Lake Superior Rocks & Agates

Finding Lake Superior Agates on the beach

Lake Superior Agate and Rock Picking Beaches

Agate Hunting and Rock Picking Black River Harbor beach

Walking Lake Superior beaches searching for the treasured Lake Superior Agate is a favorite past time of many people vacationing around the big lake. Veteran rock pickers and agate hunters have their favorite beaches, some of which are kept secret. Among my favorites are Little Girls Point and Black River Harbor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near the border with Wisconsin. Black River Harbor’s beach is where I found my first agate (see above picture) and Little Girl’s Point has I believe the largest variety of rocks and gemstones anywhere around Lake Superior. If you aren’t lucky enough to find an agate at LGP, you will for sure find some attractive rocks for polishing.

Little Girls Point is a Gogebic County park that has camping, including electric hookups, and picnicing facilities. Its beach is miles long and unpopulated. The water’s edge of the beach is shallow enough for swimming and there are sandy sections amongst the rocks for people who just want to sun bathe or do a picnic on the beach. But I’d say the major activity of day users and campers is rock picking because there must be millions of rocks along the shoreline and in the water adjacent to the beach. Every time there is a storm or high winds, new rocks get washed up on the beach. So yesterday you might have thought you thoroughly searched a section of beach, but today wind and surf have made it a “new” beach with fresh rocks.

Little Girls Point Beach
Picking rocks and looking for a Lake Superior Agate along the beach at Little Girls Point County Park near Ironwood, Michigan

How you find Agates on the Beach

Some rock pickers, me among them, like to walk the edge of the water looking for agates and potential gemstones. I get some good exercise from the walk and in bending over often to inspect specimens I get some stretching exercise as well. The Lake Superior breeze is cool and crisp, as is the water. I’ll bring a mesh or plastic bag for my specimens and generally walk until I am getting tired, then I begin the return trip. In general walking with the sun at your back allows you to see the rocks a little better. Going over the same territory, out and back, you get a different view of the rocks because of the sun and sometimes I find a good specimen that I missed on the way out. I’ll also focus more on the rocks in shallow water on the way out and then more on the rocks in the sand at the water’s edge on the way back (or visa-versa).

Agates and Rocks from Lake Superior
Some agates (foreground) and other rocks picked from Lake Superior and polished

Another type of rock pickers are excavators. They find a spot on the beach that looks like a good place to find agates or other rare stones and plop themselves down with a bucket and small sand shovel and start digging. At Little Girls Point I think you could dig down at least two feet and still be excavating rocks. This method is less tiring and easier on your back. And it can be quite effective, particularly if you’ve learned to spot rock characteristics that favor the appearance of agates.

Recently I’ve tried a combination of the above methods with some success. As I said I really enjoy the stroll along the beach so that will continue to be my primary rock hunting style. However now when I come across an area with a number of quartz or quartzite rocks, I’ll stop and spend some time excavating and examining the rocks more closely. The two agatized rocks pictured above were found by this method.

Here’s a Google Map showing the location of Little Girls Point Beach and two other nearby excellent Lake Superior rock picking beaches.

3 Great Rock Picking Beaches

View Rock Picking Beaches – Ironwood Michigan in a larger map

Interested in learning more about rock picking along Lake Superior? Go to my SuperiorTrails website for agate & rock picking books and links and learn more about identifying Lake Superior beach rocks and agates

Lake Superior Agate Festival

See our post on the Lake Superior Agate Festival Rock On with Lake Superior Agates.

Rock Picking – Black River Harbor

rock picking black river harbor

Rock Picking Trip – Black River Harbor & Little Girls Point One late July I took my niece Kristi and her family to Black River Harbor, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, to show them the campground, hiking trails, waterfalls, and do some Lake Superior rock picking. I was under orders from Ross to find an agate … Read more

UP 200 Sled Dog Marathon

up 200 sled dog race

Start of the UP200 Sled Dog Marathon – Marquette, Michigan Upper Peninsula

Friday night in Marquette thousands of people lined up along snow covered West Washington Street to watch the beginning of the UP200 Sled Dog Race, a qualifying competition for the famed Iditarod Alaskan race. Downtown businesses provided a festival atmosphere with music and entertainment plus several serving free hot chocolate and coffee. Frank Moe of Bemidji, Minnesota drew Bib #1 and starting position for the 24th running of the UP 200 (which is actually 240 miles in length).

up 200 sled dog race
Musher Frank Moe and his team of “athletes” roar out of the starting gate
up 200 sled dog race
Kevin Malikowski’s team running along the lower harbor

Sunday afternoon around 1 pm, Ryan Anderson of Ray, Minnesota crossed the finish line winning his fourth in a row and unprecedented UP 200 race. His neighbor Keith Ali also from Ray, Minnesota finished second. Ali had previously won the race three times. Ryan Reddington, who came all the way from Alaska to compete, finished third. Reddington’s grandfather was a founder of the famous Iditarod Sled Dog Marathon. Another Minnesotan, Troy Groeneveld finished fourth. Martin Koenig of Seeley Lake, Montana finished fifth.

