MUNISING, MICH. – Accumulating snow on the ground this week officially rounds out the 2022 tourism season for Munising, the picturesque Lake Superior shoreline town that grappled with huge visitor numbers in recent years.
In the last decade, more and more people seeking outdoor adventure and beautiful scenery discovered Munising’s charms thanks to its position as the gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. But an enormous surge in foot traffic during the first two years of the pandemic ran riot over the small city and the delicate ecosystem within the park the throngs of visitors came to see.
Hotels were sold out. Campsites filled up. Restaurants packed and often running short on supplies.
There were so many visitors at Pictured Rocks that the National Park Service this year launched entrance fees to help cover costs of necessary maintenance and park improvement efforts.
Yet locals said this tourism season marks a departure from the last two go-arounds. Things may be changing yet again.
“Last year was an explosion – a chaotic explosion. The town was not equipped,” said Brenda Kelley, who owns the Munising Visitor Center gift shop and local information hub.
“People were sleeping in their cars.”
An estimated 1.3 million people visited the national park in 2021 and 1.2 million in 2020. That’s several hundred thousand people more than the town was accustomed to seeing in even a busy summer season.
Those record-setting numbers of visitors trampled what used to be single-file trails through the deep woods. Staircases crumbled beneath all those feet. Septic systems at popular spots failed and needed replacement. Vehicles parked hither and dither. Widespread littering disrupted the scenery. There were even problems with human waste reported in the backcountry.
But this season felt far less hectic and much easier with which to cope, Kelley said in mid-September as she cashed out a customer buying a bag of Yooperlites.
Early indications show this year’s visitor numbers likely will be down from last season – maybe by about 30% – and back on track with the town’s prior and steadier visitor growth rate.
“This year is continuing the healthy growth like pre-COVID,” Kelley said. “This summer has been pleasant and enjoyable. People have been much more relaxed.”
In the meantime, Munising made changes to help accommodate those increased numbers of hikers, campers, beachgoers, and road-trippers coming to town.
New restaurants opened, even some food trucks. More camp sites were created. Extra tour group sessions added. All to help cope with the legions of tourists flocking to town.
That frenetic pace of business simply wasn’t sustainable, said Tom Dolaskie, entrepreneur, and owner of multiple businesses around Munising.
“Our challenges were multifaceted. We did not have enough staff. There was not enough workforce housing. The supply and demand issues for everything from food products to paper products to fuel. Every part of our economic existence was stressed to its absolute maximum,” he said.
Among the new businesses Dolaskie opened are Earl E. Byrd’s breakfast diner and Alley Cats chicken and fish joint. Those joined other outfits he already runs, including a pair of gas station and party stores, plus a downtown burger shop, coffee shop, boutique motel, and fine dining restaurant.
Despite the decrease in tourists this season, the new diner that opened a year ago proved extremely popular. The eatery continued to experience a 40-minute line of hungry visitors out the door on busy days, Dolaskie said.
However, this year’s new chicken and fish joint didn’t do as well as hoped, and that’s even despite Dolaskie not rolling out his food trucks this summer.
“Primarily because there just wasn’t that pressure. The community didn’t need a pressure-relief valve this year,” Dolaskie said.
And he said that’s OK, because those 2020 and 2021 early pandemic seasons were anomalies. Unpleasant anomalies.
“It was nuts. We’ve never seen it before. And we don’t ever need to see it again. Yeah, there were no winners.”
Dolaskie said payroll costs went up 25 to 30% and cost burden went up between 15 and 20%.
“We had to raise our prices and when everything elevates at a fever pitch like that toward a glass ceiling, you know what happens when you hit it? So, that’s what we’re experiencing right now. I mean, statistically we are in a recession by all factors of math, and you’re going to see white collar and some of these pressure-relief businesses fold. They’re not going to make it,” he said.
Perhaps he’ll pivot the chicken and fish place as another breakfast option for visitors, he said, especially given the success of Earl E. Byrd’s, the only morning diner option in town – save for fast food.
Yet despite the drop in out-of-town traffic this season, certain indicators continue to show signs of strength.
Vacancies of buildings across Munising are “way down” over the last 10 years, said Katherine Reynolds, chief executive officer of the Alger County Chamber of Commerce.
“Our growth and our businesses are really all local investors,” she said, pointing to Dolaskie’s new businesses, along with a new deli and a couple of breweries, too.
Local people can see the community’s needs and deftly move to meet them in profitable ways, which she said is unsurprising given Munising’s long history of earning a living off a short summer tourism season. Winter weather in the heart of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula often consumes half the year or more and visitors are far fewer during those cold months, Reynolds said.
“When you are a local here and you own a business, you know those 100 to 120 days is the busiest time of year. You are making the bulk of your money in that time,” she said.
Inside the national park, officials continue to work on repair projects as well as planning projects to be paid for with the revenue stream from the new entrance fees.
Trail improvements are ongoing, and a couple of footbridges were replaced. Plus, a new parking area at Miner’s Beach is now under construction to separate beachgoers from commercial kayak operations, said Susan Reece, who runs the park’s educational programs.
The visitor center at Munising Falls also is being reconstructed, and she said feasibility studies and engineering work for future accessibility projects are underway. A long-range project expected in coming years will be to protect the bluffs at Twelvemile Beach with a new staircase, she said.
Park-goers can also expect to find new benches throughout the park, she said, often with backs and armrests to improve comfort and accessibility.
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