In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Superintendent Dusty Shultz is pleased to announce that the entrance fee to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (National Lakeshore) will be waived during the upcoming holiday weekend, beginning Saturday, January 14 and continuing through Monday, January 16.

The National Lakeshore, along with the other 397 units of the national park system, will waive the entrance fees as part of a nationwide initiative to encourage everyone to visit and experience the many wonders of their national parks acrossAmerica.  The other fee-free days this year include:  April 21-29 (National Park Week), June 9 (Get Outdoors Day), September 29 (National Public Lands Day), and November 10-12 (Veterans Day Weekend).

Winter is a great time to explore the National Lakeshore.  Visit the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire (open 8:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily) to learn about all the park has to offer in winter.  Bring your inner tube or saucer and enjoy the designated sliding hill at the Dune Climb, or cross-country ski/snowshoe one of the many trails in the park.  Also, don’t forget to join us for a Park Ranger-led snowshoe hike every Saturday. Hikes begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Visitor Center. Reservations are encouraged.  Park Ranger-led snowshoe hikes are limited to 30 participants.  Please call 231-326-5135, ext. 328, for details and to make reservations.

For more in-depth information, please call the National Lakeshore at 231-326-5134 or visit their website at www.nps.gov/slbe.

Tags: free park entrance, martin luther king jr day, national park press release, park holiday

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 11:37 am and is filed under Events, Leelanau, National Park Press Release, News, Park Activities, Winter & Winter Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.