Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore - Bay Campground

Beautiful place to see Lake Michigan, gorgeous trees with falling 🍁 leaves in October and early November. Empire has a visitor center that is generally open. Not in October 2025 due to the government shutdown 😥. Thankfully there are areas for nice hikes and walks in areas safe. keep in mind don't take long walks because of you have an injury no guarantee for help. Be safe. Enjoy the park area. W... Beautiful place to see Lake Michigan, gorgeous trees with falling 🍁 leaves in October and early November. Empire has a visitor center that is generally open. Not in October 2025 due to the government shutdown 😥. Thankfully there are areas for nice hikes and walks in areas safe. keep in mind don't take long walks because of you have an injury no guarantee for help. Be safe. Enjoy the park area. We like the beach area of Glen Haven for a walk along the beach which is very beautiful.

The government shutdown made getting a passport stamp impossible as the Visitor Center was closed; that was disappointing yet far too often par for the course for our federal government. However, the National Lakeshore itself was/is SPECTACULAR! The entrance to the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was not staffed and when I tried to pay online, there was not enough cellular signal to reach the website... The government shutdown made getting a passport stamp impossible as the Visitor Center was closed; that was disappointing yet far too often par for the course for our federal government. However, the National Lakeshore itself was/is SPECTACULAR! The entrance to the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was not staffed and when I tried to pay online, there was not enough cellular signal to reach the website on which to pay. I then realized many cars are going through anyway so I did, too. VERY glad I did. It was a beautiful sunny day, the drive is one-lane, one-way, and twists and turns amongst the dappled lighting of the sun through the forest canopy. THEN, the forest will open up to various turnouts and parking areas for many scenic lookouts and trailheads. There are many large plaques throughout to educate all on the history and science of the land and the peoples who have inhabited it. Definitely check out every lookout. They are breathtakingly wonderful and a great reminder of powers greater than us.

Beautiful place to explore, but if you decide you want to walk to the shoreline it's approximately 1.75 miles one-way and at times the path is steep and strenuous climbing up and down sand dunes. Pay close attention to trail markings and step foot imprints and make sure you bring plenty of fluids. We ended up mistakenly going off trail (limited markings) and got lost for about 10 minutes and wen... Beautiful place to explore, but if you decide you want to walk to the shoreline it's approximately 1.75 miles one-way and at times the path is steep and strenuous climbing up and down sand dunes. Pay close attention to trail markings and step foot imprints and make sure you bring plenty of fluids. We ended up mistakenly going off trail (limited markings) and got lost for about 10 minutes and went back to the shoreline again to find paths of footprints. We also didn't bring enough water, which compounded the urgency of getting back on the return path.

We were lucky enough to snag a walk-in campsite at the Platte River campground on the last weekend of September. The entire campground was booked, but the walk-in sites were spaced so that we rarely saw other campers unless passing on the trail to their campsite. The geography of this place is stellar, literally. Sleeping Bear Dunes is a National Dark Sky site. Due to lack of light pollution, you'... We were lucky enough to snag a walk-in campsite at the Platte River campground on the last weekend of September. The entire campground was booked, but the walk-in sites were spaced so that we rarely saw other campers unless passing on the trail to their campsite. The geography of this place is stellar, literally. Sleeping Bear Dunes is a National Dark Sky site. Due to lack of light pollution, you'll see the stars here with incredible clarity. Bring binoculars!