Sunlit boulders along Paradise Point shimmering in Superior's crystal clear shallows

Posted by Aaron Springer on Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Well, that just sucks.

There is no longer public access to the road that leads to Paradise Point, a popular dispersed recreation location just west of Munising in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The United States Forest Service announced it in a press release on Monday. Unfortunately, it's totally within the landowner's rights to do so.

Paradise Point was previously accessed by tourists and the general public by Forest Road 2491, part of which crosses over private property.

What does this mean for visitors? According to the US Forest Service's press relase, "This means that the Forest Service (and in turn the public) do not have legal access to cross this portion of FR 2491 by any means (car, truck, ORV, hiking, biking, etc.). Doing so would be considered trespassing; therefore, there is no way to legally access Paradise Point by land."

The owner of the property is trying to limit their own liability for tourists; we really can't blame them. Not everybody is a seasoned explorer; people will do stupid things to get the best Instagram picture, and the owner doesn't want to be responsible for people.

From Cid Morgan, Forest Supervisor for the Hiawatha National Forest:

The Forest Service respects the private landowner’s rights and encourages visitors to do the same. The Forest Service does not promote or support trespassing on private property to access National Forest System lands.

Either way, there are hundreds of other beautiful sights to see in the UP, especially in the fall.

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