Gladstone + Rapid River
Onto my first full day in the Escanaba area! So I’m going to chunk this out a little bit, not in the exact order (whoa, Tieka!) so I’ll be doing a full round up of all of my favorite things in Escanaba… but first up, I wanted to blog about visiting Gladstone and Rapid River! So after doing a few things in Escanaba during the morning, I ended up driving out to Gladstone, which is about a 15 minute drive from Escanaba. My main priority for visiting Gladstone was because I heard there was a little lighthouse here. I didn’t even know this one existed before my trip to the area! But granted, this lighthouse was only built a few years ago, so it’s not historic or very unique in any way, but it’s definitely cute, and a lighthouse in Michigan, so of course, I had to go. 😉
Gladstone was actually a pretty cute little town! They have a really nice park called Van Cleve Park, where the lighthouse is, where you can head to Gladstone Beach or Gladstone Harbor. When I was out, I saw tons of people walking, biking, and fishing. Plus! I spotted two river otters on my walk to the lighthouse and I was so excited! But yeah, they have a playground for kiddos, a walking bridge, a picnic area with restrooms, etc. Definitely a fun place to hang out during the summer! But I took a walk down to the lighthouse, snapped some pictures, watched the otters for a few minutes, and enjoyed a beverage from a vending machine before venturing off to my next destination!
So after that, I headed from Gladstone to Rapid River Falls in Rapid River, which is about another 15 minute drive. This wasn’t the most impressive waterfall I’ve seen in Michigan, of course, but definitely worth visiting! It’s a small flat rock falls, located on Rapid River. It drops over limestone in sections, the biggest being about four feet. There’s a picnic area available, and you can sit along the falls and just relax for a bit! I saw a few people out here fishing as well, and snapping pictures. I loved this little area, but I also love just roaming around the Upper Peninsula seeing anything and everything I possibly can. I love it up there so much! I’ll be back with more posts from my trip! Have a great weekend. xo
