Sea-Doo Ride to Grand Island and Pictured Rocks: Lighthouses, Cliffs and PWC Rules

Sep 19, 2024

3 min read

Updated: 13 hours ago

I took a road trip to the U.P. over the Fourth of July holiday, and my first Sea-Doo launch of the trip was in Munising. The plan: ride out to the lighthouses on Grand Island, then cruise along the cliffs of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It was my first time taking the new 2024 Sea-Doo Explorer Pro 230 out on Lake Superior, and there's nowhere better to do it.

Quick facts

Location: Munising, Michigan, on Lake Superior
Getting there: Launch from Munising. Grand Island is about a half mile offshore.
Lighthouses: Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse and Grand Island North Lighthouse
PWC limit: Personal watercraft can't go past Miners Beach in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, about 4.5 of roughly 40 miles
Best season: Summer. I went over the Fourth of July.

Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse

Grand Island is a large island sitting only about half a mile off the shore of Munising, so it's an easy first stop. Heading out from town, you can catch a glimpse of the East Channel Lighthouse from the water almost right away. It's an old wooden lighthouse standing near the shoreline, and seeing it up close from the Sea-Doo was one of the highlights of the day.

There's a second lighthouse on the far end of the island, so I made a note to come back for it later in the ride.

Riding Pictured Rocks: Sand Point to Miners Castle

From Grand Island I crossed over to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and rode from Sand Point toward Miners Beach. The cliffs are magnificent from the water. One thing that surprised me was how many trees and shrubs grow right up the cliff faces.

Miners Castle, the famous rock formation, marks the end of the authorized Sea-Doo zone. The Pictured Rocks lakeshore runs about 40 miles, but you can only ride a personal watercraft along roughly 4.5 of them. Then it's time to turn around.

The personal watercraft rule at Pictured Rocks

While I still had a blast riding my Sea-Doo around these amazing places, I was disappointed to learn while preparing for my trip that I could only ride a very small section of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

The following law prohibits personal watercraft from going beyond Miners Beach, which is only about 10% of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore: read the rule here.

What is especially frustrating is that this law only applies to PWCs, not to other boats. Even if a PWC is operating at a slow speed, it's still not allowed past Miners Beach. The very small silver lining is that the national lakeshore boundary extends a quarter mile into Lake Superior, so you can still ride a PWC beyond that range. Of course, at that distance you lose most of the view of the Pictured Rocks cliffs.

Grand Island North Lighthouse

On the way back I rode up the side of Grand Island to look for the second lighthouse. Grand Island has its own cliffs. They don't have the same colors and textures as Pictured Rocks, but they're still beautiful, and I spotted a water-carved cave at the base along the way.

About a mile up, the North Lighthouse came into view, mostly hidden by trees from the water.

Map and directions

Get directions to Grand Island and Munising in Google Maps. Want to see where else I've been? Check out the CDR Adventures Travel Map.

Tips for riding a Sea-Doo at Munising

Know the PWC limit before you go. Personal watercraft can't go past Miners Beach inside the national lakeshore, which ends right around Miners Castle. Plan your route around that.
Pair Pictured Rocks with Grand Island. With only a short stretch of the cliffs open to PWCs, Grand Island and its two lighthouses make the trip worth it.
Watch the weather. Lake Superior can go from calm to rough quickly, so check the marine forecast and pick a calm day.
Bring a drone if you can. The North Lighthouse is hard to see through the trees from the water.

Is it worth it?

Even with the PWC rules, yes. Between the two Grand Island lighthouses, the Grand Island cliffs and the stretch of Pictured Rocks you can ride, Munising is an adventurer's paradise and one of the best places in Michigan to explore by water.

Riding the Great Lakes this summer? The CDR Adventures water shirt was made for days like this. For more Sea-Doo trips and lighthouses, subscribe to CDR Adventures on YouTube.