Emerald Cove #14295

The Story

These high rocky cliffs honeycombed with cave holes were carved out by Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks near the very top of Michigan near Marquette. If you look carefully, you can see the water swelling in the foreground against the rock edge. The large tour boat I was riding in was rising and falling with the lake water of course, and we were inside one of those cave holes rocking around slightly. The partly cloudy skies that day helped to turn the water near emerald green. Depending on the light and location, the Great Lakes water can appear iridescent at times all the way to dull steel gray.

These dramatic multicolored cliffs are part of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Regularly scheduled tour boats leaving Munising harbor carrying sightseers travel along them for miles through good weather. On a very interesting cruise of a few hours, the cliffs and surrounding lands show their wild natural beauty. The scenic cliffs can vary in height and character with some reaching 300 feet or more. They are streaked with different colors from water laden with various minerals moving through the sandstone rock, which gave the place its name. In a few places, waterfalls spill over the cliffs to meet the lake.

Onshore in a heavy mixed forest including pine and white birch, there are many trails and campsites. On the water, there is fishing, kayaking, and wreck diving. That’s not surprising, many ships have met their end in storms along these cliffs and Lake Superior’s reputation as a ship graveyard is well earned. For more information about Great Lakes shipwrecks, follow the link.

If you look at the rock along the left of the image, you can see the arch of the cave mouth beginning to curve. At that point, you can see striated rock that was made from windblown sand, an ancient desert! Obviously, an astounding difference to this location today.

Location: on Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising, Alger County, Michigan.