One of the most beautiful towns in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, at least in my opinion, is Marquette, MI. While in Marquette, there are many different things that you can do and see, but one of my favorite things to do while I am up there is to go to Presque Isle Park. Presque Isle Park is a peninsula on the north side of Marquette near the only operational ore dock left standing. This is a very popular park that attracts lots of people year-round, but especially in the summer and fall.

  You may have heard of this park being called the “black rocks”. The black rocks are one of the major things that bring so many people to the park, but it is not the name of the park like many people think. You may be asking, “Why are the black rocks called the black rocks?” I asked the same question the first time I went up to Marquette several years ago to tour Northern Michigan University. The answer to this question is pretty simple… it’s because they are black. But why are they black? Just like a lot of the northwest portion of the Upper Peninsula, the northern shore of the park has remnants of volcanic activity. If you look along the surfaces of many of the rocks, you may see colored spots that can range anywhere from green, to orange, to even black. These spots are actually living organisms called lichen. Like I mentioned in my article about the Bush Bay Trail, lichens do not have roots, so their nutrients come from the air around them. This actually makes them bioindicators because when they turn different colors, it means they are reacting to the air quality, which can help determine if the air quality within a certain area is good or poor.

Not only does Presque Isle Park have the black rocks, but they also have trails that you can hike and bike on. There is an outer loop that is just under 2.5 miles as well as some other trails that go through the middle of the park. I have only hiked around the outside of the park, but I have heard that the trails through the middle are really nice. There is also a road that goes around the entire park, with areas where you can pull over and see the lookouts scattered throughout the park. While walking on these trails or going to the overlooks, you can see a variety of animals such as chipmunks, squirrels, several different songbirds, several different types of gulls, and depending on the time of year you can find different migratory birds.

You can visit Presque Isle Park at any time of the year, but once it gets closer to the winter months, they close down the road to vehicles since they usually get a lot of snow in the northern part of the UP. So in the late fall/early winter through early spring, the road and trails are only accessible by foot. In my opinion, the summer and fall are the best times to visit, but just know that there is a high chance of it being busy during these times so you might have to be a little flexible.

Every time I go to Marquette I make sure I go to Presque Isle Park, so I recommend checking it out if you are in the area or if you are looking for a fun trip. Hopefully, this gives you a little bit of insight into what this park has to offer as well as helps you come away with some useful information.