Today in Pure Michigan we're in the west side of the state at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes
We're here in Silver Lake park home to silver lake sand dunes a
2000 acre sand mountain that separates miles of Lake Michigan shoreline
and the 690 acre silver lake the silver lake sand dunes are the only sand dunes
east of the mississippi river that visitors can drive on
you can drive the dunes in your own four by fours provided they're outfitted with
an orv sticker and a 10 foot orange flag or you can rent one in addition to
driving the dunes many people enjoy sandboarding them this
is a combination of surfing and snowboarding and boards can be rented
around town the dunes are divided into three areas
the pedestrian area where no vehicles are permitted
the orv area where no pedestrians are permitted and the third area is leased
by Mac Woods for tours and that's where we're heading
right now
Mac Woods dune rides began in 1930 when Mac Wood started taking his family out
for rides across the sand dunes for entertainment
as interest grew he began selling rides to tourists in his dune scooter
a four passenger model a ford nowadays they use a four-wheel drive modified
vehicle with four aircraft tires that can carry approximately 20 people
per ride they're the only tour company permitted within the dunes and rides
last approximately 40 minutes and take you on a seven mile route
so michael what is your favorite part of driving
for Mac Woods uh my favorite part of driving for Mac Woods is being able to
work outside in the sand you know there's a
lot a lot of things you can do that paintings mowing lawns not so much fun
and driving outside and how long have you been doing this
i've been working here for about 12 years but i've been driving for
six years awesome thanks a lot you're having a great ride today
just south of the silver lake sand dunes lies the little sable point lighthouse
little sabo point lighthouse was built in 1874 and stands 108 feet tall
joseph arthur hunter served as the head keeper at this lighthouse from 1899
until 1922 longer than any other keeper keeper hunter would patrol the beach
near the lighthouse gathering anything that washed ashore
and by 1922 he had salvaged enough shingles and lumber to build his
retirement home
now we've made our way up to ludington where we're going to check out a couple
of lighthouses i haven't been to ludington since i was
like 14 years old camping with my parents and
that's been a few years there's one thing i remember about it
it's the house of flavors
you gotta get dessert if you're at the house of flavors and when i was a kid
the banana split was my go-to so i'd be remiss
if i got anything but that
so all right we got the pig pin in place
next up we're gonna hit the lighthouses
just behind me at the end of the pier is the ludington breakwater light it was
built in 1924 and stands 57 feet tall
this four-sided white pyramidal tower was built with four porthole windows
on each of its three decks the unusual shape was designed to deflect the strong
waves of lake michigan
the weather channel has voted this lighthouse one of the top ten to see
in the united states
now we're heading down to the big point sable lighthouse and it's about 1.8 mile walk
earlier today we saw the little point
sable lighthouse which is 108 feet tall not small but this is the big sable
point lighthouse which towers over lake michigan at 112
feet in height
this lighthouse was built in 1867 and was the first light station in the area
and it was the last great lakes lighthouse to get electricity indoor
plumbing and heating a bit of fear surrounded
this area in the summer of 1934 when swimmers and boaters in lake
michigan reported sightings of a large sea serpent
the head light keeper at the time as well as one of his assistants solved the
mystery when they discovered a large wooden head
and midsection on shore near this big sable lighthouse
stephanie and i had a great time hanging out on the shores of lake michigan today
thanks for hanging out with us if you like this video please give it a thumbs
up and subscribe if you haven't already
where would you like to see us go next what's your favorite place in michigan
drop a line down in the comments until next time happy traveling
everybody be safe