails on public land are destinations for cross-country skiers and mountain bikers. Get directions and maps at the Pictured Rocks/Hiawatha National Forest Visitor Center. The 10.7k Munising Cross-Country Ski Trail between Munising Falls and Sand Point is part of the national lakeshore. ("Should not be missed," says Dennis Hansen, author/cartographer for the massive Trail Atlas of Michigan: Nature, Mountain Biking, Hiking Cross Country Skiing . ...continued below...
The artfully laid out Valley Spur Ski Trails are another destination. Ungroomed trail networks are on Grand Island and two trails in the Hiawatha National Forest south of Munising: the 11.7k Bruno's Run and the 12k McKeever Hills Ski Trails. One consideration: winter storms come up with unusual uddenness here. Skiers should always be informed about weather fronts.
In this region there are a dozen small farm towns within a triangle only 15 miles on each side: from Chatham to Skandia along M-94, and from Skandia to Trenary along U.S. 41, with Traunik in between. Many of these farming communities were historically ethnic. Swedes arrived as homesteaders on cutover land in what would become the Chatham and Limestone area, followed by French-Canadians. Carlshend, Skandia, and Sundell were Swedish, too. Traunik was Slovenian. And Finns were, eventually, everywhere. Trenary, incidentally, was an older town with a mix of peoples, settled first by native-born Americans from elsewhere in the Middle West, and not particularly Finnish.
The original farm families were largely headed by men who worked in the woods and saved enough to buy small parcels of cutover land from the lumber companies. Here timber had been shipped out by rail on the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic (later the Soo Line). When the timber had all been taken out, the lumber companies removed the rail spurs going to their lumber camps and sold what land they could. Extended immigrant families, sometimes six or more adult siblings, looked for good, high ground and bought land next to their relatives and friends.
What did they raise? One man from Traunik laughs, "The crops they really grew were children. They were diversified subsistence farms — a few pigs and chickens, some potatoes and big gardens. They did alright during the Depression because they didn't buy much besides flour. The emphasis, if any, was on dairy. There was no milk truck collecting milk. They milked maybe seven cows, maybe ten, and sold the cream to creameries. These were pretty primitive operations. The men would work in the woods and come home weekends." Much of the farm work fell to women and children.
Today Chatham has a good homestyle restaurant in an unusual limestone hotel, and Trenary is home to the Trenary Outhouse Classic (see "Events" in "To find out more") and the regionally famous Trenary Home Bakery, makers of the widely available "Trenary Toast" —cinnamon toast (korpu in Finnish). The general store in Traunik has reopened as Lily's, a creative coffeehouse/natural foods grocery/gift shop with Michigan wines and beers, organic chocolates, and free trade items like Vietnamese lanterns. Today some of those 80-acre parcels, without many trees, have been bought and used by mushers to give their sled dogs workouts.
In winter the roadbed of the onetime Soo Line through this area becomes the U.P.'s major east-west snowmobile highway—a huge annoyance to local people who live in the towns the train once connected, but a boon for Munising motels and restaurants in a region whose prime summer tourism season (from July 4 weekend to the beginning of school) is pitifully short.
The county name "Alger," incidentally, memorializes lumberman Russell Alger, Civil War general, Michigan governor, briefly McKinley's Secretary of War, and from 1902 to 1907 a U.S. senator. Alger, active in logging his namesake county, was only one of many Michigan lumbermen who mixed "pine and politics." Three other lumber barons also became governors. One was the grandfather of Billy Durant, who put General Motors together. Lumber money enabled Detroit and Flint automakers to grow bigger faster, from 1905 to 1910, than their many rivals elsewhere.
Major area employers today, aside from tourism and related agencies, are Kimberly-Clark, operators of Munising's landmark paper mill since 1955, the Michigan Department of Corrections, and the Kewadin Casino in Christmas, owned by the Sault Tribe. The area has two prisons, Alger Maximum Security Prison (courted by economic development leaders in the 1990s), and the Cusino Correctional Facility outside Shingleton.
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HELPFUL AREA INFORMATION
The Alger County Chamber of Commerce is on M-28 at the east entrance to Munising between Glen's supermarket and Hardee's. It's open Monday through Friday from 10 to 4, in summer as long as from 9 to 7. Reduced April operation: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10-4. (906) 387-2138.
The Pictured Rocks/Hiawatha National Forest Visitor Center answers questions and supplies printed information about the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Grand Island, and the Hiawatha National Forest land that makes up much of Alger County. The Visitor Center is also a nature bookstore with books about the area's natural and human history and an extensive selection of nature guides and books for adults and children. It's in Munising on H-58 just east of M-28, where the main highway turns west to follow the lakeshore. Look for the brown signs. (906) 387-3700. Web sites: www.nps.gov/piro for Pictured Rocks, www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/hiawatha for Hiawatha National Forest. From Memorial to Labor Day open daily including Sundays and holidays from 8 to 6. Otherwise open Monday through Saturday from 9 to 4:30, closed holidays. Wheelchair-accessible.
Six rustic state forest campgrounds just south of the National Lakeshore are a handy backup for filled-up Pictured Rocks campgrounds, and usually a pleasant surprise. Get locations ahead of time. Visit www.michigandnr/parksandtrails, then click on "Parks map" on left, and then on "Alger County" on the map.
Falling Rock Café (906-387-3008) on M-28 in downtown Munising serves as an informal information and networking hub with evening hours.
PUBLIC LAND
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and its 70,000 acres are open to hunting in season starting in mid-September. South of Munising and Au Train is mostly part of the Hiawatha National Forest. The visitor center (see above) supplies information, printed and oral, about the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and the nearby part of the Hiawatha National Forest . . . . Overlooked amid the well-known federal recreation areas, Lake Superior State Forest has extensive land, pathways, and eight scenic rustic campgrounds on inland lakes and streams south of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Munising. They have excellent privacy and are less likely to be full. Get a state forest map at the Pictured Rocks/National Forest Visitor Center, Michigan Welcome Centers, or call the DNR's Shingleton office on M-28, (906) 452-6227.
For helpful information about Grand Island see the Hiawatha National Forest's site at http//Xwww.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/hiawatha/recreation/hiking/grand-island-trail/index.php.
GUIDES & CHARTERS
Guided kayak outings to Pictured Rocks and/or Grand Island, depending on weather, are offered by Northern Waters in Munising (886-GO-PADDLE; www.northernwaters.com). . . . . Short guided hikes are part of the regular free programming at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. . . . Lake Superior fishing charters include Mitch Mattson's Shelter Bay Charters (906-892-8230) and Kimar's (906-892-8277), both west of Au Train.
EVENTS
Staff at the national lakeshore, national forest, and Seney Refuge and other leading birders give talks and lead walks at Birding by the Bay.. Space is limited; get application from the chamber or at www.nps.gov/piro. Munising celebrates July 4 and homecomingin a big way at Munising's Bayshore Park, with a parade at noon, children's and other activities all day. It's always on the 4th . . . The National Park Service and Hiawatha National Forest hold summer evening programs at various locations, usually campgrounds. Get a schedule at the Visitor Center. . . . Summer evening concerts are Tuesdays at 7 from late June thru late August at Munising's downtown Bayshore Park at the foot of Elm, by the Pictured Rocks Boat Cruise dock. . . . Saturday evenings, year-round, there's a concert at Falling Rock Cafe in downtown Munising. . . . The Trenary Outhouse Classic (contestants race their comic outhouse-sleds along a snow-packed run) is the last Saturday in February, providing an excuse to banish cabin fever in a festive, beery crowd.
HARBOR with transient dockage:
In downtown Munising at Bay Shore Marina (906-387-2095 or 387-2275; 46° 24' 52" N, long. 86° 39' 06" W) with showers, picnic tables, launch ramp.
PICNIC PROVISIONS & PLACES
The place to pick up fruit, deli items, and groceries is Glen's Market, the huge 24-hour supermarket on M-28 at the east edge of MUNISING. . . . For more gourmet fare, consider calling ahead for takeout from the Brownstone Inn (892-8332) in AU TRAIN.
Sand Point picnic area and beach, part of the National Lakeshore, is a wonderful destination, just five miles northeast of MUNISING on Sand Point Road, off H-58. It forms the entrance to Munising Bay and has an up-close view of Grand Island and its East Channel Lighthouse. The barrier-free Sand Point Marsh Trail crosses a wetland.
Right in MUNISING, Bayshore Park at the foot of Elm Street, across from the Boat Cruise dock, has picnic tables, grills, and a beautiful view.
Miners Castle, 13 miles northeast of Munising, is the premiere PICTURED ROCKS sight. Picnic tables are scattered around the walk to the castle formation, but a staffer says the picnic area by the beach is even nicer.
Bay Furnace, off M-28 just west of CHRISTMAS, has a picnic area by a sandy Lake Superior beach with a view of the charcoal iron smelter's ruins and Grand Island.
At AU TRAIN, the Michigan Department of Transportation has a roadside park and picnic area by the low Lake Superior sand dunes off M-28, near where the warm, clear Au Train River empties into Au Train Bay.
A picnic area and beach is on the southeastern shore of Au Train Lake, accessed off H-03/Forest Lake Road, the main road through AU TRAIN village.
Another pretty MDOT roadside park and picnic area off M-28 is at DEER LAKE near Shelter Bay, an inland lake with warmer swimming. It's about 8 miles west of Au Train and 20 miles west of Munising.
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