Ten Places Not to Miss in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore free download, 10 places not to miss in this Michigan vacation spot including Sleeping Bear dunes, hiking, and more.
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, located just outside Traverse City, is a premiere vacation destination and national lakeshore, the ideal Michigan getaway. And for good reason. It’s Northern Michigan’s crown jewel.
In this FREE download, you'll get 10 insider ideas for 10 places not to miss at Sleeping Bear Dunes in this thirty-five miles of unspoiled Lake Michigan shoreline and 50,000 acres of sand dunes, beaches, forests and rivers just 25 miles from Traverse City, Michigan. All this and more await you when you hike, canoe, Nordic ski, snowshoe, tour by car or camp to explore the Sleeping Bear Dune’s rich history and drink in the awe-inspiring landscapes. And you'll get our free email newsletters with tips on where to go and what to do Up North like our calendar of events, weekend escapes, deals and discounts and contests.
Your Traverse City vacation isn’t complete without a visit to this outstanding national park. And with your FREE copy of “10 Places Not to Miss in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore” you won’t miss some of the best features.
On the shores of Lake Michigan and just half an hour by car from Traverse City, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offers spectacular landscapes and adventures for all ages. We’ve compiled 10 of our favorites along with driving directions and tips on what to watch for when you get there.
1. A beginner-friendly slice of the 15-mile Platte Plains Trail
This pine needle-carpeted trail is within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
2. A sandy-bottomed lakelet at the Lake Michigan shoreline
Be prepared to share the shallows with giggling little ones. Or take an invigorating dip in the big lake—Lake Michigan.
3. Snowy Getaway at Sleeping Bear Dunes
If you've only visited the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in summer, you don't really know this Bear. In winter the magical landscape is cloaked in white.
4. Two-mile roundtrip hike with possible wildlife sightings
Be prepared for company as you hike this trail—deer, rabbit, coyote and even a cougar have been sighted in these parts.
5. Afternoon's End on the Sleeping Bear Dunes bluffs
The sunsets are legendary from this vantage point 400 feet above Lake Michigan.
6. Magnificent views of the Sleeping Bear Dunes
This 1.5 mile-loop is a lovely patchwork of lakeshore landscape that culminates in a magnificent view of the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
7. Backcountry Camping in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
If you’ve wanted to try backpacking, make this camp your first attempt: easy effort, big payoff. It’s just half an hour from Traverse City, Michigan.
8. Sand Dune Getaway without the Crowds
An island escape on Lake Michigan.
9. Reel in the Daily Catch
Bait your hook and drop a line in this non-motorized lake within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
10. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore time capsule
Once upon a time, this was a bustling Lake Michigan port village. Imagine life as it was in the days of the lumberjacks Up North.
To get all the details of these 10 enticing features within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore click below and download 10 FREE Places Not to Miss at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore now. Then pack your bags (don’t forget your camera!) and fill the gas tank.
Plus, you'll get our free email newsletters with tips on where to go and what to do Up North like our calendar of events, weekend escapes, deals and discounts and contests.
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- This grab-and-go guidebook covers the best of summer Up North
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Great - every ice cream lickin, fudge smackin, tourist from where ever now will invade our local spots. Nice work from a fudge/tourist driven magazine.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is one of the nation's treasures and we are committed to making it easy for people who live in Northern Michigan or elsewhere to get out of their houses and into nature so they actually experience that wonder. We have always felt that the more people celebrate our natural resources, the more they will raise their voices to protect them when threatened.
But you raise an interesting point in an age-old discussion: Is it better not to share information about a public place like Sleeping Bear Dunes to encourage people to experience nature in hopes of keeping it "private?"
There are two kinds of people: those who want to share the things they love, and those who don't want to share the things they love. I subscribe to the sharing. We began as vacationers to northern Michigan and Leelanau Co. because someone shared with us. Fell deeply in love with the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. Rented the same vacation home for 15 years, then bought our own vacation home. We now pay taxes and support the local economy. We will be retiring in Leelanau. I love to share this county with friends. There's enough for all. We, our friends and family, respect the land and contribute to its preservation. It's easy to want to keep this jewel to ourselves, but I'd rather spread joy than keep it from others.
