Seul Choix Point Lighthouse

Seul Choix Point Lighthouse by photofrenzy2000

Seul Choix Point Lighthouse by Gary Brink

The Seul Choix Point Lighthouse (aerial map) is operated by the Gulliver Historical Society and DNR as a park & museum. Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light’s page for Seul Choix Pointe Light explains:

At the dawn of the 1880โ€™s, the volume of maritime traffic passing between harbors on the western shore of Lake Michigan and Green Bay and the Straits of Mackinac exploded. While the St. Helena Island light station lighted the eastern entry into the Straits, mariners were forced to navigate blind along 100 miles of unlighted upper peninsula coastline before the Poverty Island light came into view at the western end of the passage. With treacherous storms frequent at both ends of the navigation season, mariners frequently chose to ride out such storms in the lee of points protruding into the lake along this 100-mile stretch of unlighted shoreline.

Seeking to both make identification of such a refuge easier, and to mark the shore at an interim point between the two existing lights, the Lighthouse Board recommended that establishment of a light station on the end of Point Patterson, approximately midway between St. Helena Island and Manistique.

It took nearly 20 years to complete – read on for more about what was apparently the Cadillac of lighthouses. The light is also reputed to be haunted, and you can read a lot more about that in The Haunting of Seul Choix Point Lighthouse on Michigan in Pictures.

Gary took this back in October of 2011. See more great pics in his showcase on Flickr.

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A Whale of an Autumn

Whale Tail by smiles7

Whale Tail by smiles7

“Leave only bubbles, take only memories. And whale pictures.” -Julie A. Christiansen

Julie took this pic the other day at Tom Lakenen’s Lakenenland Sculpture Park near Marquette. Lakenenland is a free, open-air art attraction in that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can see lots more in her U.P. of Michigan gallery on Flickr & definitely follow Julie on Flickr for her latest pics!

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Waterfall Wednesday: Happy Birthday Neil Weaver edition

I learned that yesterday was longtime Michpics friend Neil Weaver’s birthday, so happy birthday Neil! While most of the waterfalls featured in Waterfall Wednesdays are named & on maps, some – like this one – are not.

About this photo, he writes: Morning sunlight enters the forest in Michiganโ€™s Upper Peninsula. This particular morning was a memorable one. After hiking/bushwacking to this spot with my friend Nicholas Albert Photography I realized that I had forgotten my tripod back in my vehicle. Frustrated with myself I hiked back out to retrieve it and when I returned the sun was coming up over the hill, it was gorgeous! We shot here for awhile and then headed downriver to the next waterfall, where I slipped and fell pretty hard on the rocks (no serious injuries, fortunately). It was a challenging morning but to me getting this image and those memories made up for it.

Follow Neil Weaver Photography on Facebook and for sure view & purchase his work at neilweaverphotography.com.

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Sun kissed Tahquamenon Falls

Sun kissed Tahquamenon Falls by Etzel Noble

Sun kissed Tahquamenon Falls by Etzel Noble

โ€œAutumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.โ€ โ€• Jim Bishop

Etzel shared this back in fall of 2019. See more in his Fall/Autumn gallery on Flickr.

Lots more Tahquamenon Falls & lots more Michigan fall photos on Michigan in Pictures.

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Today & Yesterday at Point Iroquois Lighthouse

Point Iroquois Lighthouse on Whitefish Bay by Cole Chase Photography

Rescuing another great post from the past today with this September 15, 2016 post. The new Image Compare feature is pretty cool!

The Point Iroquois Lighthouse page at Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light has this 100+year old photo of the light taken from almost exactly the same angle as Cole’s picture! The photo of the Point Iroquois Light Station in 1905 shows the fog signal building constructed in 1890. Note that the 1885 bell tower is still in place to the immediate left of the dwelling. The photo isย courtesy of of Gnoozhekaaning Museum at Point Iroquois Lighthouse, and you can click theย link for more about the museum!

See more great shots from fall of 2014 in Cole’s Autumn in Upper Michigan gallery on Flickr!

