Special Grand Views, Characters Tours at Split Rock Lighthouse

TWO HARBORS (WJON News) -- The Split Rock Lighthouse is arguably one of the most photographed places in the state, but how do visitors get those photos?

The site is now offering tours to show you. The Grand Views Tour is on Saturdays through mid-October. It starts at 8:30 a.m. with a two-hour hike from the lighthouse to the state park.

And then you get to climb up to Day Hill which is about a mile away from the site. Along the route, you stop at certain points that are the photo spots, and then there are also historic points of interest within the park like the Little Two Harbors fishing village which was in the bay.

Site Manager Hayes Scriven says the tour was new last year, and this year they are doing the tour to coincide with the fall colors.

The cost is $35.

Brady Willette/Minnesota Historical Society

The characters from the Split Rock Lighthouse's past will come to life during a special event. Stories by Lantern Light is on Saturday, October 14th at 6:30 p.m.

Scriven says they've been holding this event for three years now with people portraying prominent figures.

Basically, we have tour guides that are on-site at a station but they are actually playing a person that was part of Split Rock's past. In the past, we've had keepers, assistant keepers, wives, children, and workers.

Scriven says this year they are featuring the engineer who helped to design the lighthouse as well as the daughter of the second lighthouse keeper.

The cost is $15 for adults, $10 for children.

Minnesota Historical Society

The Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Beacon Lighting at Split Rock Lighthouse is scheduled for November 10th from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. This annual event commemorates the sinking of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald and the total loss of 29 crew members aboard on November 10, 1975.

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Brady Willette/Minnesota Historical Society

The Split Rock Lighthouse opened in 1910 so this year it is 113 years old. It was decommissioned in 1969 and gifted to the state of Minnesota shortly after that.

Between 150,000 and 160,000 people visit the Split Rock Lighthouse each year.