Grand Island National Recreation Area

Grand Island, which rises from Lake Superior just off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, mimics a real-life never-never land.

The rustic island surrounded by clear, emerald-green waters is a gateway to outdoor escapades, and the community’s iconic invitation to “cross over to adventure” ignites your inner child and encourages you to embrace nature.

The island was once an Ojibwa (Chippewa) Native American settlement and later a fur-trading outpost, vacation resort, logging enterprise, and finally, a federally protected area for public use.

The dream for a preserved Grand Island began with a group of dedicated citizens recognizing the island’s true grandeur. In 1990, the island achieved National Recreation Area status after Trust for Public Land helped acquire the 13,000-acre site and conveyed it to the U.S. Forest Service for generations to enjoy.

With 48 miles of picturesque shoreline, visitors enjoy biking, hiking, bus tours, ferry rides, boating, and stunning views of the nearby Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Hiawatha National Forest. During your visit, you even may spot white-tailed deer, black bears, coyotes, or nesting bald eagles.

Steep sandstone cliffs, pristine sandy beaches, mysterious caves, and deep hardwood forests create a landscape perfect for fanciful pirate tales, and visitors can discover more of the island’s past on glass-bottom boat tours of preserved shipwreck sites offshore.