The Leelanau Trail is a non-motorized trail extending 15 miles, roughly north and south. The trail follows along part of the east side of the Leelanau Peninsula, from Suttons Bay to Traverse City. It follows the early 20th-century railroad beds of what came to be know as the Leelanau Transit Company.
While hiking the Leelanau Trail you can enjoy stunning views of the Grand Traverse Bay's Western Arm, Lake Leelanau, and Suttons Bay. Plus, the fabric-like, undulating hills of the Leelanau Peninsula can satisfy any scenery-starved eye.
For more information on the Leelanau Trail, you can visit this site.
Cool things to do: bike, roller blade, run, walk.
Located in the heart of the Leelanau Peninsula, Lake Leelanau is a pristine lake running through almost the entire county. Lake Leelanau appears to be two lakes, and is even referred to as North Lake Leelanau and South Lake Leelanau, but the two lakes are connected by what is known as "The Narrows," a narrowing of the lake that looks like a river. The village of Lake Leelanau is located at the narrows. South Lake Leelanau is the shallower and warmer lake of the two, but both are breathtakingly beautiful and from top to bottom the North and South Lake total about 22 miles in length.
Lake Leelanau's water levels rose 12 feet when a dam was built on the Carp River (which connects Lake Leelanau to Lake Michigan) in 1854.
Cool things to do: boat around the lake (rent one from Stander Marine in Leland), swim (public access spots: Nedow's Bay, East Leland Park (on 641 at the northern end of North Lake Leelanau), Fisher "Fudgie" Beach (just south of Leland on M-22) Schneider's Beach (at the end of Popp Road (off M-204) 1.5 miles west of the village of Lake Leelanau), fish, or just hang out.
Head into Lake Leelanau for some fantastic vegetarian food and great antique shopping, Cedar for the best processed meat in the area and some great local ice cream inventions, or Leland for great shopping, delicious food, and much more.
The Leelanau Conservancy recently completed a purchase that will expand the protected areas along Victoria Creek (Cedar River) to a total of 300 acres with over two miles of Lake Leelanau shoreline and connecting channels along the waterways within the Solon Swamp wetland complex (scroll down and click the small map to view the protected areas).
“Purchasing the property was like putting in a key piece of a puzzle,” adds Price. “Now, both banks of the Cedar River from the village of Cedar all the way down to Lake Leelanau are owned by either the State or the Conservancy and open to the public to explore and enjoy.” The new acquisition is strategic for another reason: the property includes about eight acres of dry upland along Co. Rd. 645, just east of the Village of Cedar, which will be the first access point along a public road north of the Cedar River and only the third road-access point into about 1,500 acres of Pere Marquette State Forest. Conservancy ownership of the 100 acres will allow the public to directly access 275 adjacent acres of State Forest which were previously inaccessible on foot because of the river.
The forested wetlands on the property are thick with northern white cedar, hemlock and spruce and with a large pocket of mature tamaracks in the 24 acres south of the river. This land has tremendous ecological value,” says Matt Heiman, a Conservancy land protection specialist who worked on the project. While a complete inventory of plant and animal species on the property will have to wait for the winter to unlock its grip, nearby land within the Cedar River Natural Area contains over 100 species of plants, including such gems as the carnivorous yellow pitcher plant, along with other species that grow in the most extensive and least-disturbed wetlands. Heiman adds that the land is part of a very large and diverse complex of forested swamp, cattail marsh, and freshwater fens, all connected by stream corridors.
The town of Lake Leelanau is located where Lake Leelanau itself narrows. The Native Americans who lived in the area called the lake "lee-lan-au" which means "delight of life." French settlers were the first to arrive in the area, coming from Canada, in the mid 1900s. They called the settlement Le Naro. The early white settlers called the lake Carp Lake. In 1854 a dam was built in Leland, which caused the lake to rise 12 feet. In 1855 the Shaub family arrived in the area and began farming and building a vineyard. In 1867 Andre de Beloit, a French fur trader tried drilling for oil and instead hit an artesian spring at the sight of the present day Fountain Point Resort. The spring is still gushing today. In 1871 the village acquired a post office with the name "Provement." In 1887 St. Mary of the Assumption, a Catholic school, was built. The two-story wooden building burned down in the 1920s, and a brick building was built where the old wooden building used to stand. Saint Mary of Lake Leelanau Catholic Church and School is still in operation today. In 1924 the post office changed its name from Provement to Lake Leelanau. Today Lake Leelanau is located in the hear of the Leelanau Peninsula. Located on M-22 between Suttons Bay and Leland it is a great place to stop by for a quick bite to eat, or a look around town. Kejara's Bridge is a great unique, community based business that has fantastic food for vegetarians, vegans, and carnivores alike. Lake Leelanau is know for its antique shops that are always worth a few minutes spent inside.
