Pictured Rocks is the first National Lakeshore in the United States. It is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior. This was our destination for our first weekend trip with our 4 month old. We went in September of 2025.

We started out our trip by leaving from Columbus after work and just trying to drive as far north as we could. We made it all the way to Flint, Michigan and got a hotel for the night. Because Flint still does not have clean water, we brought bottled water to brush our teeth while we were there. The next morning, we headed farther north with the goal of reaching Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We stopped at a scenic overlook right before the Mackinac Bridge.

Scenic Overlook in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, right before crossing the Mackinac Bridge

After stopping at the overlook, we crossed the Mackinac Bridge into the Upper Peninsula. At the time we visited ( September of 2025) it cost $4 per vehicle to cross the bridge.

View of Lake Huron as we were crossing the Mackinac Bridge

After crossing the Mackinac Bridge, we pulled off onto a roadside park that overlooked Lake Michigan.

Close-up of the water’s edge on Lake Michigan, Upper Peninsula

View from the roadside park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

After our stop at the roadside park, we continued driving towards Pictured Rocks. When we arrived at pictured rocks, we stopped at the Sand Point Beach to take pictures and enjoy the view.

Sand Point Beach, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

After checking out the beach, we drove to Miner’s Castle. We took pictures at the upper overlook and then hiked on the trail down to the lower overlook. The trail was paved, however, there were stairs so we had to take the baby out of the stroller, and I carried the baby while my husband carried the stroller down the stairs. So I would definitely recommend using a baby carrier instead.

View of Miner’s Castle from the Upper Overlook

We left the Miner’s Castle area after the sun started going down and we searched for a hotel. We wanted to stay in the Munising area but unfortunately all the hotels were sold out. So we ended up staying about an hour away in Manistique.

The next morning, we wanted to make a short stop at Kitch-iti-kipi before driving back up to pictured rocks. Kitch-iti-kipi is a natural spring with emerald and turquoise water. There is a large raft that is attached to a pully that takes you across the water. The raft was wide enough for us to bring the stroller and have plenty of room for people to walk around it. All the passengers took turns turning the wheel for the pulley system. The entrance fee was $11 for Kitch-iti-kipi and this gave you access to all the state parks for the day.

After Kitch-iti-kipi, we drove north to Pictured Rocks where we stopped at the visitor’s center to get a map. We have the America the Beautiful Military Pass, so we did not have to pay the entrance fee. We went to the Sand Point Marsh trail first. This whole trail was a boardwalk, but we decided to use the baby carrier instead of the stroller since it was a bit narrow for the stroller.

Sand Point Marsh was a really nice, easy trail with our baby. We only came across a few other people, and the trail had a decent variety of things to look at. We saw several ducks, and that was really the only wildlife we saw on this trip.

Ducks diving in the water on the Sand Point Marsh trail

A plant changing from green to red along the Sand Point Marsh trail

Marsh with lily pads and ducks in the distance, Sand Point Marsh trail

After completing the Sand Point Marsh trail, we left that area of the park and drove towards the Log Slide Overlook. We stopped at a few other overlooks on the way as well.

Log Slide Overlook ended up being our favorite place in all of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We decided not to take the stroller since the trail was not paved and the end portion is all sand. There is a short trail through the woods to get to the overlook. Once we got through the woods portion we followed a small trail that runs along the edge of the cliff. The views along this trail are incredible. You can see Au Sable Light Station in the distance ( it helps if you have a zoom lens or binoculars). The water is a light turquoise in this area and it doesn’t look like any other part of the Great Lakes that I have seen before.

Looking towards Au Sable Light Station from Log Slide Overlook

Close-up view of Au Sable Light Station from Log Slide Overlook

We took our time exploring this area and taking pictures since it was our last stop at Pictured Rocks before heading home.

Overall, it was a fun weekend and great opportunity to take some photos and fill in our Michigan map piece. If we were to go back, I would definitely want to take a boat tour of the area as well as do the Grand Portage Point hike. But that is a longer hike that we did not want to attempt with a baby and the boat tours we saw all recommended children be at least 6 months old.

Pictured Rocks and Kitch-iti-Kipi with an Infant

Galleries About