Rocks on Lake Superior

The beaches of Lake Superior are full of small pebbles to large boulders. The types of rock vary from gray basalt, rhyolite, and quartz, to the mythical Lake Superior Agate which is the Minnesota state gemstone. I can identify some of them by sight, but mostly I just look for “pretty rocks”.

Even sandstone is interesting. The beach near our campground in Pictured Rocks had pebbles, boulders, and slabs of this sandstone.

One problem with collecting rocks along the shore is that the rules in most national and state parks forbid rock collecting. So, we were allowed to collect rocks at beaches outside of the park or when we visited a city park, but not in the parks.

Of course that doesn’t prevent us from taking pictures of rocks. Plus, we’re not about to lug a boulder in our RV no matter how pretty it is!

I am pretty sure this is considered a rock. It was at the base of a cliff of sand. It was like shale but it simply crumbled when you touched it. Pre-shale?

I like to try to find most of the rocks in my rock collection myself, but I broke down and purchased a few pieces. I bought some native copper that I would never find myself. I bought a few pieces of agate and petoskey stones (formed from coral) at an interesting rock store in Grand Marais, Michigan. The owner freely shares her knowledge and her shop was full of people captivated by the stories and the stones.