Tens of thousands of viewers voted online for this Michigan park, which is one of the nation's best-kept secrets. The hidden gem boasts 64 miles of beaches along Lake Michigan, two islands, 26 inland lakes, more than 50,000 acres of land, and the monumental sand dunes from which it gets its name.
..."GMA" viewer Jim Madole of Grand Rapids, Mich., nominated Sleeping Bear for its natural beauty.
"It is peaceful and serene, a place for gazing out into the world, night or day, and realizing that the universe is truly a magical, majestic mystery, and humans are just a very small part of it all," he wrote in his submission. "Here at Sleeping Bear, I sit in awe and wonder at the perfection of Mother Nature."
Listed first for "Hike-to Views" was the park's Sleeping Bear Point Trail with its "beautiful overlooks of Lake Michigan and the surrounding landscape."
Next Friday (March 11, 2011) at 7 PM at Brilliant Books in Suttons Bay, Loreen Niewenhuis will release her book, A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach. The book chronicles her walk around the shoreline of Lake Michigan and her observations along the way. Absolute Michigan caught up with Loreen and asked her a couple of questions.
ABSOLUTE MICHIGAN: What prompted you to do this?
LOREEN NIEWENHUIS: I've always felt connected to Lake Michigan. It has always been the place where I relax, walk, and recenter myself. When I turned 45, I wanted to take on something large, something that would challenge me on many levels. So, I pulled out my maps of Lake Michigan and plotted a 1000-mile route around it.
ABSOLUTE MICHIGAN: What was your favorite stretch of Michigan beach?
LOREEN NIEWENHUIS: I fell in love with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Leelanau Peninsula all over again. The natural beauty is amazing, the towns are very connected to the lake along this stretch, and there are several excellent independent bookstores along the way.
Bob talked with two of of the region's hiking experts: John Heiam, president of the Grand Traverse Hiking Club (GTHC), and Dick Naperala, field trails coordinator with the GTHC. John & Dick highlighted some great hikes in our region. For "most overlooked hike" they tapped on of my favorites - head up the Dune Climb in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and walk to Lake Michigan (that's where the shipwreck washed up late last fall). They add:
If you are looking for wildflowers, and those aforementioned trilliums, mid-April and May are generally the best times to hit the trail. And head to North and South Manitou Island for the most diverse and unique wildflowers in our region. Ferries depart to the island from the town of Leland on the Leelanau Peninsula. South Manitou is more scenic with a lighthouse, shipwrecks and dunes while North Manitou provides better opportunities for backpacking and multi-day trips.
The Port Oneida Rural Historic District — the picturesque tapestry of late 19th century farms, fields and rolling hills, just east of Glen Arbor on M-22 — will soon have a Cultural Landscape Management Plan, which Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (the local branch of the National Park Service, or NPS) will develop together with an Environmental Assessment.
“The purpose of the Plan,” according to a Park press release, “is to explore the various ways in which the NPS might preserve cultural landscapes in the District in order to protect cultural resources and provide for visitor interpretive and recreational opportunities.”
But first, the Park wants public comments on how to best to preserve and celebrate Port Oneida. The National Lakeshore is especially interested in how you envision the landscape looking many years from now. Will some fields be allowed to return to mature forest? Will some fields be cultivated or planted with cover crops?
One of Leelanau County’s more famous geographical landmarks is known as The Whaleback, Carp Point or simply Whaleback. This distinctive point juts into Lake Michigan just south of Leland and forms the north point of Good Harbor Bay. When viewed from the north or south along the shoreline or just offshore, it is shaped like a beached whale, but I was told as a kid that Whaleback is actually named for its resemblance to a style of ship common on the Great Lakes called a whaleback.
Technically, Whaleback is a moraine, having been formed by earth and stones deposited there by a glacier. Specifically, The Whaleback is a drumlin, defined as “a long, oval mound of boulder clay molded by glacial action.”
Whaleback is protected by the Leelanau Conservancy as the Whaleback Natural Area. It's a beautiful trail leading up onto the bluffs looking out over Lake Michigan and the Manitou Islands. The trail is steep so be prepared, but the view is worth the effort of the climb. The Whaleback trail snakes through an area that is home not only to a variety of animals, but also, in the spring, to vast swaths of forest flowers such as trillium and columbine.
Cool things to do on the climb: spot trillium and columbines in the spring, spot freighters passing by when you reach the top, try to name the islands you see.
Spring Specialties: thimble berries, bird-watching Summer Surprises: monarchs on milkweed Fall Fun: brilliant colors Winter Wonders: cross-country skiing, snowshoeing
Wow huh? That's quite a view that Mark has captured. Check it out bigger and in his slideshow (which includes a double rainbow photo from last week).
If you want to have your photos featured here, add them to our leelanau(dot)com Flickr group. It's also a great place to go for all kinds of photos from all over Leelanau!
If you can pry your keyboards away from Liko, how about a few words about your favorite Leelanau vista?
The Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails recently took possession of a new piece of grooming equipment to groom the Leelanau Trail for skiing between Traverse City and Suttons Bay. This new grooming attachment, called a Ginzu groomer, is designed to groom for both classic and skate ski techniques. TART Trails, Inc. is a nonprofit trail and pedestrian advocacy organization that manages cross-country ski grooming programs on both the Vasa Pathway and Leelanau Trail. The Leelanau Trail is generally groomed once a week, usually on Fridays or as snowfall dictates.
TART has made an agreement to groom Leelanau County’s Veronica Valley Park on Co Rd 641 on a trial basis. The initial groom was on Tuesday (2/16/10). Approximately 4 kilometers of trail were groomed for both classic and skate skiing. The Leelanau County Parks and Recreation Commission is hopeful that both visitors and county residents will take advantage of the newly groomed trails. If the groomed trails are popular with skiers; an arrangement will be made with TART trails to groom them for the remainder of the season. Veronica Valley is located in Bingham Township between County Road 641 (Lake Leelanau Drive) and Maple Valley Road. The 93-acre park was formerly a golf course owned by Bill and Diane Grant. The county purchased the property from the Grants in 2008 for $800,000, of which $580,811 was provided to the county through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) and $25,000 from Rotary Charities.
About TART:
Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails, Inc. is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization formed in 1998 and located in Traverse City, Michigan. TART works to enrich the Traverse area by providing a network of trails, bikeways and pedestrian ways; and encouraging their use. TART Trails include a network of trail systems located in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties: including the Boardman Lake Trail, Leelanau Trail, TART Trail, Three Mile Trail and Vasa Pathway. These trails combine to form over 60 miles of recreation and transportation pathways spanning from Suttons Bay to Acme Township. It is estimated that the trails serve over 200,000 users annually while preserving valuable community green space. TART is working to integrate these trails into the community by advocating for interconnected bike lanes, bike routes and sidewalks, and is also working to extend these trails to connect with a developing regional trails system. For more information about TART Trails, please visit www.traversetrails.org
Click through to see what Mario Batali has to say about the Sleeping Bear Dunes and explore it in depth at the official Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore website and in our clairvoyantly titled section, America's Lakeshore: The Sleeping Bear Dunes! Get some amazing photos in the Sleeping Bear Dunes slideshow from the Leelanau.com group on Flickr!
