When making our reservations for this summer's trip, we picked a small, new campground in Christmas, Michigan, just west of Munising, in the upper peninsula. We hadn't visited the upper peninsula in over 36 years. We arrived on July 15 for a twelve-night stay.
Pictured Rocks RV Park, Site #24 offered spacious sites, complete with a cement pad.
GRAND ISLAND
This National Recreation Area was purchased by the National Forestry Service in 1990. The island is about four times the size of well-known Mackinac Island, or about the same size as Manhattan Island. It is accessible by boat in the summer.
At noon, we took the ten-minute, one mile ferry ride over to the island. The ferry terminal was located conveniently across the street from our RV Park.
Williams Landing on Grand Island
We purchased the fourteen-mile bus tour around the southern half of the island on one lane improved dirt roads. We were told during the four-hour bus ride that we would be in the bus for only thirty minutes. The balance of the time we would be touring the many points of interest with our guide, Harry.
This is Farrell Cottage, one of several large summer cottages on the island. After the Forestry Service purchased the island, the cottage owners were given the option to lease back the property for life. When the owners of the homes choose to sell their property, they must offer it to the US Forest Service first.
We took a short trail to a small waterfall behind Farrell Cottage.
Stone Quarry Cabin was built in the 1840's. The cabin is currently being restored by volunteers.
The Williams Family Cemetery is the oldest white cemetery in Alger County. The two-acre cemetery is where Abraham Williams (original owner of Grand Island) and his descendants are now buried. All the gravestones are oriented towards the east to catch the sunrise. Newer occupants must be cremated before interment due to the shallow rocky soil.
Much of the island's shoreline is sand.
There are two inland lakes on Grand Island, Duck Lake and Echo Lake. Echo is the largest and both provide fish and wildlife habitat.
Trout Bay Overlook with views of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the distance.
Mather Lodge was at one time a hunting lodge and guest house and now belongs to the Forest Service.
Our guide gave us a tour of the inside.
The Lodge sits on the edge of a cliff and provides beautiful westerly views of Lake Superior from the screened back porch.
Next, we stopped at Thunder Coves Trail for a walk along the cliffs.
This view was at the high point of the trail.
The Forest Service provided a viewpoint at Waterfall Beach Overlook.
The tour ended and we took the 4:00 ferry back to the mainland.
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