MISSION - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is dedicated to:

• Preserving a nationally significant portion of the Great Lakes shoreline.
  
• Allowing public access to its geologic, scientific, scenic and historic features.
  
• Offering opportunities for recreation, education, inspiration, and enjoyment.
  

The PURPOSE of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is to:

• Preserve a portion of the Great Lakes shoreline for its geographic, scientific, scenic, and historic features.
  
• Provide opportunities for public benefit in recreation, education, enjoyment, and inspiration.
  
• Protect the character and use of the shoreline zone while allowing economic utilization of the inland buffer zone renewable resources.
  

The Lakeshore’s SIGNIFICANCE:

• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore affords public access to a spectacular and diverse segment of the Lake Superior shoreline.
  
• Unmatched in their scenic value, the 200-foot high Pictured Rocks cliffs rise perpendicular from Lake Superior creating a mosaic of rock form, color and texture, enhanced by cascading waterfalls.
  
• Five square miles of pristine sand dunes and their unique plant communities, perched atop 300-foot sand banks, rise abruptly at the shore of Lake Superior.
  
• Twelve miles of unspoiled and undeveloped Lake Superior beach contrast the Pictured Rocks cliffs and Grand Sable Dunes.
  
• Bedrock geology and glacial landforms create a tapestry of topography marked by streams, inland lakes and a diversity of associated vegetation.
  
• The shoreline offers extraordinary and inspirational scenic vistas of Lake Superior, the largest body of fresh water on earth.
  
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore offers a variety of affordable year round recreational opportunities for appropriate public use.
  
• Within a distinct area, the Lakeshore contains a spectrum of cultural resources focused on the human use of Lake Superior and the shoreline.
  
• Lying in a transition zone between boreal and eastern hardwood forest, the Lakeshore's scientifically recognized collection of flora and fauna is found nowhere else with the Lake Superior Basin.
  
• Pictured Rocks is the only NPS area with a legislated buffer zone.