Dune Climb
Climb the sand.
NPS Photo — Public domain · Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore — CC BY 2.0 · Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore — CC BY 2.0 · Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore — CC BY 2.0 · Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore — CC BY 2.0
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore stretches for 56 km along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in the north-west of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and also takes in North and South Manitou islands, covering about 288 square kilometres in all. Its centre lies about 36 km in a straight line west of Traverse City. The park was established in 1970 and is known for its dunes, forests, beaches and features left by ancient glaciers. Its name comes from an Ojibwe legend: a forest fire drove a mother bear and her two cubs into the lake, the exhausted cubs drowned, and the mother waited for them on a high bluff, so the dunes came to stand for the sleeping mother and the two islands for her cubs. High dunes of pale sand rise above the blue water, and the Dune Climb, Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Empire Bluff and Pyramid Point give wide views across the lake. Grass-covered dunes, bleached trunks of dead trees and long sandy beaches line the shore, and in winter ice piles up at the water's edge. Entry is paid per vehicle. The dunes are steep, and climbing back up from the lake can take an hour or more and is exhausting in summer heat, so carry water.
Climb the sand.
Lake views.
Long sandy shores.
Leelanau Peninsula, north-western Michigan, United States
A legend of a mother bear waiting for her cubs.
Yes, it can take an hour or more.