Superior claims landmark!

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Miners Castle turret surrenders to lake

MUNISING — What is arguably the best-known landmark at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was changed forever Thursday when a large section of Miners Castle collapsed and tumbled into the waters of Lake Superior.

About 10:30 a.m. Thursday, a handful of people — including at least one hiker, sightseers and anglers — were witness to the collapse, which was described as loud and sudden.

One of the two prominent “turrets†at the top of the castle-shaped formation fell roughly 90 feet off the northeastern side of a ledge. From a distance, it appears as though the section was lopped clean off.

The turbid waters of Lake Superior were still churning, darkened by the sediments from the collapse by late Thursday afternoon.

“This is probably by far the most significant change that’s occurred out there since I’ve been doing the cruises,†said Dave Karbon, a captain with Pictured Rocks Cruises in Munising.

Karbon, who has worked on the boat cruises for the past nine years, said substantial changes occur with regularity to the sandstone cliff formations that dot the coastline along the tour boat route between Munising and Chapel Beach.

But what makes the Miners Castle collapse so great is the prominence and popularity of the feature with tourists and locals.

“A lot of the people anticipate seeing it before it even comes into view because they’ve heard so much about it,†Karbon said. “It is the highlight of the tour for a lot of people.â€

Larry Hach, chief ranger at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, said the action that took the castle turret down Thursday is an example of the forces of nature at work that created the spectacular Pictured Rocks cliffs to begin with.

“It’s part of the natural process, the erosional process,†Hach said.

Each spring, the tour boat captains look forward to their initial journeys along the Pictured Rocks, finding new alterations in the cliffs.

“The first trips are kind of interesting to see what’s changed over the winter,†Karbon said. “You see people comparing notes.â€

Last year, a section of Grand Portal fell and two years ago, a big chunk crumbled in on Chapel Cave, Karbon said.

In July 2000, a significant collapse at Grand Portal now prevents pleasure craft from making what had been regular trips under the formation.

The Grand Portal Arch also collapsed in 1900 in a significant event, chronicled by “The Munising News†on Sept. 22 of that year.

“The Grand Portal was one of the grandest, most sublime and interesting sights of the Pictured Rocks,†the article said. “The cavity was large enough for a good-sized steamer to enter into and it was perhaps a hundred feet or more in height from the surface of the water.â€

During the 1940s, the Chapel Rock Arch also fell.

Word of the Miners Castle collapse spread quickly throughout Munising Thursday after it was reported to park officials by witnesses. Later in the day, small groups of people wandered along the pathways between two National Park Service viewing decks at the castle.

“It’s so sad,†said one local woman.

Another added, “It’s going to change the whole landscape you’ve been used to seeing for thirty or forty years.â€

Hach said the collapse Thursday illustrates the importance of park railings, signs and other warnings intended to keep people away from the precipitous drops off the edges of the sandstone cliffs.

“You never know when one of those things is going to fall,†Hach said.

In the past, Hach said rangers have had to remove park visitors from the top of Miners Castle, including the turret that dropped into Lake Superior Thursday.

“If someone had been out there, it really could have been bad,†Hach said.

Under the trees, near the lower observation platform, an interpretive display titled “Crumbling into Time†explains that erosion by wind, water and ice at Pictured Rocks is a continuous, ongoing process along the cliffs.

In text placed above a sketch prominently showing the two turrets of the castle intact, the sign asks visitors an ironic question.

“As you visit Miners Castle, what do you think it will look like next time you visit?â€