• Little Portal Point at sunset. Photo copyright Craig Blacklock

    Pictured Rocks

    National Lakeshore Michigan

  • Fire Ban in Effect

    A FIRE BAN in all drive-in and hike-in campgrounds, effective at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 24. Due to very hazardous conditions, the ban is in effect until further notice.

  • Chapel Road - last quarter mile closed

    The last quarter-mile of Chapel Road is closed due to construction. Only very limited parking available along Chapel Road. Please park at Miners Beach. More »

  • Sable Falls re-opens, Friday, May 25, 5 p.m.

    The trail and stairs to Sable Falls are closed due to a collapse of the stream bank. Work is nearly done, and the trail will re-open for Memorial Day weekend!

Enjoy Lakeshore Cross-Country Ski Trails

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Date: January 31, 2012
Contact: Chris Case, 906-387-2607, ext. 209

Cross Country Skier on the Munising Ski Trails.

MUNISING, Mich. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Chief of Facility Management Chris Case is encouraging folks to come out and enjoy the cross-country ski trails maintained by the National Park Service in Munising and Grand Marais. 

"It has been a long time coming this year, but we finally have enough snow to establish a decent base and maintain formal grooming operations," Case said. 

"Our trails are groomed for 'classic' diagonal stride skiing," Case said. The Munising Ski Trails include 11.7 miles of trails. The Grand Marais Trails include 10.4 miles of trails. Both areas offer a variety of terrain for beginners as well as more experienced skiers. 

"The park trails offer a wonderful opportunity for uncrowded classic skiing in the beautiful north woods. Many of the trails within the Munising system offer spectacular views of Lake Superior, which is quite unique," Case added.  

"We have been working hard to make some improvements in trail layout, grooming operations and trail marking," said Trail Crew Leader Ted Shepard. "We replaced a number of narrow bridges with wider ones, purchased some new grooming equipment, and are working to make sure all the trails are well marked."  

"I really appreciate all the hard work my staff does to repair, pack and groom these trails," Case said.  "This is a wonderful experience we provide for the visiting public as well as local folks, and we appreciate the donations people have made to support the system."  

The park ski trails are free, but a donation of $3 per day is encouraged. The donation can be provided at each ski trail heads, located just off H-58 by the NPS Maintenance Area, off City Limits Road in Munising, and across from the Grand Sable Visitor Center in Grand Marais.   


About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's more than 395 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.  

 

Did You Know?

Mineral seepage creates the vibrant colors shown on this close-up photo of the Pictured Rocks cliffs.

Mineral stains give color to the famous cliffs of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Red and orange colors are iron, black is manganese, white is limonite, and green is a trace of copper. There are no pictographs or petroglyphs on the Pictured Rocks cliffs (that we know of). More...