The Leelanau News Blog
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The Pyramid Point trail is a 2.7 mile loop, with a small spur that that climbs up to overlook Lake Michigan. As you hike you will pass through three different environments, maple-beech forest, high bluffs, and meadow. The trail does include several steep hills, but like so many other trails in Leelanau County the view makes the effort worth it.

Cool things to do: bring your dogs (as long as they are on a leash), look out over the water and try to spot the Crib (any guess what it is? - its a lighthouse in the middle of the water), and name the islands you see. When the sun is at your back look down to the water and try to spot what is left of the steamship Rising Sun.

DO NOT DESCEND THE BLUFF - it looks really fun, but in order to protect the bluff from erosion it is best to stay at the top (and it is really, really, really hard to get back up).

For more information on the Trail, visit the National Park's Service site here.

The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located inside of the Leelanau State Park on the Lake Michigan shoreline at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. The lighthouse was occupied by the U.S. Coast Guard from 1941 until it was closed in 1972. It has since been restored to resemble the keeper's house of the 1920's and 1930's. The Lighthouse and Fog Signal Building both have exhibits on the maritime history of the area.

Cool things to do: check out the exhibits on shipwrecks and local history. Climb the tower and look at Lake Michigan and the northern Leelanau Peninsula. Listen to the restored air diaphone foghorn every Saturday. There are 8 1/2 miles of hiking and skiing trails, with picnic areas and a scenic overlook. There is alot do here.
There is also the Volunteer Lighthouse Keeper Program at The Grand Traverse Lighthouse which provides the perfect opportunity for people who love lighthouses. From April through December, you can spend one or two rewarding weeks staying in the lighthouse as a lighthouse keeper.

South Manitou Island is an uninhabited island just off the coast of west Leelanau County. In the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries the island was a popular harbor and fueling station. In the 1800s the island was inhabited by farmers - their buildings, equipment, schoolhouse, and cemetery still remain on the island today. The island now has many miles of trails crisscrossing the island, an inland lake, a beautiful lighthouse, and the Manitou Passage State Underwater Preserve. The longest trail on the island is 7.4 miles, with others as short as .6 miles.

The village on South Manitou Island was located in the natural harbor on the west side of the island. The strategic location of the island and the fact that it had one of the only protected deep water harbors between Chicago and Buffalo, made it ideal for refueling the steamers. As a result, it became the first settlement in the area. In 1847, the village included Burton's Warf, a house, blacksmith shop, grocery store, barn and a wooden tamarack railroad track extending from the Warf inland to haul wood for the steamers. The current village is located south of the original village near the Life-Saving Station and lighthouse. The houses in the village were used as summer cottages. The Visitor's Center is located in the former General Store.

Cool things to do: bike to the old farms on the island, hike all the many miles of trails, check out the lighthouse, walk to the Virgin Cedars and check out the shipwreck on the way, take a guided tour of the old settlements, swim, scuba dive to explore the wreck of the Morazan.

Watch out for Poison Ivy! It can be found all over the island, a way to help remember about Poison Ivy is this little rhyme: Leaves of three, let it be. Before you go check out Wikipedia: Poison Ivy to learn more about it. The Poison Ivy in Leelanau County is normally ground cover and not a shrub. As long as you do not touch the Poison Ivy you will be fine.

How to reach the island: you can take a personal boat, canoe or kayak (beware it is 8 miles of open water from Pyramid Point), or take the Manitou Transit. When you take the ferry and do not plan on camping you have 4 1/2 hours to tour the island.

There's a lot happening this weekend - here's a list!

On Saturday (Dec 1) at 5 PM, head over to Nagonaba Street at Waukazoo in Northport for a community gathering downtown for official Northport Christmas Tree Lighting.

Check out the Higher Grounds Holiday Gift Gala on Saturday too!

Suttons Bay Holiday Happenings on Sunday (Dec 2) include free Christmas Concert at the Congregational Church (3 PM), Santa at the Silvertree Deli (3:30 - 5 PM) and Village Tree Lighting with refreshments at Silvertree (5 PM).

Cedar’s Christmas Party will be this Sunday (Dec 2) from 2-4 pm at the Solon Township Hall in Cedar. All materials will be provided to make wreaths, centerpieces, jewelry, and crafts for kids. Make it and take it home all at no charge. Come visit with friends and enjoy refreshments.

From noon to 4 PM on Sunday (Dec 2), the Grand Traverse Lighthouse hosts Christmas at the Lighthouse. It's a day long open house with featuring refreshments and the arrival of Santa (at 3 PM).

Come to the Village Green in Leland at 5 PM on Sunday (Dec 2) to light the Christmas tree. Then follow Santa to the Old Art Building to sing carols, meet Santa, and decorate Christmas cookies. Also on Saturday in Leland is the Merry Marketplace and Friday is Starlight Night.

On Monday (Dec 3) the Friendship Community Center in Suttons Bay hosts Evergreen Revelry. I don't know exactly what it is (or what time) but you can call them at 271-4630.

Did we miss something? Post it below!

