The Best of Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes was authorized on October 21, 1970, by the U.S. Congress, which believed the Great Lakes were the “third coast” and had to be preserved much like Cape Hatteras or Big Sur, which are National Seashores. From a controversial beginning – the park’s creation involved the transfer of private property to public ownership – Sleeping Bear Dunes has become Michigan’s most distinguishable and best-known area. To celebrate our new trail map guidebook to the park, Jim DuFresne to provide an insider’s guide to the best trails in this special park. To find out his favorites Click Here.

Pierce Stocking: One Tough Bike Ride

Although less than eight miles long, Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive has more stunning, edge-of-the-bluff panoramas than most roads of any length in Michigan. It also has some of the steepest climbs, and that’s the paradox facing cyclists. For more on this short but tough ride in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Click Here.

Five Michigan “Mountaintop Peaks” to Camp On

Following the ridges to Red Hill.

Mountaintop camping — even in Michigan it’s possible.

Surprisingly not all of Michigan’s high points are in the Upper Peninsula. But to pitch a tent in a top-of-the-peak campsite does require two things: a desire to watch a valley turn from green to orange to deep red with each phrase of a dying sun — and a “Michigan mountain.”

Here are five of our favorites: Click Here

Geese & Good Hiking at Allegan State Game Area

Allegan State Game Area is best done during the off-season—either in early May when fiddleheads are popping through the forest floor and the flowering dogwood is in full bloom, or in the fall, when one can witness one of the largest migratory gatherings of waterfowl in the state.

The state game area is a 50,000-acre wildlife preserve that’s managed primarily for waterfowl, and during the fall migration, 75,000 to 100,000 Canada geese alone stop in the game area to rest for a week or two before continuing their flight south. But spread across the game area are almost 30 miles of foot trails with the heart of the system centered around Swan Creek and separated by the 118th Avenue dam.

That makes for some honking good hiking: Click Here.