Presque Isle & Marquette Harbors
Marquette, Michigan
6 hours (8 miles)

This is an excellent paddling trip for the novice sea kayaker because of an almost always calm area around the Marquette Harbors. This trip allows for leisure paddling so that you can get some experience to see if this sport is for you. We start out with a safety briefing and paddling instruction period which takes from 30-45 minutes. Dependent upon the sea conditions that day we will depart from either the Founders Landing Beach in the Lower Harbor, McCarty's Cove near the Coast Guard Station or from the Presque Isle. We'll spend time paddling and sightseeing, ducking into coves and sea caves. You can see Black Rocks, Ripley's Rock, the Lower or Upper Harbor Ore Docks, Marquette Lighthouse, Picnic Rocks, and plenty of beaches.

Presque Isle is a small peninsula of 233 acres that jets out into Lake Superior. The park’s jagged shoreline is more than two miles in length and contains some of the oldest exposed rock formations in North America. Most of the park is undeveloped woodland including white birch, maple, and ironwood stands accented with areas of virgin white pine and huge hemlock trees. It is long been high on the list for sea kayakers since the seaward or east side of the peninsula meets the lake with sandstone cliffs nearly 100 feet high, small caves, and crystal clear water. Near the northern end the reddish sandstone, which was old ocean bottom, gives way to black lava type Pre-Cambrian rocks that are over 1 billion years old. Glacial scars can be seen as they moved over the surface in past Ice-Ages. As you round Sunset Point and head south along the shore the shoreline changes for rocks to a beautiful sandy beach and a small cove for about a mile before we are back into the Canadian Shield type granite rock outcroppings that are so common in this area.

Tag alongs welcome $50. Reservations required.

Itinerary

• Meet at Shop (321 S. Lakeshore Blvd.) 10:00AM

• Safety briefing & paddling practice 10:00 - 11:00

• Paddling 11:00 - 12:30

• Lunch 12:30 - 1:30

• Paddling 1:30 - 3:30

• Debrief and Load-up 3:30 - 4:00PM

On all of our Lake Superior Sea Kayak Trips we provide the below listed items:

You should bring: