Split Rock Lighthouse

Fun Facts

The name "Split Rock" may first have been used by the French voyageurs and Jesuit explorers to describe the appearance of the high cliffs from certain positions on the lake.
In Lake Superior's western basin, magnetic attraction due to iron ore deposits on the lake bottom caused ships' compasses to be extremely unreliable.
In spring of 1910, the first warning apparatus - a lantern and two steam-compressed air foghorns that had an official audio range of five miles - was installed. The tower houses a third-order, bivalve Fresnel lens, which stands six feet high. Due to the location of the apparatus - 168 feet about the lake level - the beacon had an official range of 22 miles, but the aura given off by the light could reportedly be seen from as far away as 85 miles. The original lens is still in place in the lighthouse and the clockwork mechanism, which rotates the lens, has been restored. Split Rock Lighthouse operated from 1910-1969.
Lake Superior is 602 feet above sea level. The Split Rock cliff is 130 feet tall, and the lighthouse tower is 54 feet tall.
Artist Loyal Chapman created a fictitious "Split Rock Golf Course" with a hole pictured on the sloping surface of the nearby island. Only birds and boats can get to the island!
"The Good Son," a 1993 film starring MacCaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood, was partially filmed at Split Rock using cliff-top vantage points to simulate a New England Atlantic coast. The actors actually dangled off a fiberglass cliff built atop the real cliff!
Bear-proof garbage cans were installed in 1997 to discourage the pesky bears that were known to show up on busy afternoons crowded with visitors.
Visitors seeking recreation occasionally arrive at Split Rock Lighthouse with fishing poles and tackle boxes, perhaps expecting to cast off of the 130-foot cliff. They are kindly directed to the nearby State Park for their fishing adventures.
Peregrine falcons, bald eagles, herring gulls, snowshoe hares and white-tail deer are regular "non-paying" visitors to the historic site. Moose, wolves, coyotes, fox, pine marten and black bears also make occasional visits to the site.