Castle Rock – St. Ignace MI | Travel With Cajunville

Easy walks with great views are high on our list. Today we found both at Castle Rock in St. Ignace MI. Although there were quite a few steps, the entire path was paved and even had a resting stop if needed. The skies were bright blue and the day cool with a fairly stiff breeze. The walk was enjoyable and the view from the top was amazing.

The limestone stack rises like a medieval castle — Castle Rock is privately owned. The history goes back many generations to the Ojibwa Tribe. It is said that the rock was known as “Pontiac’s Lookout” to the Ojibwa people. By the early 1900s the rock was a tourist attraction. The C. C. Eby family purchased the property which included the limestone stack and a tourist stand in 1928. Today the tourist stand is a large gift shop.

Limestone Stack known as Castle Rock

The stack rises 195’ above sea level and about 183’ above I-75. At the summit views extent approximately twenty miles. Views of Mackinac Island, Lake Huron, St. Ignace and the tops of the Mighty Mac (Mackinac Bridge) can be seen. It was fun trying to pick out the various points of interest without using binoculars. There were only a few people at the summit when we arrived so we had lots of space and time to enjoy the surroundings.

Mighty Mac Tops

One of the curiosities at Castle Rock is the statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe. Most statues of Bunyan have him standing, not this one. He is sitting on a stump with Babe by his side and axe in hand. It looks like he is enjoying the view of Lake Huron while taking a break from deforesting Michigan.

Paul Bunyan and Babe

The fee to climb the path to the top of Castle Rock is $1.00. Correct, $1.00 and it is well worth the hundred pennies. While our walk was much easier for us than for the Ojibwa people, the view is just as fantastic.