Recreation

Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes

Recreation

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offers a wide array of recreational activities from climbing the dunes at the Dune Climb to hiking, kayaking, biking, canoeing, and camping. In the winter the trails are open for cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

The main recreational project that the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes is involved in is the non-motorized recreational trail (bike trail) that is proposed from the northern boundary of the park (County Road 651) to the Benzie-Leelanau County border south of Empire (Manning Road). This trail generally runs along the M-22 and M-109 corridor and is generally in the MDOT right-of-way.

The Friends secured grants from Cherry Republic and the Americana Foundation totaling $22,500 for the Environmental Assessment study, which should be completed by early 2009. More information about the Environmental Assessment is available on the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore web site. Some suggestions made during the public comment period are being factored into the proposed trail. Another round of public comment will be scheduled during the winter after changes are made in the proposal. Funding has been secured for the design and engineering study for the first section of the trail between the Dune Climb and Glen Arbor. This should be done by the end of 2009. Building the trail will depend on our ability to secure grants and matching funds for construction.

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