Whenever my husband is lucky enough to have a few days off in a row, we like to take advantage of the opportunity to explore somewhere new. For this long weekend, we decided to head north to Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan. Here is a breakdown of our trip:
Friday–
We headed out of Indianapolis about 1 pm after a quick half day of work. Along the way we made a pit stop in South Bend, IN to check out the campus of the University of Notre Dame. It was definitely beautiful but we didn’t hang around as we still had a long drive ahead of us. A few hours north, we stopped in the charming city of Holland, Michigan for dinner. We were fortunate enough to have a beautiful evening and we sat on the patio of the New Holland Brewing Company. The downtown area near Hope College was busy on a Friday evening thanks to the numerous bars and restaurants.
After a delicious dinner, we were once again heading north to our final destination for the night of Ludington, Michigan. Another cute lakeside town, we walked around the city park near the beach and headed downtown for some famous ice cream at The House of Flavors.
Saturday–
After spending the night in Ludington, we had about a 1 1/2 hour drive to the visitor center for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire, Michigan. I recommend stopping here first to pick up some maps and pay for the entrance fees to Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Our first stop in the park was at the trailhead for the Empire Bluffs trail. From the visitor center, you head south on the M-22 until you reach Wilco Road, turn right and the trailhead will be on your left. The Empire Bluffs trail is about 1.5 miles round trip and leads to a beautiful boardwalk overlooking Lake Michigan. It has some uphill sections but we saw plenty of families along the way.
From this trail, we headed back through Empire on the M-22 before turning left onto the M-109. Another left turn onto the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive led us to our next point of interest. This scenic drive is a 7.4 mile loop through both the forest and the sand dunes of the area. Our information from the visitor center provided a description of each stopping point along the drive. The highlights of the drive are the covered bridge, Glen Lake Overlook and the Lake Michigan Overlooks (#9 and #10 stops of the drive).
After seeing North Bar Lake from the drive, we decided to head down to the shore of the lake for a different view. From the exit of the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, we took a right turn onto the M-109 followed by a quick right turn onto Shaugerhill Road. Although my google maps made the road look normal, it turned out to be not much more than a dirt path through the woods. Luckily we did not meet any other cars but I would recommend taking a different route to reach North Bar Lake. Once we arrived, we found several people swimming and kayaking on the lake as the water is very calm. There is a small opening that connects this lake to Lake Michigan but North Bar Lake itself is fairly protected.
At this point we were getting pretty hungry so we headed back north on the M-109 toward Glen Arbor. We made a quick stop in the historic village of Glen Haven, but only after snapping a roadside picture of the famous D.H. Day Farm off of M-109. Glen Haven is home to a beach, blacksmith shop, general store and several other small buildings.
Glen Arbor has several restaurants and shops and is a great place to stop for lunch. We chose Boonedocks and had burgers on their patio. It was a little overpriced but delicious none the less, especially after a busy morning of hiking and sightseeing. We then headed to the Cherry Republic, a store that features all sorts of cherry gifts from dried cherries to cherry pies to cherry salsa. We enjoyed the cherry wine and cider sampling and would highly recommend the dark chocolate covered cherries.
After getting our fill of cherries, it was time to check in to our AirBnB for the night which was located in Maple City, a town about 20 minutes east of Sleeping Bear Dunes. It just so happened that we were only about 25 minutes west of Traverse City, so we decided to head there for the evening. There is a lovely shopping area on Front Street as well as a beautiful city park called Clinch Park, located right on the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. We checked out the Mackinaw Brewing Company for a quick dinner before calling it a night.
Sunday–
After a hearty breakfast at Bob Evan’s…I know, not the most exciting breakfast place but we had a gift card and were trying to save a little money :), we got on the M-37 and headed north on the Old Mission Bay Peninsula. This peninsula stretches out about 22 miles into Grand Traverse Bay and is home to numerous orchards, farm markets, several restaurants and 9 wineries that make up the Old Mission Bay Wine Trail. Our biggest surprise of the trip was not only how gorgeous this peninsula was, but how delicious the wines are that are produced here. Most of the wineries are more known for white wines, but several have red wines as well. The website for the Wineries of Old Mission Bay Peninsula (www.wineriesofomp.com) provided excellent information about the wineries and we chose 3 to visit. Our first stop was Chateau Chantal, a beautiful complex that included a bed and breakfast and often hosts weddings and other gatherings. From their patio we were able to see both the west and east arms of the Grand Traverse Bay.
We then made our way to the tip of the Old Mission Bay Peninsula to Old Mission State Park. It is very close to the 45th parallel (the halfway point between the north pole and the equator) and is home to a beach and the Old Mission Light House.
The second winery we visited was Bower’s Harbor Vineyards, which can be reached by heading back down the M-37 and taking a right on Bower’s Harbor Road. The tasting room here was very relaxed and we were able to try a variety of Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and dry Riesling wines.
From Bower’s Harbor we chose to continue south on Peninsula Drive, a beautiful drive along the shore of Lake Michigan. Hawthorne Vineyards, a relatively new winery on the Old Mission Bay, was the last stop on our wine trail for the day. Like Chateau Chantal, we were able to see both arms of Grand Traverse Bay and the staff informed us that the view is even more beautiful in the fall. After our wine tasting, we enjoyed the views on their patio with a cheese plate and glass of Chardonnay.
Since we were staying in Sleeping Bear Dunes for the night, we headed back toward Glen Arbor, but not before a stop at the Pyramid Point Trailhead. We chose to do the full 2.7 mile loop, which included hiking through a forested area as well as a pretty meadow. Pyramid Point, which provides amazing views of Lake Michigan, can be reached in about 0.6 miles from the trailhead.
We snagged a room at the Homestead Resort for the night which is located just east of Glen Arbor right on Lake Michigan. We took advantage of the resort offerings and rented an hour on the clay tennis courts before enjoying a bonfire on the beach. We had packed our own s’mores and were thankful that the resort had a nightly bonfire already set up for guests to use.
Monday–
Nothing too exciting today, just a 6 1/2 hour drive back to Indianapolis. 🙂
Lodging Tip: Plan to reserve your accommodations as far in advance as you are able since Northern Michigan is very popular in the summer. We only planned this trip about 6 weeks ahead of time and had very limited options of places to stay around Sleeping Bear Dunes.