Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a
U.S. National Lakeshore on the shore of
Lake Superior in the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan,
United States. It extends for 42 miles (67 km) along the shore and covers 73,236 acres (114 sq mi/296 km2). The park offers spectacular scenery of the hilly shoreline between
Munising, MI and
Grand Marais, MI, with various
rock formations like
natural archways,
waterfalls, and sand
dunes.
Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 15 miles (24 km) of colorful
sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising. The cliffs are up to 200 feet (60 m) above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into shallow caves, arches, formations that resemble
castle turrets, and human profiles, among others. Near Munising visitors also can view
Grand Island, most of which is included in the
Grand Island National Recreation Area and is preserved separately.
The
U.S. Congress made Pictured Rocks the first officially-designated
National Lakeshore in the United States in 1966. It is governed by the
National Park Service (NPS), had 22 year-round NPS employees as of May 2006, and received 476,888 visitors in 2005.
(Wikipedia)