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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: Lake Michigan
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The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northwestern Michigan is a natural geographic wonder, offering massive coastal sand dunes, birch-lined streams, dense beech-maple forests and rugged bluffs towering as high as 460 feet above Lake Michigan. Several miles offshore are the tranquil and secluded Manitou Islands, seemingly safe from environmental threat.
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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore encompasses 35 miles of Lake Michigan’s eastern shoreline, as well as North and South Manitou Islands. The main attractions here are the swimming beaches and the dunes which tower 460 feet above Lake Michigan.
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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore encompasses 103 km (64 miles) of Lake Michigan shoreline including the Manitou Islands (Figure 3C). After the last ice sheet retreated from the region about 12,000 years ago, lake currents, waves, and winds began reshaping the glacial till that was deposited. Today, sand beaches, spits, and bars line the coast and attest to lake and wind processes. Similar to Indiana Dunes NL, Sleeping Bear Dunes NL has successive beach ridges that formed in glacial terrain embayments, such as the one at Platte Bay (Thompson, 1992). The beach-ridge stratigraphy in Indiana Dunes NL represents a more continuous record than Sleeping Bear Dunes because the rate of sediment supply to southern Lake Michigan is higher. Perched dunes and beach dunes, for which the park is well known, sit on top of high glacial bluffs or lie along the beach, and adjust to the prevailing winds from Lake Michigan.
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Today the towering dunes of Sleeping Bear are forever protected within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The lakeshore encompasses 35 miles of Lake Michigan shore along Michigan's "little finger," the Leelanau Peninsula, as well as the two wilderness islands of North and South Manitou. The park contains 106 square miles of some of the most varied and unique terrain in Michigan. Along the lakeshore sand dunes rise up to 450' above the water. Away from the harsh winds of the lakeshore, forests of beech and maple cover rolling hills and surround small glacial lakes. Its a land of extremes.
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Located on Michigan's eastern coastline shore, the Sleeping Bear Dunes spans along 50,000 acres along Lake Michigan. It has ancient glacial archeological sites, beaches, dunes, and forests. The nearest city is Traverse City, Michigan. The park was founded on October 21st, 1970. The name sleeping bear comes from a Native American legend. The legend tells of a great fire that was blazing on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan.
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Entering into its 16th year, the 2008 Sleeping Bear Dunegrass and Blues Festival will continue its celebration of organic music. On the first weekend of every August, Dunegrass finds its home in the Village of Empire, snuggled walking distance between the shore of Lake Michigan and the wooded hills of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore. The Festival showcases a collection of regional and national artists from multiple genres, all with roots steeped in tradition and vision, and arranges them on two adjacent stages for a continuous river of music. The festival grounds showcase talented artisans and vendors from around the area and provide a positive atmosphere for both weekend campers and daily visitors alike. Amenities include camping (tents & RVs), bonfires, wholesome food, a children's activity tent, shuttles to the lake for swimming and parking, a bike co-op, and lots of room for foot stomping.
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