Grand Sable Dunes
With one beautiful, sunny Saturday left in October (besides Halloweekend, of course) Elliot and I knew we had to take advantage of it! I had been wanting to head toward Grand Marais for a while, especially to make the walk out to Au Sable Light. Despite living in the Upper Peninsula for more than six years now, I hadn’t done that trek since moving here, which honestly feels wild. We took the scenic back way through the woods, with the last of the autumn leaves still hanging on, and ended up with the most glorious day along Lake Superior.
The walk to Au Sable Light is about 1.5 miles each way, so while it isn’t especially difficult, you should be prepared for a three-mile round trip! The trail follows the lakeshore through such a magical setting, with falling leaves, glimpses of Lake Superior and the Grand Sable Dunes rising in the distance. The lighthouse dates back to 1874 and was built to help guide ships around the dangerous waters near Au Sable Point. Tours are offered during the summer, but the buildings were closed for the season by the time we visited. We still spent plenty of time wandering the grounds, admiring the lighthouse and taking approximately one million photos before finally convincing ourselves to head back. It was absolutely beautiful!
From there, we drove into Grand Marais, stopped for a drink at the Grand Marais Tavern and grabbed ice cream from the bakery across the street. Because apparently late October is still ice-cream weather when the sun is shining! Also especially when they offer pumpkin ice-cream! We walked around town for a little while before continuing toward Log Slide Overlook. It was Elliot’s first time visiting, and I was so excited to show him because it’s easily one of my top five favorite places in the entire Upper Peninsula. The Grand Sable Dunes are incredible from every angle, but there’s something especially dramatic about seeing them drop so steeply into Lake Superior.
Log Slide gets its name from the wooden chutes once used by loggers to send timber down the dunes toward Lake Superior, where it could be transported by water. Today, reaching the overlook is thankfully much easier: it’s only a short walk from the parking lot! We arrived in the prettiest light just before the sunset really started popping off, and the wind coming off the lake felt glorious. You can see for miles in both directions, with the dunes stretching along the shoreline and Lake Superior looking almost endless below. We stayed for a while taking photos, soaking up the view and feeling very grateful that October gave us one more perfect adventure day.
Life has felt especially full lately, and October somehow passed in a blur of travel, fall color, work, running, Fresh Coast and a very exciting thing happening behind the scenes. Hopefully I’ll have more to share about that soon! It honestly hasn’t felt especially Halloween-y yet, so I’m determined to squeeze in a little festive fun before the month officially ends. But after spending weeks feeling like we needed to get outside and photograph every single autumn leaf, I’m also looking forward to the slower pace of November. Fall goes much too quickly up here, but wow—this one was truly beautiful, and we were blessed with some incredible weather!