We had a companion accompany us to the race: Flat Stanley – a paper cutout pal of our Grand Niece Kylah who is using Stanley as part of a school project. Stanley was there at the beginning and at the finish line.

Flat Stanley at the UP 200 Sled Dog Race
Flat Stanley was there with Jo to watch the start of the race
Flat Stanley at the UP 200 Sled Dog Race
Flat Stanley was also at the finish line to see Ray Anderson win the race

Restaurants & Dining in Marquette

Sunday afternoon Jo and I went searching for a place to have lunch downtown and discovered Donckers Restaurant. Donckers is a blend of a candy & confectionary store, an old tyme soda fountain, and deli restaurant serving a large variety of breakfast, lunch, and dinner selections. Located downtown on West Washington Street a few blocks from the harbor. A funky place full of old fashioned character that has been well-earned since the establishment has been in business since 1896 and at this same location since 1914. The business was started by Fred Donckers as a simple, open air stand featuring candy, fresh fruit, tobacco and $.05 hot-buttered popcorn. As the business expanded, Fred moved indoors and built the current location adding a full service soda fountain and dining services.

Donckers Restaurant.
Donckers soda fountain has all the “sweets” your tooth would want, including their own line of chocolate candies
Donckers Restaurant.
Down the hall from the soda fountain is a coffee house atmosphere with a combo playing mellow tunes while others are playing board games

Jo had their Cheese Steak special and I had the Apollo Vegetarian sandwich. The sandwiches were delicious. Jo’s hot sandwich was thinly sliced beef with red peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese sauce was served hot and juicy and earned 5 stars. My veggie sandwich had ample portions of fresh, crisp vegetables- spinach, lettuce, onion, cucumber, and avocado spread – topped off with a slice of swiss cheese. Both of us had the veggie chips over the kettle chips. Pop was self-service in a large 20 oz tumbler.

Donckers Restaurant.
Upstairs is the Deli with a decent variety of sandwiches, wraps, salads, and soups. After the order this couple received their pet rock placeholder!
Donckers Restaurant.
We found a free table overlooking Washington Street. The retro table and chairs were quite comfortable. We didn’t have to wait long to exchange our rock for our food order.

The service is Deli style. You place your order and then are given a “pet rock” with a number on it as identifier of your order. When your meal is ready a staff member hunts you down, delivers your food and utensils, and retrieves the pet rock. We didn’t have to wait long for our order and it was served by friendly wait staff. It was apparent the staff has a good time and enjoys providing good and friendly service to customers. The prices are reasonable and made more so by the senior discount they gave us. We’ll definitely be back.

Ross

Fall Color Michigan Upper Peninsula

tahquamenon falls

Scenic Fall Color Drives from Marquette to Sault Saint Marie, Michigan

During the last week in September, 2010 Jo and I toured the central UP to investigate first hand the fall foliage and color changes. Our trip began on September 20th and lasted through the 28th. (See Days 1 & 2 Reports Here) The table below gives you links to various portions of our trip so you can see what we found and notes of interest.

In many cases we were a little early for the best color but did find some nice fall color scenery at Tahquamenon Falls and around Marquette. Yet even the areas where color was just beginning to change were worthwhile visiting. The waterfalls were spectacular. We love the nice crisp fall air, no bugs, and less competition for motels, campsites, and various attractions and things to see and do. A vigorous fall hike doesn’t get you all sweated up like summertime!

Tahquamenon Falls
The Upper Falls at Tahquamenon Falls State Park
Grand Sable Dunes
Grand Sable Dunes from the Log Slide Overlook in Pictured Rocks National Park

When might you expect peak fall color in the Upper Peninsula? See our Fall Color Reports – Michigan UP

–Ross

UP Fall Color Tour – Pictured Rocks

pictured rocks national park

Monday September 20, 2010Munising, Michigan color tour – days 1 & 2 color tour – days 3 & 4 color tour – days 5 & 6 color tour – days 7,8 & 9 In late September Jo and I traveled to the Upper Peninsula with her sister Donna and our brother-in-law Dan to enjoy some … Read more

UP Fall Color Tour – 2

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Brimley, Michigan – Wild Bluff Golf Course color tour – days 1 & 2 color tour – days 3 & 4 color tour – days 5 & 6 color tour – days 7,8 & 9 During the drive from Grand Marais to Brimley the color change was modest. As we got away … Read more

UP Fall Color Trip -Tahquamenon Falls

lower falls tahquamenon river

Friday, September 24thSault Sainte Marie, Ontario Thursday afternoon after touring the Corps of Engineer’s Soo Locks facility we crossed the International Bridge to the Canadian side. We camped at a nice KOA facility just North of town; Donna and Dan had a nice spacious suite at a hotel in town. It rained all afternoon and … Read more