Miners Castle
Miners Castle is one of the most famous landmarks along the Pictured Rocks shoreline, and is the only cliff area in the park accessible by vehicle.
Erosion over long periods of time has created the interesting rock formations that give this place its name.
However, a rockfall in 2006 dramatically changed the look of Miners Castle as one of its two turrets (the one on the left above) unexpectedly fell into the lake.
This feature is in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA.
The Lakeshore extends for 67 km along the shore and covers 296 sq km. The park has extensive views of the hilly shoreline between Munising and Grand Marais in Alger County, Michigan, with picturesque rock formations, waterfalls, and sand dunes.
Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 24 km of colourful sandstone cliffs north-east of Munising. The cliffs reach up to 60m above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into a variety of shallow caves, arches, and formations resembling castle turrets and human profiles. Near Munising, visitors can also visit Grand Island, most of which is included in the separate Grand Island National Recreation Area.
The US Congress designated Pictured Rocks the first National Lakeshore in the USA in 1966. It is governed by the National Park Service, with 22 year-round employees as of May 2006.
The colours in the cliffs are created by the large amounts of minerals in the rock. The cliffs are composed of the Munising Formation of 500-million-year-old Cambrian Period sandstone. The Munising Formation sits atop Precambrian sandstone of the Jacobsville Formation. The mottled red Jacobsville Formation is the oldest rock in the park. On top of the Munising Formation, acting as a cap over the other layers, is the hard sandstone of the younger Au Train Formation from the Ordovician Period. Streaks on the face of the cliffs come from groundwater leaching out of the rock and evaporating, leaving streaks of iron (red), manganese (black-white), limonite (yellow-brown), copper (pink-green), and other minerals.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic 1855 poem, The Song of Haiawatha, featuring Native American characters, is set in the Pictured Rocks area and the National Lakeshore's name is taken from a line in the poem:
"On the shores of Gitche Gumee,
Westward by the Big-Sea-Water,
Came unto the rocky headlands,
To the Pictured Rocks of sandstone"
Miners Castle
Miners Castle is one of the most famous landmarks along the Pictured Rocks shoreline, and is the only cliff area in the park accessible by vehicle.
Erosion over long periods of time has created the interesting rock formations that give this place its name.
However, a rockfall in 2006 dramatically changed the look of Miners Castle as one of its two turrets (the one on the left above) unexpectedly fell into the lake.
This feature is in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA.
The Lakeshore extends for 67 km along the shore and covers 296 sq km. The park has extensive views of the hilly shoreline between Munising and Grand Marais in Alger County, Michigan, with picturesque rock formations, waterfalls, and sand dunes.
Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 24 km of colourful sandstone cliffs north-east of Munising. The cliffs reach up to 60m above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into a variety of shallow caves, arches, and formations resembling castle turrets and human profiles. Near Munising, visitors can also visit Grand Island, most of which is included in the separate Grand Island National Recreation Area.
The US Congress designated Pictured Rocks the first National Lakeshore in the USA in 1966. It is governed by the National Park Service, with 22 year-round employees as of May 2006.
The colours in the cliffs are created by the large amounts of minerals in the rock. The cliffs are composed of the Munising Formation of 500-million-year-old Cambrian Period sandstone. The Munising Formation sits atop Precambrian sandstone of the Jacobsville Formation. The mottled red Jacobsville Formation is the oldest rock in the park. On top of the Munising Formation, acting as a cap over the other layers, is the hard sandstone of the younger Au Train Formation from the Ordovician Period. Streaks on the face of the cliffs come from groundwater leaching out of the rock and evaporating, leaving streaks of iron (red), manganese (black-white), limonite (yellow-brown), copper (pink-green), and other minerals.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic 1855 poem, The Song of Haiawatha, featuring Native American characters, is set in the Pictured Rocks area and the National Lakeshore's name is taken from a line in the poem:
"On the shores of Gitche Gumee,
Westward by the Big-Sea-Water,
Came unto the rocky headlands,
To the Pictured Rocks of sandstone"