Split Rock had its sign game on serious point with 3 quality designs at various entry points. I made sure to selfie all of them like a boss.
The first thing I did was not actually in the main park though as I stopped at a roadside hiking point and did a .5 mile spur trail that meets up with the Split Rock River. This segment brought me to a nice waterfall and gave me a chance to track down a couple Hermit Thrush on territory. The small waterfall hidden up the trail was perhaps named Split Rock River Falls, though that is hard to tell for certain after the fact. It apparently has many falls along this stretch depending on your length of hike.
The falls showing a nice curtain of ice to the left still as this was tucked back in a canyon a good half mile and seemed to be shaded most of the day for that ice anyway. A fun little bonus hike.
Wanting to hit the main park body I just hiked to this first falls, still loaded with some ice curtains in the middle of May and then got myself back out to the road. Predictably I've never really hiked at Split Rock before as my trips were all reserved for viewing and entering the lighthouse itself. This time though I set my sights on most of the hiking club trail that would have me edging the lake shore area for a nice loop.
Early in the hike I was able to edge along Pebble Beach with nice views of the Lighthouse that I've not seen before.
Based on angle and location many different compositions are possible for the lighthouse and this trip added a large number of them for me as I hiked to several viewpoints I'd never seen before.
A tighter shot shows the lighthouse leading out front with support buildings behind and the rocky cliff below. I can only imagine what this place feels like when the waves are hitting hard from the lake.
Walk a bit further and you can begin framing in the island on the edge of the bay. In low water times I imagine this is more a peninsula, but these days the higher water has it isolated.
The bay area in this location had Common and Red-breasted Merganser moving about along with an Eastern Phoebe. For some reason a few humans were setting up on the beach so one of them could be video taped jumping into the lake. It was easily the strangest thing seen on the day and I quickly moved on to other park locations. In a few spots along this part of the park and down much further along Gitchi-Gami State Trail I was able to find Franklin's Ground Squirrel, which was a first sighting for me of this particular mammal.
These dudes almost seemed tame as I was within just 5 feet or so at some points and they largely ignored my presence. Really cool coat pattern on the back with the light barring they have.
I stumbled upon a few White-crowned Sparrows still slowly heading north for the breeding season and eventually found a spur trail to take me up to a great view point where a man made fireplace stood on a rock. The story tells a tale of love since lost back around 1900 by businessman Frank Day as he build the fireplace to be the location of a home for he and his love. When that fell through the fireplace would be the only thing ever built and it stands to this day. The view is outstanding and you can see the Lighthouse off to the north pretty well. About this time I called my wife since the elevation gave me full bars of strength. To be a bit of a smart ass I video chatted with her and showed the view from my perch knowing it was not a location she would willingly hike to in the future.
My initial view of the lighthouse while standing with the fireplace to my back. This was a great elevation hike with outstanding surrounding view. Well worth the effort.
I imagine with the some serious camera gear a person could put some pretty amazing pictures together from these longer hike points. It seemed on this day I was the only one out hiking this far from the parking lots.
The longer view you can see the bay where I had pictures from above in this post and the island mentioned as well. What a great day of hiking.
My hike was outstanding with nice sun and a cool breeze helping keep things reasonable off the lake. Most birds were expected and nothing really seriously jumped out at me the rest of the time I was moving about. Though my path did take me up and down a boat load of wooden stairs I wasn't terribly taxed on my hike. (Worth noting this hiking club trail is taxing though if you aren't in shape with the exception of the paved Gitchi-Gami trail.)
The Great: The hike along the lake was loaded with great views of rocky coast line and the beautiful lighthouse perched atop the cliffs. This was a very peaceful hike and visit and I'd highly recommend it if you can handle the elevation changes and stairs. Birds again weren't that thick and it almost started to feel like I had outrun migration to a degree. Now birds like Black-throated Green Warblers were still in place in numbers, but I somehow expected more density of birds that I really experienced. That may not be a reality that exists in this park, but it was interested to see what I did and I look forward to more visits at different times to get a true vibe for the whole area.
The Meh: I don't see a huge number of hikes left on the park, but I do see another couple trips that will have me out on the trails. The lighthouse and the lake are truly the big pieces of the park. I'll look to do a larger River Loop and catch the Merrill Logging Trail hike as well, but not a lot else sits waiting.
The Verdict: This is an easy return with the beauty of the north shore and the views provided by the hiking club trail. I can say though this is not likely going to be a birding focus point in the future. I get the impression that further up the north shore is where the true action is at, but this will be a nice property to visit and see what is happening at different times of the year.
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