NPS photo NPS photo Check at a visitor center for current trail conditions. Where allowed, pets must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet. Bicycles are prohibited on park trails. WALKS OF ONE MILE OR LESS: Sand Point Marsh Trail - Length: 0.5 mile loop. Located across from Sand Point Beach, this boardwalk trail takes you through one of the park's most beautiful wetlands. Old beach ridges, a cattail marsh, small ponds, and white cedar and black spruce swamp communities dominate the scene. The best times for wildlife activity are early or late in the day. Wheelchair-accessible. No pets. Munising Falls - Length: 800 feet one way. Walk this paved trail up the cool, shaded sandstone canyon along Munising Creek to the main viewing platform to see the 50-foot waterfall. (This is also a lovely trail in winter.) Two sets of stairs lead to elevated platforms that offer different views of the water as it drops over a sandstone cliff. Please stay on the paved trail. Going into or behind the falls is dangerous and is prohibited. Pets allowed on trail and stairs. The central viewing platform is wheelchair-accessible. Miners Castle Overlook - Length varies: 200 to 1300 feet one way. This is the most popular spot in the park. A short walk from the parking lot, Miners Castle can be viewed from 3 different viewing platforms. The two upper platforms are wheelchair-accessible. Pets are allowed on paved (not dirt) trails in this area and the viewing platforms. White Pine Trail - Length: 0.7 mile loop. Begins at the Little Beaver Lake Campground. The trail includes a stand of 250-300 year old white pines. On a warm summer day, enjoy the cool, moist microclimate of this area. Watch your step - trail has some steep erosion in one place. No pets. Superior Overlook - Length: 50 feet roundtrip. Offers a beautiful view of Lake Superior and stairway access to a beach. The overlook is wheelchair-accessible. Pets allowed. Twelvemile Beach - Access via stairs from the tall bluff at the campground day-use picnic and parking area down to a sandy beach that has great sunset views. Pets allowed. Log Slide Overlook Trail - Length: 0.25 mile roundtrip. This short trail leads through mature hardwoods to the western edge of the Grand Sable Dunes where logs once slid down to the lake in a wooden chute. The popular overlook platform was destroyed in a winter storm but the path to the platform location is still there. You'll be rewarded with breathtaking views of Lake Superior, the Grand Sable Dunes, and Au Sable Lighthouse in the distance. Pets allowed. Grand Sable Dunes Trail - Length: 0.6 mile roundtrip. This is the main access point into the Grand Sable Dunes. The trail starts at the Sable Falls parking area near the top of the falls, continues past an old apple orchard, and crosses a bridge over Sable Creek. It then winds through a jack pine forest gradually uphill into an open dune environment. Requires some uphill climbing in sand. No pets. Sable Falls Trail – Length: 0.5 mile roundtrip. From the Sable Falls parking lot, this trail starts with 168 steps down to the base of the falls and and continues past the falls along Sable Creek to a rock beach on Lake Superior. The first landing on the stairs provides a view of Sable Falls, although the best view is from the bottom. Pets allowed on trail and stairs. ![]() NPS photo Hikes Over One MileMiners Falls Trail - Length: 1.2 miles roundtrip. This easy trail takes you through the forest to Miners River, where the park's most powerful waterfall cascades 50 feet over a sandstone cliff. Take another 64 steps down to a lower platform. Pets allowed.Miners Castle to Miners Beach - Length: 2 miles roundtrip. Take the trail from Miners Castle downhill to Miners Beach, crossing the Miners River along the way. Enjoy the beach and then hike back up - or shorten the walk by having a friend pick you up in the Miners Beach parking lot. No pets allowed on the trail. (However pets are allowed at Miners Castle and at Miners Beach - just not on the trail between the two.) Chapel Basin / Mosquito Area - Length: Varies, 2 to 10 miles roundtrip. A number of different trails and hikes are available here. All hikes begin at the Chapel/Mosquito trailhead parking lot, at the end of Chapel Road. Consult a map before you hike these trails. No pets allowed on any of the trails in this area. Note: The trailhead parking lot for this popular area fills up VERY fast every day in summer. Recommend getting there by 9 am.
Au Sable Light Station - Length: 3.0 miles roundtrip. Leaving from Hurricane River Campground, walk on the old access road (part of the North Country Scenic Trail) back in time to an isolated Lake Superior lighthouse. Exposed shipwreck remains dot the shoreline, and the quiet light station gives you a feeling of yesteryear where families lived and worked from 1874 to 1958. Guided tours of the lighthouse are provided in summer. Pets allowed on road and light station grounds. Bicycles are NOT allowed on this road. Grand Sable Forest Trail - Length: 2.0 miles roundtrip. Nice walk between the Grand Sable Visitor Center and the Sable Falls parking lot. The trail offers a stroll through a maple forest and along the edge of old farm fields. Also intersects the Dunes Trail. No pets. North Country Scenic Trail segments (formerly called the Lakeshore Trail) - Length: Up to 42 miles (through the park). In addition to some of the trails listed above, there are many other North Country Scenic Trail segments in the park, like Miners Castle to Sand Point, or Log Slide to Au Sable Light Station. Check at a visitor center for more information. No pets allowed on this trail except in areas mentioned above.
BE SAFE! BE PREPARED! No matter what length, any hike is more fun if you are properly prepared.
Find Park Trails: Park Map Waterfalls Day Hikes (pdf) Chapel/Mosquito area map (pdf) Beaver Basin area map (pdf) Information on Backcountry Camping Leave No Trace |
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Last updated: September 14, 2020