One of the highlights is the Empire Eagles' Field of Screams Haunted Hayride held this weekend and next (Oct 19 & 20 and 26 & 27) on M-72 just east of Gilbert Road. (more info)

Other Halloween events include:

• Haunted Lighthouse at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum on October 20 & 21 from noon - 4 PM. Visit grandtraverselighthouse.com for details!
• Cedar's Halloween Haunted House on October 26, 27, 28 and Halloween night from 6-9 pm (at the south end of Nelson St - call 228-3426 for details)
• Glen Arbor Trick or Treating for Children on Sunday (Oct 28) - Glen Lake Chamber
• Children's Halloween Party at the Empire Town Hall on Halloween at 6 PM (call 326-5439)

If you know of any more, please post a comment below!

This photo of an old lens from the Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum in Glen Haven is one of several John has taken.

"Pleasantly situated on a safe and capacious harbor of the bay," Northport is located near the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. The surrounding area is filled with cherry and apple orchards, as well as many terrific vineyards.

Northport was one of the earliest settlements in Leelanau County. In 1849 Reverend George N. Smith, a minister of the Congregational Church, settled near Northport's current site. When Rev. Smith's settlement was just begining it was composed of 15 Anglo-Americans and 50 families of Native Americans. In 1854 Deacon Joseph Dame and his son Eusebius platted the area that is now the village and named it Northport. Deacon Dame built a dock in the Northport harbor, and wrote about the area in the New York Tribune. He wrote so glowingly about Northport that many settlers moved to the area after reading the article.

H. O. Rose built a sawmill and began to sell wood to steamers for fuel. Soon they had a regular contract to supply the boats of the Northern Transportation Company between Ogdensburg and Chicago. By 1858 they were handling from 13,000 to 15,000 cords of wood on their Northport docks. In 1855 Northport was organized into the first school district in Leelanau County, and acquired a post office. Like so many other towns in Leelanau County, the area was made up of farmers, lumbermen, and fishers. Because Northport harbor is one of the best harbors in the Grand Traverse Bay and the town had railroad facilities from the Grand Rapids and Indiana Line, it became the focal point of development and government in the County. When Leelanau County was formed in 1863, Northport served as the first county seat. It continued as such until 1883 when the county seat was moved to Leland. Although Northport was no longer the county seat, it remained a thriving village with active flour and lumber mills, and producing fruits, vegetables, seeds, and grain, and bringing in large catches of fish.

The area soon became a popular destination for families from large Midwestern cities. Northport Point (located a few miles north of Northport) soon became a permanent summer mecca for many of the wealthier of these families. Another historical area is the Grand Traverse Lighthouse which stands guard over the mouth of the Grand Traverse Bay. The lighthouse was built in 1852 by the U.S. Lighthouse Service. In 1858 the present lighthouse was built in a more visible location for the passing ships. Today the lighthouse is open to visitors and is located in the Leelanau State Park. Two of The Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association vineyards are near Northport, and are well worth the visit. The Kehl Lake Natural Area is also a great place to visit. At the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, the Natural Area "combines the best of Leelanau, with everything from shoreline to towering mixed forest to important wetland habitat."

Local area links:
Wikipedia's Northport entry
Leelanau Township Library
Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce's Northport page

The Steamer Edward Buckley loading logs on the South Manitou main dock

Last week's Enterprise had an excellent feature on South Manitou Island that begins:

Its location was superb, and it was settled early.But the once excellent location became, with the passage of time, a liability, and residents drifted away. Today, South Manitou Island is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the days when the island was a hub of regional activity are long gone.

The island’s location athwart the north-south steamship lanes dictated a lighthouse, and one was built in 1839. New lightkeeper’s quarters were built in 1858 and the present 100-foot tower (one of the highest on the Great Lakes) replaced the original light in 1871.

There were more ships on the Great Lakes in the 19th century than the 20th, but they were smaller and more apt to need shelter when Lake Michigan became tempestuous. The island’s crescent shaped harbor was one of the finest natural havens available.

Read the rest of S. Manitou once a hub of activity in the Leelanau Enterprise and check out South Manitou Island at Life Along the Manitou Passage for more of the history of the region.

Photo courtesy Inland Seas Education Assoc. / National Park Service

It's come to our attention that folks might not be following along with how we're doing the whole Leelanau backgrounds/wallpaper and photo thing these days. For 8 years we posted them every so often on our Leelanau Backgrounds Page. Now, with the ability to take photos at such high resolutions and with the photo hosting site Flickr allowing us to upload those big and beautiful pictures, doing the backgrounds and photos the old way would take a lot of time that could otherwise be spent taking pics or just walking around enjoying the area's beauty.

Plus, with so many other people taking great pictures of Leelanau County and the Traverse City area it seems kind of silly to deny you the chance to see their work. We feature photographs of the area in the daily updates to our Leelanau Blog in general and on our Leelanau Almanac pages.

You can click the links for wallpaper-sized photos or for the photo category. Many of those filed under "photos" are big enough to be used as wallpaper. To get them, all you have to do is click the photo to go over to Flickr. Once there, click the "" button to get to the wallpaper-sized image. For some of them, you may have to be a Flickr member (it's free) and/or a contact of the photographer.

Grand Traverse Light in Christmas garb by Jim Sorbie

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports that the Grand Traverse Lighthouse will receive $40,000 from the Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program. The money is part of the over $200,000 raised by the sale of Michigan "Save our Lights" plates and will be used to repair water damage from a leaking foundation.

Read Michigan lighthouses to receive preservation grants in the Record-Eagle, get more information on the Michigan Lighthouse Program and read more articles about the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.