Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is an exciting place to take your family to see beautiful views of Lake Michigan. This summer, we went exploring for a few days while we were up in northern Michigan for my husband to preach at a Christian youth camp, and I decided to make a list of our favorite things to see at Sleeping Bear Dunes.
I’ll elaborate…
The first place to go when visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes is the visitor center in Empire. It’s huge and full of info on the various places to go and a big map of all of the beaches, hikes, and cute little towns to see. You can buy your pass to get into all the various sites (ie. scenic drive, dune climb). Pass is around $20. They will give you a guide to the scenic drive and other maps and brochures. There were several volunteers the day we were there who gave us some great recommendations.
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
This is the second thing I would do! It’s about a 8 minute drive from the visitor center, and there are excellent signs directing your way. You will need a park pass to enter the scenic drive. The Piece Stocking Drive is about 7 miles with 12 stops along the one way drive. My favorite stop is the Lake Michigan and Dune Overlook. The views are incredible and you will feel like you’re in the Caribbean because the water is a bluish green. There are several platforms for viewing and you can see the Manitou Islands from here. The pictures truly do not do it justice. The drive will take about an hour depending on long you take at each stop. There are restrooms at a few of the stops.
Dune Climb
The next place to go is the Dune Climb. This is 5 minutes away from where you exit the scenic drive. You will need a park pass to enter the parking lot. The dune climb is harder than it looks! Take off your shoes and climb the 100 feet sand dune! I was huffing and puffing all the way up! Make sure you have plenty of water. It was a cool day but hot on the sand. Once at the top, you have a beautiful view of Glen Lake. You can keep going all the way to Lake Michigan but its 3-4 miles round trip. We just went up, enjoyed the view, and then ran back down. The kids loved this. There are restrooms available here.
Pyramid Point
This might have been our favorite thing to see at Sleeping Bear Dunes! The volunteer at the visitor center told us that this was the best view in the park. We typed it into our GPS, and it took us through some cute towns and pretty countryside. It’s probably a good 25 minutes from the visitor center. There is a small parking lot and a pit toilet at the trail head. Then, you hike through the woods (uphill) for about 1/2 a mile. Then the woods open up to an amazing view of Lake Michigan with a steep sand dune below. There are lots of places to sit and just enjoy the scenery. I wish we had brought a picnic with us. It was truly breathtakingly beautiful. We did this on a separate day from the other places.
Empire Bluff Hike and Beach
On another day, we did the 1.5 mile hike to Empire Bluff and back. This was a pretty hike through woods. Once you come to the dune, you walk across a boardwalk to a viewing area. It was definitely fun to do once, but the view while pretty was not as good as pyramid point. The trailhead to this hike is less than 10 minutes from the visitor center. After we finished, we drove back into Empire and went to the public beach in Empire. You just follow the many signs. The parking lot is huge and we didn’t have trouble finding a spot. They do have restrooms. The water was COLD but the kids loved playing in the water. The beach is rocky here so you will want water shoes. I have been told there are sandy beaches in the area, so maybe next time we will find one! They also have a big playground for the kids as well.
There is so much we didn’t have time to do and would love to the next time we are there. Sleeping Bear Dunes is definitely a fun place to visit with kids and has so many things for you to see and do! I highly recommend it! The park service website has great information and maps for you to access. https://www.nps.gov/slbe/index.htm