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Fog Bank at Grand Sable Dunes, Jim Sisko at Pictured Rocks

Fog Bank by Jim Sisko

Fog Bank by Jim Sisko

I shared this photo waaaaaay back on August 19, 2009! Since my old posts are becoming inaccessible as the modern web leaves them behind, I’m trying to “save” at least one a week. I love Jim’s writings about the photos he takes and thought you would as well. Enjoy!

Fog rolls off of Lake Superior and up the Grand Sable Dunes on the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore as seen from the Log Slide Overlook west of Grand Marais in the Upper Peninsula Of Michigan. The Grand Sable Dunes are located on a five mile stretch between the Sable River and Au Sable Point in Alger County. The banks rise up to 275 feet high, created during the last ice age when sand and gravel filled in a deep rift in the glacier. Atop the gravelly banks, sand dunes rise another 80 feet. These are “perched dunes” because they are perched on top of another landform. They were probably formed when wind and waves piled up sand at the edge of Lake Nipissing, the forerunner of Lake Superior.

This distinct sandstone formation located on the south shore of Lake Superior northeast of Munising in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is known as Miners Castle, for the turret-like shape caused by wind and wave erosion. Miners Castle was named by Englishman Alexander Henry’s employees when they were exploring the area for minerals in 1771. Though no minerals were ever found, the name “Miners” has endured. The nine-story-high rock formation is one of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore’s most popular attractions, despite the 2006 collapse of one of its signature “turrets”.
Grand Portal Point is a well-known formation of rock that juts out into Lake Superior from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore located northeast of the Upper Peninsula town of Munising, Michigan. There was once a cavity at the end that was large enough for a good sized ship to sail through and it was perhaps a hundred feet or more in height from the surface of the water. That arch collapsed during the night of Sunday, September 16, 1900. Grand Portal Point suffered a second, significant collapse sometime between the fall of 1999 and spring of 2000. The arch is still there, but there’s now a rubble pile in the bottom large enough to inhibit any water traffic.
My wife and I visited the Upper Peninsula town of Munising, Michigan recently and took a sunset cruise on Lake Superior to view the famousย Pictured Rocks. One of the tour’s highlights is this imposing arch of rock that extends from the shoreline out to an outcropping located directly in Lake Superior. Lore has it that a couple displayed their love for one another by jumping off the top of this rock arch together.

Check out Jim’s Pictured Rocks or Lake Superior galleries for much more!

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Happy National Lighthouse Day, Michigan!

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse by Peter Tinetti

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse by Peter Tinetti

The American Lighthouse Foundation reminds us that it was on this day in 1789 that Congress approved an Act for the establishment and support of lighthouse, beacons, buoys and public piers. 200 years later, they established August 7, 1989 as National Lighthouse Day. Pure Michigan shares that Michigan has more lighthouses than any state, so hopefully we’ll be celebrating harder with donations & visits to some of Michigan’s 129 lighthouses!

This beauty is the Eagle Harbor Light on the Keweenaw Peninsula, first constructed in 1850. The Keweenaw Historical Society shares that some great history & the hours of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse & Museum (open June – October). So many more Michigan lighthouses on Michigan in Pictures!

Peter took the photo above in September of 2017 & wrote that the mood of the lake can change from day to day and even hour to hour. I included one from an October storm where you can really see the sweet paint job on the Light’s iconic red brick tower plus a photo of the “Schoolhouse Light” on Grand Island off Munising. Head over to Flickr for his highlighted photos & hug a lighthouse today!!

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Waterfall Wednesday: Gabbro Falls & Friends edition

Gabbro Falls from Above

Gabbro Falls by Eric Hackney Photography

I shared this photo way back in 2015 with the comment that in addition to stalking the Petit Portal, it appeared I was stalking Eric Hackney as well. It’s been a minute since I have featured one of his photos, so I thought I would dust this post off & add some of my favorites from Eric that I’ve shared over the years along with still timely information about Gabbro Falls from GoWaterfalling:

Gabbro Falls is on the Black River and is as impressive, if not more impressive, than its more celebrated neighbors downstream along the Black River Scenic Byway. This is a largely wild waterfall with no fences or barriers of any kind. It consists of three separate drops. When the water is high there is a fourth drop that is the height of the other three combined. The main drop falls into a narrow crevice between two large rock formations. Gabbro Falls is relatively easy to find but there is some confusing information out there. The waterfall is also known as Baker’s Falls, and it is often mistakenly called Garbo Falls (gabbro is a type of rock). There is also a Neepikon Falls upstream, but it is just an unremarkable rapid.