It's not a matter of keeping it private, it's just we get tired of the masses trampling over northern Michigan for the few days they are here, and then moving on. Not everyone makes their living from the tourist crowd, or retires to the sickly over used term "Up North" region.
Some of us were actually born here, raise our families, run our businesses, and live here day in and day out. Let's not make this Disney, lets actually do something for the locals as opposed to bowing to the tourist trade in each and every issue of the ahhhhh crowd at Traverse the Magazine. I know most of your subscribers are from out of town so maybe we're barking up the wrong tree.
It sounds like you do a great job of getting yourself and your family out, unplugged and into the beauty of Northern Michigan. But one of our key missions for 30 years has been, and is, to get the people who live in Northern Michigan to connect and reconnect with our landscape, our villages, our amazing shops and galleries and our natural resources. Four or six weeks out of the year, we all may run into a handful of people in the course of a hike or stand in line at the grocery store. For huge chunks of time, we usually have the woods to ourselves and our amazing, creative local businesses, galleries and restaurants are looking for us to come through the door. We try really hard to provide easy ways for people who live here to truly experience how fabulous this place is, the way they probably all did at one time.
Whether you were born here and chose to stay or moved here to live a life, it is often really hard to remember that the oil change can wait and the laundry will still get done if you take a few hours to float a river or wander a trail by yourself or with people you love. Too easily all of us who live here can get disconnected from the real reasons we chose to be here originally and choose to be here still. A larger proportion of our readers live in Northern Michigan and we hope every day that we played some part in getting them out into a cool store or new restaurant, to one of the fabulous events our neighbors are putting on here or onto a trail.
It's kind of interesting, because the people who have come North for a week or a month a year often think it is the residents of this region who are asking too much of it. It's the residents who need schools and hospitals, big box stores and gas stations. Many visitors say they want only to come once a year and have a bonfire on the beach and have the stars still shine in a pitch black sky.
We believe Northern Michigan is, and should remain, an important part of the lives of so many people whether they live here or not. People really need to leave technology and bills and worry behind, get their kids up and out and spend time with the people they love. In this really challenging time, Northern Michigan offers a way to know wonder and joy and it so often doesn't cost a thing.
It sounds like you get out a lot. But we hear all the time from people who live here who are inspired to leave the laundry for a few hours and grab onto a simple idea for a Saturday afternoon. One of the lines we hear most from people who live here is some version of, "I'd forgotten." In print and online now, we're about never forgetting. Because when the people who live here forget, when we stop celebrating this place and spend our weekends only on laundry and chores, we will not get out and support our creative, local entrepreneurs and we will not lend a hand to protect the natural resources. And we really think it will take all of us not forgetting.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. We appreciate hearing them
We have "secret spots" in Sleeping Bear that we would never tell anyone where they are. Its nice to be able to go the beach without every tourist and fudgie joining you. I'm tired of being treated by the tourists as if we should be grateful for their money.
There are no "secret spots" in SBNP bub. I praise my north for their commitment to getting folks up and out. Even if your business isn't selling directly to the fudge I can guarantee that some of your customers do. Let them come, spend theIr money, see the sites, and leave. Hopefully they will respect the land and as deb pointed out maybe they will raise their voice to protect the beauty.
There are no "secret spots" in SBNP bub. I praise my north for their commitment to getting folks up and out. Even if your business isn't selling directly to the fudge I can guarantee that some of your customers do. Let them come, spend theIr money, see the sites, and leave. Hopefully they will respect the land and as deb pointed out maybe they will raise their voice to protect the beauty.
There are no "secret spots" in SBNP bub. I praise my north for their commitment to getting folks up and out. Even if your business isn't selling directly to the fudge I can guarantee that some of your customers do. Let them come, spend theIr money, see the sites, and leave. Hopefully they will respect the land and as deb pointed out maybe they will raise their voice to protect the beauty.
There are no "secret spots" in SBNP bub. I praise my north for their commitment to getting folks up and out. Even if your business isn't selling directly to the fudge I can guarantee that some of your customers do. Let them come, spend theIr money, see the sites, and leave. Hopefully they will respect the land and as deb pointed out maybe they will raise their voice to protect the beauty.