Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Michigan / Eastern Upper Peninsula

Pictured Rocks Lakeshore Trail

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Munising to Grand Sable)

The Lakeshore Trail is the North Country Trail’s route through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which the National Park Service says runs 42 miles through the park. It follows Lake Superior from Munising Falls past sandstone cliffs, beaches, a lighthouse, and the Grand Sable Dunes.

Camping is only at 14 designated backcountry campgrounds, each reserved by permit, so the trip is planned around which sites you can book.

The hike

The NPS mileage chart in its 2026 Backcountry Travel Planner runs west to east from Munising Falls: Sand Point junction (2.9 miles), Cliffs campground (5.1), Miners Castle (7.0), Potato Patch (8.9), Mosquito River (12.0), Chapel Beach (16.4), Coves (20.7), Beaver Creek (22.0), Pine Bluff (23.5), Sevenmile Creek (28.0), Twelvemile Beach (30.9), Benchmark (31.2), Hurricane River (33.7), Au Sable Point East (35.3), Log Slide (37.1), Masse Homestead (38.3), and the Grand Sable Visitor Center (42.4).

The west half is the cliff section. The planner warns that 15 miles of trail sit atop 50- to 200-foot cliffs with loose sand, gravel, and unsupported overhangs. TrailGroove’s writer, who hiked east to west over five days in October with his father, lists Spray Falls, Chapel Rock and Chapel Beach, Grand Portal Point, Lovers Leap, and Miners Castle along this stretch, and passes Little Beaver and Beaver Lakes in the Beaver Basin Wilderness.

The east half is beach and forest. TrailGroove describes Twelvemile Beach, the Au Sable Light Station (with an original Fresnel lens), the wrecks of the Sitka and Gale Staples, the historic log slide, and the Grand Sable Dunes about 300 feet above the water. He calls the trail well maintained with minimal elevation gain.

The NPS recommends no more than 10 miles a day. PMags’ writer, who hiked it over four days in August 2026, said Lake Superior was her highlight and she swam often, but warned that weather changes quickly even in summer. The planner notes that cell coverage is lacking across most of the park and that shuttles must be reserved ahead; there’s no Uber or Lyft.

For a shorter overnight in the cliff section, see the Chapel Beach and Mosquito Beach overnight. Grand Island is just offshore from Munising.

Tips

Camping

A backcountry permit is required for every overnight stay, year-round, reserved on Recreation.gov or by phone and printed up to 14 days before the trip (NPS). Individual sites hold one to six people; parties of seven to 20 need a group site. Camp only at your permitted site, within 15 feet of the numbered post. Store food and scented items in the campground food locker. Campfires are allowed only in communal metal rings with downed dead wood, and never at Chapel Beach, Mosquito River, or on beaches. Boil water for one minute or use a one-micron filter. No pets, bikes, or drones.

Inside Intel: TrailGroove’s writer had Benchmark to himself (“We had the place all to ourselves”) and called his sunset at Mosquito “a special sunset for me.” A reviewer on The Dyrt praised the beach access at Chapel site 6 but found Potato Patch buggy.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Boiling Lake Superior water at Benchmark:

The park says to boil backcountry water a full minute or filter it, and two of its campgrounds ban fires. See the stoves testers rate.

See what testers chose →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.