Park History

Experience The Beauty Of The Sleeping Bear Dunes

The hills, dunes, valleys, shoreline, small lakes, and streams which you'll see throughout the area were formed by the powerful earth-moving forces of ice, wind, and water over time.

During the Ice Age, continental glaciers spread southward from Canada repeatedly burying the area under ice. Those massive glaciers enlarged river valleys and carved out the wide, deep basins of the Great Lakes. They also created "Perched Dunes" which are dunes formed by glacial sands deposited on plateaus high above the shore. The Sleeping Bear Dunes are an easily accessible, beautiful example of this type of dune.

As the glaciers melted, many of their carvings were filled with melted water and the setting we know today began to emerge.

By strolling the beaches you may see another reminder of geological time, the "Petoskey Stone." A Petoskey is a fossil colonial coral. These corals lived in warm, shallow seas that covered Michigan during Devonian time, some 350 million years ago. 

Be sure, too, to read the interpretive materials you will see indoors and out as you travel through the Sleeping Bear Dunes - they will give you a great deal more information on our area's natural resources. 

Popular Attractions

Frequently mentioned favorites include the Dune Climb, Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Glen Haven Maritime Museum and Life Saving…

Family Activities

A good part of the history of our area relates, as you would expect, to the water and vessels plying it. A part of that history deals…

Visitor Center

The Philip A. Hart Visitor’s Center located about 22 miles west of Traverse City, on the edge of the Village of Empire, is an…

Getting Here

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is located in the northwest corner of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, about 25 miles west…

Winter Activities

Everyone knows the magic of summer in Northern Michigan… the days on the beach, the nights around a campfire. What could be…

Tours

Want to discover hidden vistas, dig into the natural history of the dunes, or learn about local wildlife? Sleeping Bear Dunes tours…