"Fall Pictured Rocks Birch" Photo Prints

Pictured Rocks was my first backpacking trip, and ever since then, I've been love.

During my college years, my friends and I visited Pictured Rocks 7 or 8 times. It quickly became our go-to camping adventure. We've braved black fly season, cold rain, and overly heavy gear from inexperience, yet something about this place always drew us back.

It’s easy to see why—the towering 200-foot white cliffs rising above the majestic and sometimes stormy Lake Superior, the fresh scent of Michigan's woodlands, and the satisfying crunch of leaves beneath your boots. The soft, sandy beaches invite you to hike barefoot and sleep under the stars.

Many of my best memories involve gathering around a campfire with friends, which made it even more meaningful to return here years later with my son. This time, we visited during the peak of fall, a season I had never experienced here before. The vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows painted the trees, turning the coastal trails into corridors of fiery color. Every leaf, from the ground to the canopy of birches, was bathed in brilliant yellow.

This photograph, "Fall Pictured Rocks Birch," captures a quiet moment high atop the cliffs while we ate lunch. The wind rustled through the trees and the brisk air cooled the sweat on our foreheads while we took in the colors all around us.

Bring the magic of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula into your home with a landscape print that lets you enjoy the stunning autumn foliage of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore year-round.

This featured photograph was taken during an October 2023 backpacking trip with my son, where we aimed to hike the full 40+ miles along the Lake Superior coast. I captured this shot on the afternoon of day two, with a chill in the air and wind rustling through the trees—but the colorful leaves still clung to their branches, creating a mesmerizing backdrop.