Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

 Wow! What a cool place. Such a diverse set of habitats in a fairly small area. We ended up at a campground that was only ten minutes from the south entrance to the park.  We visited the visitor center first to get the stamp and see the exhibits. This one was open and very well staffed. It was also one of the few places we’ve visited where they were charging for admission. By this point in our trip we’ve been to over 25 park service run locations and only about 5 have been charging for admission. Because we (Phil) have the life time pass we don’t usually have to pay anything.  

Saguaro was charging the most to drive through; even cyclists  had to pay the $25 to do the loop through the park. We paid nothing. The only places we paid so far were at Waco Mammoth because it is part state park, Lincoln Libray and Museum because it’s state run, parking at Meyers Beach in Apostle Islands (at a reduced rate because we had the pass) and the Arch in St. Louis (for the movie, river cruise snd ride to the top). So the cost for all these cool places has been very small.

This park has a 7 mile drive that takes you through dunes, forests, and beaches. The scenic drive is named for the lumberjack who first created it.  It is a really pleasant one way trip. Only expert cyclists are encouraged to ride it because it is narrow, curvy with steep grades up and down and large cars that don’t really watch for cyclists.  We saw no one on bikes.  

What you do see is amazing. 

You drive through and learn all about the life cycle of a sand dune. Really fascinating what conditions must be present to even allow for the development of the dunes. You learn that certain trees are hardy enough and fast enough to grow to survive in sandy soil. 

You also learn that people are stupid. They do not comply with signs that the large dune on Lake Michigan is very difficult to climb. Over 1000 steps pretty much straight up if you decide to go down. Yet people still do it. And get stuck. It’s hard to capture the steepness of this dune in a still photo. (See videos on Facebook.) The color of the water in Lake Michigan below is truly beautiful.   

After leaving the scenic drive we headed for one of the picnic areas in the park where we could watch people climb one of the “tamer” dunes. The picnic area also had a beach which is used by kayakers to launch. Saw a lot of folks heading out for a paddle on one of the neighboring lakes.