Backpacking guide for Pictured Rocks on the North Country Trail 

Thank you for this video! It’s a valuable resource to the backpacking community. My 10-year-old son and I just got back from our successful end-to-end hike and stayed at Au Sable, Sevenmile, Chapel Beach, and Cliffs. Your recommendations were super helpful. At Sevenmile we ran into another pair that had been at Au Sable and they said they’d watched your video and chosen sites based on it as well.

Being able to preview campsites prior to booking a trip makes it very easy. Thank you!!

Thank you very much for this useful video. I just finished booking a 3-day trip in May with four other guys. It definitely is going to be better because of your video.. unless somebody gets stampeded by a bull moose, of course. Happy trails!

Thanks for doing this. Just what I was looking for. First trip to pictures rocks this summer.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! Great video that showed me EXACTLY what I needed to know about each campsite!

This video is so valuable, THANK YOU!! I'm looking to go this year, late August/early September.

Great video, we were there the week before you. We hammocked camped at Pine bluff 2 , Chapel beach 3, Potato Patch 3, and cliffs 2. No need to worry about uneven ground or low spots but we did have to find tree's and luckily all spots worked for us. I searched and watched every video I could find for months before going hoping for something just like this. Very good for future users and when I return.

Great video Jon.

So helpful, thanks for posting!

Thank you. Definitely gives me ideas for site selection for my upcoming hike.

Excellent info, thank you much! Trying to work out a trip for 2024 with a group! This is so very valuable.

Thank you this video has helped my backpacking group out a ton on our trip we did this past spring.

This video is so helpful for my trip planning, thank you!

Thank you so much, Sir. This is well done and very much appreciated!!! You Rock!

This was sooo helpful in planning our trip! THANK YOU!!

Thanks so much! This video was extremely helpful!

Thank you for this video. Beginner backpacker and this information is so helpful!

Very helpful--thanks, Jon!

The one set of both individual and group campsites that are off the trail, but don’t add any distance to the overall hike if used, would be those at Trappers Lake. It’s a wonderful inland site on a lake, huge group and lots of space between individual sites. You can walk .4 miles north from camp to Lake Superior for a sunset. This would be one option of getting back to the NCT. I like the inland route that parallels Beaver Lake, which is a very shallow lake and can be like bathwater as early as Memorial Day if conditions are right. Taking the Beaver Lake route will pop you out at the Beaver Creek camp, and avoid the soft, sandy trudge around the Pines CG.

Thank you for this! Just reserved Chapel Beach 3!

Great video thanks! gonna be there soon first time and your video is so helpful!

Once again great video with some helpful info, in the video and the comments. Ive never been to pictured rocks so I'm planning a zero day just to check out the area so thanks for the info.

This is an awesome video! Hoping to get there in August and wanted to know which sites to apply for. Very helpful!

I really appreciate the walk through. Very helpful.

Great review. We are heading there in a few weeks.

There are two water sources for Coves Group. Both are to the east of camp, near the staircase up from the lake area. One is the creek that flows alongside the staircase, where the trail crosses the creek near the bottom of the stairs. This is a seasonal flow, and might be dry. If you keep walking east from the bottom of the staircase, you’ll soon see a little access trail down to Lake Superior. There’s a little boulder scramble which can be slippery when wet, so readers are urged to proceed with caution and avoid going solo if possible. I’d say the access trail is about 1/8 mile east of camp, at the most. The beach area is rocky and really scenic. Considering that there are only six group sites, Coves Group is more middle of the line than bottom tier, which would be Masse Homestead (no water, no views) and Cliffs (no water). I’d even rank Coves Group above Au Sable East Group, because the sunsets are much more accessible and viewed from up high above the lake. The trail linking Coves Group to the main NCT continues past the NCT and goes right to the edge of the cliff above Lake Superior. So from Coves Group, you have the sunset option of overlooking Lake Superior from a few hundred feet up, or going down to the little beach mentioned above. IMO, Coves Group is probably #3 of the six group sites along the trail.

Very helpful!

Jon, this is a extremely useful video for all future hikers planning. I wish you made this last year before I hiked it. All I had was a few website photos and brief descriptions!! Lol. Your video here takes all the guess work out of the the prime sites and water access! Nicely done? Have you or are you planning to do Superior Hiking Trail hike? I’m trying to research for a trip this late Sept or early Oct.

Absolutely love this video, I’ve watched it several times to help me and I did just yesterday (2024 reservations opened 1/1/24) get every date, zone & site I wanted for June 😊 But you failed to mention your favorite burger coming off trail, so how ‘bout it?! 😁

Pictured Rocks backcountry camping regulations for the individual sites state that you have to pitch your shelter within six feet of the numbered post. So you can’t legally look around and move to a flat patch of ground that’s in the general area. There is one backcountry ranger that I’ve bumped into that’s a stickler for this rule.

Nice work, a valuable video to our community. Well done!!! Did you see much in the way of hammock campers? Trees looked sufficient at most of the sites. Just curious.

Super helpful! How big are the bear boxes? Could I stick my pack in it?

The closed toilet that you show for Mosquito Group is a composting toilet that’s been closed for at least 20 years. I don’t think they ever opened it. To get to the group latrine, walk east down the trail (back towards to river and closed composting toilet) and take the first trail to the right. The latrine is right next to the trail to Mosquito Falls that a lot of day hikers walk, and there are just two short walls giving you privacy.

What’s the situation with the privy at Seven Mile and Coves? Are they exposed or partially walled? Thanks for the video. Great info to know!

Do you have any videos or opinions on some of the other campgrounds? Hurricane river, beaver creek,

Are there any within 2 miles ish of a parking lot with a trail head?

Question.. Is there any other option to get shuttled to the the other end that you know of?

At Masse Homestead, you estimated the distance to the water but didn’t go and check out what the slope looked like getting to said water. Readers beware. Due to storms over Lake Superior and changes in water level, there’s no guarantee of a safe decent from the top of the dunes to the lakeshore. There might not be any beach at the bottom, and the slope might be steeper than 45 degrees. Masse Homestead and Cliffs, near the end, should really be though of as dry camps, as a result. Pack in the water that you need.