Grand Marais Seeks to Be Identified as a Trail Town

Grand Sable Dunes (photo by jhy)

based on a story at M-Live.com

Grand Marais, Michigan has always been a small town at the end of the road: a gravel road, on the eastern edge of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. If you want to hike through, east to west, on the North Country/ Lakeshore Trail, you must stop at the ranger station there to get your entry permit. You also have this great view of the Grand Sable Dunes.

There is camping at the city park, and a couple of places in town to get some food. Not much else.

However, now Alger County H-58 has been paved, making the drive between the ends of Pictured Rocks much less time-consuming. In the past, most of the "action" has been at Munising, but now that it is easier to reach Grand Marais, things may change.

Grand Marais Outfitters is a fairly new business on the county road which caters to many types of activities. "We’re trying to make this a destination for outdoors activities and we’ve got a chance to be a trailhead for the North Country Trail," said Dennis Weaver, adding that he will host ski tours of the Grand Sable Dunes in the winter and paddling seminars during the warmer months. He and his wife, Kim, opened in July.

"There’s no other sports shop around for two hours, so we have a little of everything. We’ve got backpacking foods, kayaks and fishing gear," he said. They also carry items for motorcycle enthusiasts. A one-stop shop.

The recently revived Superior Shoreline Chapter of the NCTA replaces the defunct Grand Sable chapter. Based in Alger County in the eastern Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan, the Superior Shoreline Chapter is responsible for a 120-mile section of the NCT from the mouth of the Two-Hearted River on the East to Rock River Road on the West, passing through Grand Marais, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Munising.

This segment is on NCTA map MI-09 and MI-10

See Superior Shoreline Chapter of the NCTA