Wikipedia's Lake Leelanau Entry
Here's a cool video from the tail-end of last winter. There's still a lot of ice boating going on!
The Leelanau Enterprise has a feature on the recent Michigan Odyssey of the Mind Regional Competition and how Leelanau teams fared. Competing were teams from Glen Lake, Leland, Pathfinder and St. Mary schools. The Glen Lake Division II team solving a problem titled took third place in "The Wonderful Muses" and both of Leland's "Tee Structure" teams will travel to East Kentwood High School near Grand Rapids for the state competition on April 19.
The article offers a great look at Odyssey of the Mind and you can learn more about the program at the Michigan Odyssey of the Mind web site. casino game online,casino game online roulette,online casino gamevideo poker machinefree casino slots,casino free slots download,free online casino slotsonline casino gambling sitevideo poker payoutblackjack money online play,play blackjack online free,play blackjack online30 free game slots,free wheel of fortune slots game,free slots gamefree casino slots,free slots,free on line slotsonline casino blackjack,online casino bonus,online casinolearn to play crapshand held video pokeronline video poker gamestournament backgammonplay black jack for fun,play black jack for money,black jack playcasino no deposit bonus codeinternet roulettefree on line slotscraps game rule,craps game,craps online gameno deposit casino bonus,no deposit sign up bonus casino,no deposit bonus online casinovirtual casino gamblingplay free online slots game,play free slots,free slots play for freefree casino cash no depositadd casino link onlinenew online casinoonline casino slots,free online casino slots,online casino slots gamblinginternet casino onlineplay free online slots,free online slots,arcade free online slotsonline roulette strategy,best gambling online roulette,online rouletteblack jack online playvideo poker,free video poker,video poker softwareinstructions to play backgammon,how to play backgammon,play backgammon freebest craps onlinevideo poker oddsvideo poker downloadinternational online casinofree casino gamesfree online black jack gameonline blackjack,online blackjack game,best online blackjackno deposit online casinobest casino online web,best casino slots online,best online casinoplay craps for fun,craps free online play,play crapsplaying video pokerfree no deposit casinoplay free black jackfree blackjack game download,free blackjack download,no download free blackjackfree video poker downloadsfree bingobest online casino bonusonline roulette gambling,best gambling online rouletteroulette game free online,free roulette game,free roulette game download
Frost on the Narrows by greencottage
News from the Week
Features this week included our new March 2008 page where you can post comments about events, news, the weather, or whatever you're thinking about. We also had the announcement of the Leelanau Conservation District Plant & Seedling Sale, took a look at the New Great Lakes Dunes Stamp features Sleeping Bear and followed the run of Leland's boys basketball team to the state quarterfinals. There was even time for a couple of photos of wallpaper caliber of some Mute Swans in Leland Harbor (and a gallery of Fishtown pics) and of Brunson Barn on Port Oneida.
The Week's Weather
The week's weather was pretty nice - plenty of snow left to play in and a lot of sun to help folks feel less S.A.D.
March 6, 2008: Light snow & 20s (28/16)
March 7, 2008: Light snow & teens (17/7)
March 8, 2008: Mostly sunny & teens (18/1)
March 9, 2008: Mostly sunny & teens (21/1)
March 10, 2008: Sunny & (eventually) low 30s (32/-2)
March 11, 2008: Mostly cloudy, flurries and upper 30s (39/18)
March 12, 2008: Partly sunny, flurries and 30s (35/25)
Comments, About the Almanac, Etc.
Click for the Leelanau news archive from March 2007 and also check out our our March 2008 page.
I've been thinking that it would be nice to have a place where people can post a little note about a cool event, mention something interesting in the news or natural world or just say something about the weather. Here's our first for March of 2008 and we'll post a new one each month!
The photo is Yellow Plane by Andy McFarlane. It was taken on March 17, 2006 on North Lake Leelanau just outside Leland and I have it on good authority that it's pretty much his favorite photo ever.
Here's the April 2008 page.
(updated Thursday, Feb 28)
Glen Lake pulled off a hat trick by beating Suttons Bay for the third time this year with a 56-50 victory on Monday (see Record-Eagle story). Last night against Charlevoix the Lakers lost a 74-73 thriller (story coming soon we hope!).
In Class D action Leland followed up a 72-31 victory over Northport on Monday with a 79-42 defeat of Beaver Island. Lake Leelanau St Mary likewise rolled into Friday's final with a 79-24 victory over Leelanau School on Monday and 69-16 triumph over Grand Traverse Academy.
Our 2008 Tournament coverage continues...
The photo is North Lake Leelanau by greencottage. He has a lot more very cool photos from Leelanau County that he's added to our Leelanau(dot)com group on Flickr.
Hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the outdoors!
