GRAND ISLAND

Region: Pictured Rocks/Munising/Au Train

Indians over 3,000 years ago fished off this forested 13,500-acre island in Munising Bay, a sandstone extension of the Pictured Rocks bluffs with its own 300-foot cliffs and sea caves. Trails run throughout the island, including a 23-mile perimeter path.

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Logged as recently as 1954, this isn't a virgin forest, but as the decades pass it is returning to its original wilderness state. Managed by the Hiawatha National Forest, very limited development is allowed. Camping is primitive, without running water. Owners of about 30 existing cottages were grandfathered when the federal government acquired the island. They can keep vehicles on the island. However, other private vehicles, including ATVs, cannot be taken to the island from mid-June through early October.

Kayakers, hikers, and mountain bikers are in the best positions to appreciate the island's dramatic scenery, which is mostly along the shores. Some areas are for hikers only. The island is ideal for mountain bikes, well suited to the distances between campsites and points of interest. The old logging roads throughout the island's sandy interior offer moderately challenging cycling. Roads and trails are now clearly signed, with "You are here" maps of the island. Mountain bikes may be rented ($30 a day) at the Grand Island Ferry dock.

The forest service says a reasonably fit mountain biker can manage the 23-mile perimeter trip around the island in a day, with stops. It suggests this relaxed route for an all-day family adventure: "Travel up the southwest shore road, cut across the island to Trout Bay Overlook, then travel down to [the day-use area] for a picnic meal and leisurely beach walk and finish their day with biking along Murray Bay to Williams Landing."

One essential piece of advice provided to bikers and hikers: "Know your pace and keep track of the time" so you can meet the ferry on time. Island visitors should be aware that mosquitoes and black flies can be very bad, typically from mid-May through mid-July. Bring insect repellent and buy a head net or bug suit (always handy for U.P. travel) at an area outdoor store or hardware store.

Trout Bay, facing northeast but still protected, is wonderful for kayaks, what with its sea caves to explore, and its sand beach for camping and launching. Trout Bay is a tombolo, a kind of sand bar that connects the main part of Grand Island with what was once a smaller island to the southeast. That former island is now called "The Thumb." Trout Bay has a sand beach adjacent to colored sandstone bluffs and sea caves on the Thumb, like the Pictured Rocks, only not so high. Six Trout Bay campsites have been developed with kayakers in mind. They are first-come, first-served, with a maximum of 2 tents and 8 campers.

Paddlers can explore the protected shores of Munising Bay and the west shore as well. Munising Bay has many interesting shipwrecks close to the surface, which paddlers and boaters can see.
However, only very experienced kayakers good at reading the weather should ever dare to venture to paddle around the island's north shore, which is exposed to strong winds and sudden storms.
Kayaks can be rented at Northern Waters. They offer day-trip and multi-day trips.

Less active visitors can get good views of Grand Island's sandstone cliffs on the south shore on the Pictured Rocks Cruise and the Glass-Bottom Boat Shipwreck Tour. (The shipwreck tour gets close to the west shore, too.) Passengers can see the picturesque, privately owned East Channel Lighthouse, its wood weathered to a dark gray. The Alger County Historical Society spearheaded efforts to preserve the lighthouse.

To make the island more accessible to the general public, there is ALTRAN's 3 to 3˝ hour Grand Island bus tour. The commentary may be quite uninspiring. The tour focuses on the island's natural and human history. It passes the Hotel Williams buildings, stops at the stone quarry cottage and exhibits, the cemetery, Murray Bay, the Duck Lake boardwalk, Trout Bay beach and Trout Bay overlook, then cuts across the island to the Waterfall Beach overlook on the west side. The tour is offered daily at noon from June 15 into early October. There's an additional 3:30 p.m. tour from July 1 through Labor Day. The $20 cost includes the ferry ride. Kids 12 and under are $11. Call (906) 387-3503 for reservations. The van is wheelchair-accessible, but most trails are sandy with uneven ground.

There are some very large old hemlocks in the island's north part, but people expecting a wilderness will be disappointed. From 1904 until 1989 Grand Island was owned by Cleveland Cliffs Iron of Ishpeming and Cleveland, Ohio. William Gwinn Mather, the company's conservation-minded president, used the island as a hunting retreat, game ranch, and resort. He protected its old-growth trees from logging during his lifetime. The Hotel Williams and Grand Island Forest and Game Preserve date from his era. They were promoted as low-key getaways with hunting, fishing, boating, tennis, and hiking. The resort operated from 1904 to 1959. Shortly after William Gwinn Mather died in 1951, however, large-scale logging occurred and continued. Additional big trees have been taken down by powerful windstorms.

Grand Island has a nearly 5,000-year history as a Native American fishing and hunting ground. Indians also came to the island to get quartzite, a hard, shiny rock that can be chipped to make cutting and scraping tools. Oral tradition depicts the island as Kitchi Minissing, "Grand Island," a special place in their legends and memories. In the 1790s British fur trader John Johnston from Sault Ste. Marie noted that "Grand Island is the summer residence of a small band of Indians who cultivate maize, pumpkins, and potatoes. . . . Grand Island Bay forms the largest and safest harbour upon the lake. . . . The south end of the island is low and sandy but covered with herbage; on it, and on the adjoining hill, the Indians have their huts. The bay is directly opposite where they go spearing every calm night with flambeaux."

Concerning archaeological artifacts: unauthorized digging or collecting artifacts on federal land is illegal. (It's actually illegal to take away anything, including rocks and wildflowers.) If you find artifacts or observe illegal digging, contact the U.S. Forest Service in Munising.

Grand Island's long and interesting story is told with illustrated plaques at the visitor center at the Williams Landing. One notes, "Location was everything in the fur trade. In the early 1800s, American Fur Company traders [employed by John Jacob Astor] and their competitors built small log cabins in or close to Indian settlements on Grand Island and the mainland. Government survey parties and missionaries also visited frequently during this period. European and Native American cultures often mixed during the fur Trade era." One of the American Fur Company's traders' cabins has been moved to the grounds of the Alger County Heritage Center and furnished somewhat authentically, as if it were the end of the season. (See Munising Points of Interest.)

Not long after American Fur left the island, in 1840, Abraham and Anna Williams and their large family arrived and moved into the company's log buildings, next to the birchbark lodges of he island's Ojibwe band. According to oral tradition, the band had invited Williams to settle so they could make use of his services as a blacksmith and trader. Anna Powell, the Williams's daughter, later recalled, "I'll never forget how the island looked the first time I saw it. I was 12. It was raspberry season. The bushed were loaded down with them. Mother put up lots of them. [The Indians] did everything they could think of to show how friendly they were. They were always giving us children little mococks [birchbark containers] of maple sugar."

"In 1984 Grand Island was put on the real estate market," explains another plaque. "With the support of many other organizations, the Trust for Public Land, a private non-profit group, bought the Island in 1989 for $3.5 million. Congress authorized federal purchase, and Grand Island became part of the Hiawatha National Forest in 1990." Owners of cottages retain their rights to continue to use their property. After much debate on a development plan for Grand Island, the National Forest Service has opted for very limited development focused mainly on the shoreline. Grand Island's 27-mile shore is bigger than Mackinac Island's.

The island's most visible landmark, the poetically weathered EAST CHANNEL LIGHTHOUSE, is private property and only viewed from the water. See Terry Pepper's website. It's one of the few wood lighthouses left on the Great Lakes. The Pictured Rocks Boat Cruise and the shipwreck tour pass right by it, near the south end of the Thumb. The East Channel Light was threatened when the changing beach brought waves up to its foundation. Local volunteers raised money to build a breakwall, stabilize the foundation and base, and replace broken siding. Finally, the lantern room and its copper top were replaced. The idea is not to restore the photogenic lighthouse, but to retain its weathered look.

The Grand Island Ferry Service's site can give current info and maps on many subjects, including transportation by ferry and private boat. The privately operated ferry runs from Mem. Day weekend into early Oct. (906) 387-3503. The ferry leaves from Grand Island Landing almost three miles west of downtown Munising on M-28. It's a 3-minute trip, with almost immediate return trip from Williams Landing. For years, approximate departure times from both landings have been thus:: from July 1 to Labor Day: 9, 10, 11 a.m., noon, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30. Early and late seasons (from Mem. Day through June and from after Labor Day to October 9): at 9 a.m., noon, 3:30, and 6:30. Reservations advised. Call to confirm current schedule. Cost: $15 round-trip for adults, $9 ages 6-12, $5/bike. Includes $2 entry fee to island. Request a current map and info sheet from Pictured Rocks/National Forest visitor center, (906) 387-3700. Handicap access: ferry, restrooms on island.

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PLACES AROUND GRAND ISLAND TO

Eat Sleep Camp