This is the Sleeping Bear trip we sell as a mini guide on Etsy. The PDF holds the maps, a day plan and a checklist. This page is the sourced web version: a short look at the Dune Climb, Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Glen Haven and Port Oneida. What is open that day belongs on the park pages, not here.

The full place page is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. 1

The Dune Climb

The park calls the Dune Climb a stretch of open, wind-blown sand. There is a picnic area at the bottom. From the top you look over Glen Lake, not Lake Michigan. The climb sits about 2 miles from the big lake, and you cannot see that lake from the summit. 4 A longer dunes trail continues to Lake Michigan; the park says it is a walk up and down loose sand and can be disorienting. Bring water. Keep children in sight. 4 The Dune Climb address the park lists is 6748 Dune Hwy (M-109), Glen Arbor. 3

Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

The park's own short-visit list puts the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive first. 7 A self-guided page describes a 7.4-mile loop through beech-maple forest to overlooks of Glen Lake, Lake Michigan and the dunes, with 12 stops. 8 The drive entrance the park lists is 8500 Stocking Drive, Empire. 3 Whether the loop is open that day is on the current conditions page. 9

Glen Haven

Glen Haven was a cord-wood station that later turned to farming, canning and visitors. The park keeps several buildings you can walk through: the U.S. Life-Saving Service station, a working blacksmith shop and the D. H. Day General Store. 5 Staffed buildings are a Memorial Day through Labor Day pattern. Exact open days belong on the Glen Haven page. 5 There is also a beach here, and the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail comes through the village. 5 The Maritime Museum address is 8799 Sleeping Bear Road, Glen Arbor. 3

Port Oneida

Port Oneida is a rural historic district of old farms that the park says stayed free of modern development. Families farmed there for more than 100 years. 6 The Port Oneida Farms Heritage Center is where the park tells that story. Once a year, on the second Friday and Saturday in August, the Port Oneida Fair shows the crafts and farm work of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Most of the year the district is quiet, and you walk the farmsteads. 6

How to get there

Most people arrive by car on M-22, then the M-109 loop about two miles north of Empire for Pierce Stocking, the Dune Climb, Glen Haven and D. H. Day Campground. 3 The Philip A. Hart Visitor Center is at 9922 Front Street, Empire, Michigan, 49630. 3 Start there for a map.

Tips

  • The park's own short-visit list is the scenic drive, the Dune Climb and Glen Haven. Port Oneida is on the longer-visit list. 7 The printed mini guide is how we turn that into a day you can carry.
  • Do not bring firewood into the park. 2
  • Island docks and facilities can close for repairs. 9

Safety

Steep dunes, loose sand and Lake Michigan currents are the hazards the park names. This page does not report today's wind or which loops are open. Read the place page and the NPS current conditions page before you go. 9