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 Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive Hiking and Ski Trails |
 This 7.4 mi (12 km) scenic route will take you to spectacular overlooks of Lake Michigan and the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Two picnic areas are also available for your use. Here are a few sights of interest: The picturesque covered bridge has a pull-off where you can linger a moment to view or photograph it. Glen Lake, connected to Lake Michigan during the Ice Age, is notable for its remarkably blue waters. The two hundred feet high Dune Overlook gives you a panoramic view of the Manitou Islands, Pyramid Point, Sleeping Bear Bay and Dunes, Glen Lake and the historic D.H. Day farm with the huge white barn. There is the Cotton Wood trailhead if you want to venture off the road for a closer look at the natural scenery. Then you pass through the dunes, where plants fight rough conditions for survival. As you leave the dunes you enter the Beech-Maple forest, where the winds are not as severe. Here, plants must compete for a limited amount of sunlight. The Lake Michigan Overlook, 450 feet above the Lake, provides a magnificent view of the shoreline. The Sleeping Bear Dune of Chippewa legend is about two thousand years old. This dune is home to diverse wildlife and sweeping changes. In the past century, it has eroded from 234 to 103 feet (71 to 31 meters). North Bar Lake is a beautiful lake that started as a pond, but the dune separating it from Lake Michigan eroded and now they are connected by a small inlet. Finally, you might notice that the pine trees along the road are all about the same size, because they were planted by the loggers before the land became part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake shore.
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