The Grand Marais Light stands at the seaward end of the long concrete breakwater that protects the inner harbour. The current structure is a skeletal steel pyramid built in 1922, painted white, with a small red lantern at the top — modest in design but striking in its setting, fully exposed to Lake Superior at the end of an unsheltered walk.
The breakwater is a few minutes' walk from the centre of town. In calm summer weather it is a pleasant stroll; in bad weather the lake breaks over the wall and the walk is closed. From the end, the views back toward Grand Marais and east along the basalt shore are as good as anywhere on the North Shore. The lighthouse itself is not open to the public.