Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a true gem of northern Michigan and a day visit to the park will be fun-filled for the entire family. The awesome scenery, refreshing beach, and adventurous trails are just a few of the things to experience. Throw in the inviting charm of Traverse City, Michigan and a trip to this area will be super fun and memorable. With so many attractions in this area, I will highlight a few from our day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes.
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One the shore of Lake Michigan in Traverse City, Michigan is one of the most beautiful places to visit, Sleeping Bear Dunes. Massive sand dunes, beautiful beach, and rolling hills of forest are both inviting and intriguing. There is so much scenery to take in while you visit. The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive is a great place to start. This seven mile scenic drive takes you to some of the majestic views with lots of place to pull over for photos and a better look around.
Our next stop was to the Sleeping Bear Point Maritime museum. This was really fun to see the history of the U.S. Lifesaving Station, so many pictures and artifacts to check out and they had interpreters on the tour to showcase the equipment and boats used when the station was in service. This was a big hit with our kids for sure!
Next on our day trip was the beach! Many people were doing the Sleeping Bear Dunes climb to the top of the highest dune, but since our kids were small and it was crazy hot the day we visited we opted out of that adventure. But within the park there are miles of trails to explore which I would like to try when we visit again. Traveling tip – pack a cooler with snacks, fruit, drinks, and lunch especially if visiting with kids. There is a lot of walking and the trip is much more pleasant when prepared with snacks and fluids on a hot summer day!
Back to the beach, the mouth of the Platte River meets Lake Michigan and is the perfect spot for a day of water and sun. There is ample parking but it can get quite busy as another popular activity is a float down the river. Again, another activity I want to try upon return! There is a nice shallow area that has a small peninsula between the lake so the water was super calm at this beach.
Such a hot and busy day was a great reason to check our Moomer’s Ice Cream on our way back into Traverse City and it was amazing! It had delicious homemade ice cream and treats and a super cute diner atmosphere. Another great stop we made after our day visit was to a couple local farm stands for some fresh Michigan fruits, the cherries are the most popular. Traverse City has a National Cherry Festival each year…again another item for my bucket list on next visit. I bought a few cases of cherries and took home to can cherry pie filling and made some of the best summer desserts ever!!
Our trip was definitely not long enough to get to see everything in the Traverse City area, so will be planning a trip back for sure! We had short weekend trip booked and we went prior to getting our camper, so the next visit we will be camping at one of the many great campgrounds (I’ll list some links below). We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge as our kids were about 2 and 4 years old. We really enjoyed our visit with the indoor water park, outdoor pool, and other fun family friendly activities.
The entire area of Sleeping Bear Dunes and Traverse City offers so many activities to experience. Downtown Traverse City has a lot of shopping and dining as well as outdoor activities and parks around the Grand Traverse Bay. A very cool restaurant to try is called the Jolly Pumpkin. It took some navigating to find it outside of the city limits, but the scenic drive took us past wineries and farms, even saw an elk eating just off the road! The food, beer, and atmosphere were literally magical and very classy. But not to be written off as too fancy as we were allowed to bring our kids so a great place for couples or families to check out.
Since I am planning our next visit with our camper, below are some campgrounds near the Sleeping Bear Dunes area to consider:
- Platte River Campground offers electric sites and showers, suitable for both RV and tent camping
- D.H. Day Campground is for rustic tent camping only but offers close access to the Sleeping Bear Dunes
- Traverse City State Park campground is a popular urban park near he Grand Traverse Bay and is within driving distance of Sleeping Bear Dunes and offers electric sites, mini cabins, and modern restrooms
- Timber Ridge RV Resort offers RV sites, cabins, and yurts. Looks perfect for anyone looking for “glamping” and camping!
- Paradise Cove campground has sites right on Lake Leelanau, a waterfront restaurant, and marina
- Traverse City KOA offers family friendly camping and cabin rental just 15 minutes from downtown is a country setting
I know I’ve said it many times in this post, but Traverse City Michigan is a must-visit destination and I can’t wait to go back and see more of what it offers. Not only are there summer attractions, but year round there is scenic beauty, outdoor activities, and inviting hospitality.
Happy Camping! Please check out some of my other family camping, creating, and cooking posts on Pinterest!
My husband and I lived in Grand Rapids for a short period of time and we were able to pass through Traverse City on our way to Torch Lake. I wish we would’ve had more time there because we hear so many wonderful things. Hope to get back to Michigan one day.