This week we're visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with spectacular dunes
perched high above Lake Michigan. Here there is no shortage of amazing overlooks and fun hikes,
which is exactly where we're starting today.
We are headed up the Empire Bluff Trail. It is one of the more popular hikes in the park because
you get a really spectacular view at the end that overlooks all of Lake Michigan. It's about
one and a half miles long, I think. Round trip I believe too so you get this great view for
you know not too much effort I guess. It's already going uphill, but lots of other hikes in the
park are a bit longer and you have to go up and over dunes to get the same view. So here we go.
Right on the side of the path you have this bench and your first incredible
view of Lake Michigan right here. Which I thought was really interesting because
this is the first view we've had of it in this park because you're so down in the trees
most of the time. It's absolutely stunning from here. And the water looks quite blue
along the shoreline. I've seen even bluer pictures before so I'm hoping when we get out
to the full overlook that maybe we'll experience some of that as well. Sleeping Bear Dunes National
Lakeshore was established in 1970. There's about 65 miles of lakeshore here in the park, and you
are about 400 feet up or so at the overlook. Also this whole area was carved out by glaciers, and so
the area that you see behind us, those are really glacial moraines and the dunes are perched on top
of those. So we're just really excited to be here. Let's show you the main overlook right up here.
So we made it to the end of the trail here and the boardwalk just turns in a little bit of a loop.
We were a little bit confused when we saw this launch sign over here, but some guy told us that
they actually launch hang gliders from here which is super cool. Yeah and that there are a lot of
updrafts coming off of the lake so it makes sense that this might be a great place for that. It
surprises me a little bit that the National Park Service lets people just run down the dune here
and launch themselves off over the lake, but it's pretty cool. I would love to actually see that.
The views up here are spectacular. The lake flies are a little intense in certain spots. They're
everywhere, but then you walk like another couple hundred feet down the trail and it's like they're
all gone. The breeze helps. If you can find a spot with a breeze they kind of disperse. But this
is worth it. We highly recommend this trail. It was fairly easy and the views are so worth it.
We see the actual Sleeping Bear Dune down the lake shore here so I wanted to quickly mention
the legend I guess, why this place is called Sleeping Bear Dunes. Apparently,
as the legend goes, there were three bears: a mama bear and two cubs, that were swimming across the
lake from Wisconsin to find food. And the poor little bears got tired and didn't make it and
sunk under the water. And so the mama bear came and came up on the lakeshore
and turned to watch, but luckily the two baby bears emerged again into the two islands:
South Manitou Island and North Manitou Island. And the mama bear continues to lay perched on
the lakeshore ever since keeping watch over her baby bears. Had you heard that story before? I
had not no. I was sitting here just listening to you, and I was like wait a minute this is kind of
sad. Yeah. I guess in a way you know they're all here reunited for eternity. Ah! Lake flies! Like
I was saying. Next we're gonna head on to Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.
We have started on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Loop which is a 7.4 mile
loop through this part of the park. Pierce Stocking was a lumberman who loved the area and
wanted to share the beauty of the place with others. And as a lumberman, he conceived the
idea of this road and building it through the forest, through this difficult terrain.
And in fact that's what he did. And he maintained the road until 1976 upon his death. Then it was
purchased and became part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. So that is really interesting
to me especially looking at the sign behind us to see where his trail originally went and even out
onto some of the dunes. I think back then it was 14 miles long. So it's a bit shorter today, but it
still shows you the beauty of the area. There are 12 waypoints along this that kind of show
different parts, different scenic areas. The first one here is this covered bridge. We're gonna head
on and see the rest of the 12 waypoints including what I hear are some pretty great overlooks.
So technically it's not prohibited to go down to the lake from here,
but it's super steep. Don't be that guy.
The Lake Michigan Overlook is one of the most spectacular overlooks along the lakeshore here.
It is beautiful. This is one of the highly recommended places to come for sunset,
and we're lucky enough to be here right at that time so we're enjoying the view over the water.
Come out here and sit at the overlooked platform or bring some chairs or sit in the
sand and enjoy it for a while. I think we have one more overlook to go check out over here,
and then there's a couple more on the way back but really this is the main piece of it here.
The sun just passed behind the clouds which kind of obscured the sunset a little bit,
but the colors are still really nice. I think the consensus here is that this second overlook here
it's a little bit more of a hike to get up to, the view is probably better from the other one because
you really get more of a 180 degree sweeping view of the whole lakeshore from there, but
it seems that people don't really come up here as much. So if you want some more solitude,
this would be the place to go. It's getting kind of busy down there, and there's nobody
here so it might be worth it. But trekking up that last little bit of the sand dune definitely
works the legs. But either way definitely catch the sunset if you can or just the view at any
time of day from one of these two viewpoints or both. On to the last part of the scenic drive.
We are on our way out the door to the Dune Climb from our campsite here in the Platte
River Campground. It's primitive camping only here. They do not allow generators,
and it's also worth mentioning that we got one of the only sites that was long enough to accommodate
our rig and it's still a little bit tight. Still a nice campground though. It's been really quiet.
There's been hardly anybody here. It's also worth mentioning that in the north end of the park there
is the D.H. Day Campground which they do have some sites up there that do allow generators to run
during certain hours, but other than that it's still primitive camping. On to the Dune Climb.
We have made it to the Dune Climb. You can see it right behind us. This is just the start of it. You
actually have to go over nine dunes like this, and they're all pretty steep, but it does eventually
go to Lake Michigan. It's three and a half miles total round trip, and it can get pretty hot and
sunny. It's all exposed hiking on the sand so be prepared. Our kids right now are on the dunes.
They're barefoot. They wanted to feel the sand. But if you're gonna go any distance wear shoes
because it can be hot and abrasive on your feet. It's kind of overcast today so thankfully it's not
hot for us out here. We are not doing the hike today. We are just going to play on this dune,
and see how high up we can get. So come with us. See if we make it to the top.
Feeling the burn a little bit. Yes. Woo!
Are we there yet? This is definitely steep.
Who wants to do nine of these? Not us. We've definitely made it over the crest of the first
sand dune here. There's a post up here that tells you where to go to continue the trail.
I think we might consider this the uh furthest point for our expedition for our family at least.
I think we've made it. We could say we made it to the top of the first hill. Our kids were content
to stay back there right on the crest of the hill and just treat this as their own personal
sand box. Yeah. Yeah, so here we are. Ah! We made it! These blue posts are throughout the hike, and
they will show you where the Dune Trail continues. So follow these if you want to continue further.
That's enough for us. Let's go back and find the kids. Exactly. We promised that
they could just play in the sand for a while, so we're going to slowly make our
way back down. It's worth the climb up if you can do it even part way. Check it out.
I always find it so funny how we go and we visit these beautiful places
and the kids are just perfectly content to find just a patch of sand on the ground, and they
would just play there all day long. It helps us slow down a little bit as well because we might
then just be on to the next thing. We'd be like "We did the dune. We're done. Go! Next thing."
So this is nice. We'll sit and chill for a bit, take it in like we might not otherwise. Yep.
We've had a lot of fun here and we're gonna call that good for our visit to Sleeping
Bear National Lakeshore. Stay tuned for our next adventure. We've got one more stop in the lower
part of Michigan before we head on to the Upper Peninsula. We'll catch you all next time. Bye!