Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire

This is an awesome place to visit! Be sure to checkout the visitor center for some souvenirs and a map! Breathtaking views from overlooks, picnic areas for a nice lunch and of course learn the story behind the Sleeping Bear Dunes, which might make you cry a little! This area makes for great picture taking. Just a lot to see and learn here. Put this place on your bucket list!!

This is such a beautiful park and the views of the ocean, uh, I mean the lake, are so incredibly pretty. Definitely take the scenic route drive and stop off on all the lookouts, and you will get some pretty pictures (go when the sun is about to set). The rangers are nice and helpful. I've camped here once, and the camp sites are generously big and spread out. The only thing that I didn't like was that on some of the shores you get those biting flies that swarm you, and they are extremely aggressive. Bug spray is like seasoning for them.

Everything you've heard about the park is true. It's incredible. Look at these pictures. I took them with an old smartphone (except the birds, those came from a decent camera). They don't do it justice. The water is crystal clear, the dunes are breathtaking, the woods are gorgeous. The Empire Bluff Trail had some fantastic birding leading to a drop dead view, and the Sleeping Bear Point Trail gives excellent access to a beautiful beach and high dunes with great views (and without the struggle of the Dune Climb).

Some people go to Sleeping Bear Dunes for the opportunity to run down the dunes &/or climb back up, while some visit for the access to Lake Michigan. I have a low tolerance for heat, burn easily and find climbing sand dunes to be too exerting. So, why did I go? I'm a landscape/nature photographer and Sleeping Bear Dunes is awesome, especially when "topped" with stunning cloud formations. When needed, I took a break from the hot sand to explore the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. This drive provided an opportunity to enjoy and be enthralled by the surrounding habitat to the dunes - trees, plants and alternative views of the dunes and Lake Michigan. I can see why Sleeping Bear Dunes is considered a natural (and national) treasure.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was one of the surprises of Michigan for me. The area is absolutely beautiful and has tons of forest and beach area along the shore. The sunsets were amazing to watch here and the campground was phenomenal. We went out to the beach for some night shots and I could not believe the clarity of the sky in the area. I took many photos that I felt were very unique to the area. The dunes themselves are a trek to get down and we decided against going all the way down because the journey back up looked to be quite the undertaking and would have taken longer than we wanted. The Empire Bluff trailhead was our favorite spot to catch the sunset and it is amazing to look over Lake Michigan from that vantage point!