Lakeshore Gold #14316

The Story

Along Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin side, on the eastern side of the Door County peninsula, waves come across level limestone or dolomite rock strata instead of a beach. The spot is Cave Point County Park, which actually lies within Whitefish Dunes State Park nearby.

In other places along this shoreline, the rock strata lying even with the waterline serve as a “beach”. You can walk out to the lake lapping even at the very edge, which is very similar to a nearly overflowing bathtub. That unique feature can also be seen here in Lake Ledges #14236 which shows those watery ledges and flat rock strata in close-up. It’s a great place to see the erosion of rock strata by water.

The little Cave Point County Park, a park within a state park, attracts hikers, fishermen, and kayakers to enjoy nature in a quiet and idyllic place. There are indeed caves there to explore via kayak. It’s an interesting place to watch storms coming through on Lake Michigan, and there are even blowholes that shoot water upward from holes eroded in the limestone during heavier storms.

When the weather turns rough along the Lake Michigan shoreline with storm-powered wind and rain blasting through, it’s an entirely different story! Any of the Great Lakes can turn furious and threatening in very short order. The water will be smashing hard against these rocks trying to reduce them to sand as it has always done, and in winter everything is coated in white ice from the spray.

I truly enjoyed being here to photograph. There’s another enjoyable view of these cliffs and a horseshoe lagoon called Great Lakes Morning #14310 which has some recreational kayakers going by.

Location: the Great Lakes at Cave Point County Park on the Lake Michigan shoreline near Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin. Picture and story © Andrew Dierks