Kayaking along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of the area’s prime actives. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Interior)

MUNISING — Though Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore normally reopens its campgrounds in May, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process this year.

However, the park reopened drive-in and backcountry campsites on Friday, encouraging nature lovers to enjoy the park while keeping healthy practices in mind.

“We want everyone to be safe,” said Susan Reece, chief of interpretation and education at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. “We want everyone to keep that in mind. We really want everyone to plan ahead and really keep that recreate responsibly (mindset) in their head and (be) aware of your surroundings, aware of other visitors’ feelings about things out here and just keeping that social distance and (being) considerate of others.”

Working with federal, state and local public health authorities, the National Park Service is monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and using a “phased approach to increase access on a park-by-park basis,” a press release states.

Though the park never closed during the pandemic, National Park Service rangers have spent several weeks clearing the roads of debris and fallen trees that resulted from a few heavy winter storms including the pre-Thanksgiving ice storm, and grading 100 miles of trails, Reece said.

Clearing up the trails was delayed a month for most of the staff due to health concerns, but most of the seasonal staff is back in action, she added.

“Initially, most of the staff were teleworking. We did always have some staff in the park, including our law enforcement’s park rangers staff, so they could be available to help assist people and help with anything,” she said. “But staff have been issued personal protection equipment; staff do have masks and we are also asking visitors even to stay 6 feet from staff. We’re doing our best to do that among each other.”

Reservations are required for all types of camping and can be made through recreation.gov.

Visitor centers and the Au Sable Lighthouse will remain closed. All campgrounds in the park will open by Saturday.

With local public health guidance, visitor centers will not be accessible as the small quarters of those facilities do not allow for proper social distancing, Reece said.

However, there is a virtual visiting center — a large board located in the Munising Falls parking lot — that provides information and contact information, she said. However, there is not yet a date set for visiting centers to reopen; it all depends on COVID-19 restrictions, Reece emphasized.

Pictured Rocks Cruises will also resume today and many local businesses have started operations in the park.

The cruises will begin tours with safety measures in place. These measures include keeping passenger capacity at 50%, disinfecting all surfaces and providing sanitizing stations on and off the boat, installing of a new plexiglass partition at the front desk and placing social distance markers on the floor to the office with designated “enter” and “exit” doors, according to the Pictured Rocks Cruises website.

Hand sanitizer will be available before, after and during the tour and masks will be required for employees in the offices and on the cruise.

Call 906-387-2379 or visit picturedrocks.com for more information.

Jackie Jahfetson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is jjahfetson@miningjournal.net.