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Grand Island National Recreation Area

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|- class="hiddenStructure" style="vertical-align: top;" | Location: | |- class="hiddenStructure" style="vertical-align: top;" | Nearest city: | |- class="hiddenStructure" style="vertical-align: top;" | Coordinates: | |- class="hiddenStructure" style="vertical-align: top;" | Area: | |- class="hiddenStructure" style="vertical-align: top;" | Established: | |- class="hiddenStructure" style="vertical-align: top" | Visitation: | (in ) |- class="hiddenStructure" style="vertical-align: top;" | style="white-space: nowrap;" | Governing body: | |} The Grand Island National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service. It is part of the Hiawatha National Forest. Located on Grand Island, Michigan offshore from Munising, Michigan, the Grand Island National Recreation Area covers approximately 13,500 acres (54.6 km²) of Lake Superior woodland. Grand Island's glacier-cut lake shoreline measures approximately 35 miles (56 km) in length. The island's maximum dimension is 8 miles (13 km) from north to south. Grand Island was elevated to the status of a National Recreation Area by the U.S. Congress in 1990.

Lake Superior dominates the Grand Island biotic environment. Even in high summer, the lake's temperature rarely rises above 48 °F (9 °C).

Grand Island's geology is an extension of the sandstone strata of the adjacent Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Island sandstone cliffs as tall as 300 feet (100 m) in height plunge down into the lake.

Native Americans quickly found the fisheries around Grand Island to be a resource for seasonal and year-round living. Artifacts from as early as 3300 years before the present (1300 B.C.E.) have been found.

Grand Island National Recreation Area is served during summer months by a tourist ferry and island tour bus. The ferry ride, which is less than 1 mile (2 km) long, shuttles between a dock on M-28, northwest of Munising, and Grand Island's Williams Landing. Ticket fees and an admission fee to the island are charged.

A small portion of Grand Island, the Thumb, remained privately-owned as of 2006. The Thumb contains a historic lighthouse, the 1868 Grand Island Harbor Light or 'East Channel Light', on the eastern ship channel from Lake Superior into the port of Munising.

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Grand Island National Recreation Area
National Recreation Areas of the United States
Administered by the National Park Service
 Amistad | Big South Fork | Bighorn Canyon | Boston Harbor Islands | Chattahoochee River | Chickasaw | Curecanti | Delaware Water Gap | Gateway | Gauley River | Glen Canyon | Golden Gate | Lake Chelan | Lake Mead | Lake Meredith | Lake Roosevelt | Mississippi | Ross Lake | Santa Monica Mountains | Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity  
Administered by other agencies
 Arapaho | Flaming Gorge | Grand Island | Hells Canyon | Land Between The Lakes | Mount Baker | Mount Rogers | Oregon Dunes | Pine Ridge | Rattlesnake | Sawtooth | Smith River | Spring Mountains | Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks | White Rocks | Winding Stair Mountain  

 


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