Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was designated by Congress in 1970 to protect the wonderful dunes and historic towns along the Lake Michigan coastline, from Frankfort to just south of Leland, and the Manitou Islands. This region of Michigan is an absolutely beautiful stretch, with remarkable landscapes perched high over the magnificent lake. The park gets its name from an old Ashininaabek Indian story about a mother bear and her two cubs who were starving in Wisconsin and set out to swim across Lake Michigan. The way was long and the two cubs couldn’t make it. They went under and returned to the surface as the Manitou Islands. The mother bear barely made it and climbed up the dunes and turned into a dune herself, forever perched on high looking out at her two lost cubs. The scenic drive will take you to some of the best lookouts in the park including a view of the Sleeping Bear Dune, while two campgrounds allow for wonderful overnight adventures. The old town of Glen Haven tells the story of logging and industry in the area as well as early tourism. The park also covers North and South Manitou Islands, two beautiful islands an hour offshore. I had the pleasure of spending two nights on South Manitou Island and it was one of the top highlights of my whole two month visit to Michigan. The island is basically uninhabited save for a few rangers and a small handful of others, but toads, chipmunks and snakes abound. You can even find a grove of ancient cedar trees in the interior of the island. With the deepest natural harbor between Chicago and Buffalo on the Great Lakes though, South Manitou Island was once a busy place, and some of the old buildings around the island are very well maintained. I loved the old homesteads, the cemeteries and, of course, the lighthouse. In 1970, the ship Francisco Morazon ran aground off of the south shore of the island and while the crew was saved the boat still rests where it hit and is visible above the waterline. While the island is designated wilderness and camping is the only overnight option, you can visit the islands as day trips as well, and tours are offered. I had a wonderful stay in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and highly recommend it if you are in this part of Michigan. I hope you enjoy these photos from my visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes and South Manitou Island. To find out more about the park, follow the link here.
This post is one in a series of “In Focus” posts in which I hope to capture the magic of each of our wonderful National Parks. You can find the other posts in this series by typing “In Focus” into the search bar in the footer of this blog or scroll using the links below. Click on any photo to make it bigger. All photos are available for purchase and licensing - please contact me for further details. For licensing, click the link in the header. Please support our National Parks - they really are our greatest treasures.
A Beautiful South Manitou Beach