A photo story

Red sandstone cliffs on Lake Superior

I stood at the edge of the red sandstone cliffs in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, in June 2026, looking out over Lake Superior. A pine leaned out from the dirt at my feet, over clear green water along the base of the cliffs and the deeper blue of the lake beyond. The rock is undercut below the trees, the forest runs along the top, and the sky was completely clear. It was mid afternoon, around 79, with almost no wind.

These cliffs are Precambrian sandstone, shaped by the waves along this stretch of Lake Superior. I took this from the edge, looking down the shoreline. That same day Laura and I also stopped at Potato River Falls, about an hour and a half drive to the southeast.

Laura and I hiked 5 miles out along these cliffs that afternoon. The forest runs right up to the edge, so the lake kept showing up through the trees, clear green near the rock and deep blue farther out.

Along the way we saw lots of sea caves, where the waves have hollowed out the sandstone at the waterline, and lots of kayakers out on the calm water below the cliffs. With almost no wind it was a good day to be paddling out there.