Read on for tips on visiting and pages aboutย nearby waterfalls on the Black River.

See more from the western edge of the Upper Peninsula in Eric’s 6-27-15: Gogebic County Adventures I album that includes Gabbro Falls,ย Rainbow Falls, Potawatomi Falls, and Gorge Falls. Definitely follow Eric at Eric on Facebook and view & purchase photos on his website. Click for posts about Upper Hungarian Falls & Slate River Falls by featuring Eric’s pics!

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Michigan’s Many Paul Bunyans

As a northern state profoundly influenced by logging, Michigan has more Paul Bunyans than you can shake a 100′ tall white pine at! It’s been a long time since I drew on the amazing depth of the 300k+ photo Absolute Michigan group on Flickr for a post, but it feels like America’s tallest tale deserves special treatment! Did I miss something or get something wrong? Let me know in the comments! Also special shoutout to Kristina for her work documenting Michigan’s Paul Bunyans!

Oscoda Paul Bunyan

Oscoda, Michigan claims to be the official birthplace of Paul Bunyan because the Oscoda Press was first to publish James MacGillivray’s story โ€œRound River Driveโ€ was first published in 1906. To remind you of this, Oscoda celebrates Paul Bunyan Days every September – accept no imitation!!

Oscoda Paul Bunyan by Kristina_5




Alpena Paul Bunyan by Kristina_5

Alpena’s Paul Bunyan of Car Parts

Alpena Paul Bunyan by Kristina_5


Babe, Paul, and the Kids by Joel Dinda

Castle Rock Paul Bunyan

Babe, Paul, and the Kids by Joel Dinda (photo by Roger Dinda, 1953)


Paul Bunyan of West Branch (DECEASED)

West Branch Paul Bunyan by Debra Jane Seltzer

Debra just let me know that this Bunyan was demolished a couple of years ago. In much better news, she has many, many more Paul Bunyans from Michigan & all over the country on her Roadside Architecture website!


Paul Bunyan OF THE... by Jenny Murray

Irish Hills Paul Bunyan

Paul Bunyan OF THEโ€ฆ by Jenny Murray

Was at Dinosaur Gardens in Irish Hills. Current whereabouts unknown!


Brooklyn Paul Bunyan

Paul Bunyan, Brooklyn, MI, March, 2011 by Norm Powell

(map unavailable)

Lots more Michigan Roadside Attractions on Michigan in Pictures!

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Waterfall Wednesday: Big Falls

Big Falls near Skanee by Michigan Nut Photography

Big Falls near Skanee by Michigan Nut Photography

With 225 Michigan waterfall posts – well, 226 now – it’s not often that I come across a waterfall that I’ve never shared on Michigan in Pictures. Our friends at Go Waterfalling share that Big Falls:

…is a remote waterfall located between Skanee and Big Bay. The falls are in Baraga County. There are no paved roads penetrating this area, and reaching this falls requires you to ford a river. Big Falls is not very high, but it is large and impressive.

The falls is located off of a rough dirt road that heads east from Black Creek Road. The “road” (it seems to be primarily used as an ATV trail) is about 1.9 miles south of Skanee Road. This road fords both forks of the Huron River. The “road” that leads to Big Falls is roughly half way in between the two forks, and is the best defined of the “roads” that heads south. There is no way a car is going to make it to this falls. I used a bike.

The trail passes high above the falls. The falls is visible from the trail, but the view is blocked by trees. Reaching the base of the falls requires a steep climb down into the gorge.

John shared this way back in 2017, and it sounds like he concurs with the degree of difficulty getting there. He wrote “It was quite an adventure getting to this waterfall in Baraga County, MI.. Two attempts and a river fording.. We thought we had seen most of the Upper Michigan waterfalls over the years but boy were we wrong.”

Follow Michigan Nut Photography on Facebook for his latest and for sure check out more great shots in the Waterfalls Gallery on his website!

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