Sleeping Bear Dunes in Empire, MI -- seeking advice

The idea of going "up north" is to relax as far as a tourist destination you have Glen Arbor and TC down the road. The Leelanau peninsula has a lot of vineyards and wineries that you can tour but for the most part that part of the state is mellow on purpose...

Seegs says a lot in his reply. I happen to live very close to the area and do have to say it is the best place on earth. What is it you are looking to do? Lots of small towns to visit, trails to run, lakes to fish/boat, rivers to canoe or kyak, great places to eat, festivals, etc. Also many small town race. Let me know when you are planning to be here and I can give you more information.

My family rents a house in Empire every summer for a couple weeks, it's beautiful. I've been all around the country, but I'd rather be there than anywhere else. Miles of "seasonal roads" which are soft, hilly and fantastic for running. Glen Arbor is nice, but very touristy - that's why Empire is so great, it's a local place. Bring a road bike as well, the roads are great for cycling. Be wary of going up the last weekend in July, this is when the annual "Dune Grass" blues festival goes on and hippies flood the town.

sleeping bear dunes is a great place to run. lot of little restaurants, trails, beach, relaxing, etc...its a nice get a way...dont go to ohio. terrible suggestion.

Flagpole wrote:

Looking to go there for a summer trip this summer. Any advice on what else to do there other than see the dunes?

Thanks in advance.

*Glen Lake, Elk Lake, Crystal Lake, Torch Lake, Lake Charlevoix - all gorgeous and close by. Rent a house for the week.

*Visit a cherry orchard - 18,0000000000000 up there.

*Hop on a 3-4 hour sailboat cruise out of Traverse City.

*Drive up to Charlevoix-Petoskey-Harbor Springs area (about an hour+ away from the dunes). Beautiful little towns on the water, great shopping (Petoskey, esp - Gaslight distrcit)for Mrs. Flagpole. Golf and great food for you.

*Want rustic adventure? Catch the ferry out of Charlevoix and go to Beaver Island. Rent bikes and explore. Spend a day or three there.

*Feeling touristy? Go to Mackinac Island, about 2 hrs away from the dunes, right where the upper and lower peninsulas meet. No cars allowed on the tiny island. Stay at the Grand Hotel (google it - awesome) and feel like royalty. Eat fudge, for sure.

*Rent a canoe, pack tents, and take a 2-3 day trip down the AuSable river (leave out of Grayling, end up in Mio). Borchers canoe livery will take care of you. Beautiful, beautiful river.

*Golfer? Terrific courses all over the place - the western coast of Northern Mich is referred to as the Gold Coast, with golf rivaling anything in the Carolinas. Google "golf northern michigan" and you'll be bombarded.

*Just drive north, along the lake, and see what you can find. The drive is unreal.

How old will your kids be? Hard to give good suggestions without knowing that.

Lots of good ideas here already. If I remember correctly, you're into music. If so, consider stopping by Interlochen, an international music camp. If you're into camping, there's a state park across the road from Interlochen. We camped there a lot and loved it.

Thanks for the responses so far. I'll try to answer all of your questions here:

1) Ohio has some beautiful areas (Hocking Hills, Lake Erie, etc.) but I wouldn't say it's prettier than Michigan. Besides, I've been to just about every cool area in Ohio and have never been to that part of Michigan (even though I lived in Ann Arbor for two years). Variety is the spice brother.

2) We're looking to hike and go up and down the dunes and relax in a quaint little town. Maybe take a ferry to South Manitou Island.

3) Thanks for the advice to stay away from the Dunesgrass festival. As much as I wouldn't mind hearing some blues there, that's not why I'm going, and I'd rather it be less crowded. Last year the festival was the first weekend in August -- this year they haven't yet decided on a date -- that's odd though I did see they had financial trouble last year. I considered renting a house as we're going with other family members, but some want to stay 3 days, others 7 days, so we're just going to stay in a local inn there.

4) Regarding the price of going up there, I have relatives that live in Perrysburg, OH, so we'll drive up the night before and stay with them before then making the 5 hour drive from there to Empire. It's a lot cheaper than my vacation last summer to Sanibel Island, FL. Just trying to be prudent this year, and as much as I love the ocean, Lake Michigan by the dunes will be great too, and my kids will love it.

dukerdog wrote:

How old will your kids be? Hard to give good suggestions without knowing that.

When we go they will be 12 and 9.

If you go up there around July 18th, you can see the finish of the Great Lakes Relay.

Beaver island.

I love that place.

Also you should see how many times you can go up and down the dunes...

In high school we went there as our cross camp and our record was like 7 or 8 times up and down in a row...

Either way it will be a great time up there for you

go at the end of august and you can see the michigan team training.

I am from MI and live in OH.

Spent 2 years in the Hocking Hills area of OH and now live along the lake Erie islands (Sandusky area).

1) Michigans north country is completely different than anything in OH (although OH has beautiful parts too)

2) stay at Interlochen state park. A nice family campground 1/2 an hour from dunes and traverse city. There is primitive camping campground across the street if outhouses are your thing

3) Interlochen Arts camp is across the road from the SP and off concerts throughout the year-some are pretty awesome.

3) Old Mission point/ peninsula = good wine

4) Agree with Au Sable canoeing

5) Sleeping Bear Dunes are a must. Bring water. The hike from the main parking lot to Lake Michigan can be intense. Maybe not for young kids. It\'s only 2 miles but can take a loooooooonnngggg time (constant up and down dunes obviously).

Go camping/hiking on North or South Manitou Island. There's a ferry service that runs there over the summer, which is easy and relatively inexpensive. If you're more of a hiker go to North Manitou, if you have little kids, try South Manitou.

I went to South Manitou half a dozen times as a kid, and to North Manitou about a couple years ago. Bring your running shoes and your swim suit and you'll have a blast.

Flagpole wrote:

Variety is the spice brother.

And the spice must flow!

Hey Flagpole,

I'm not sure where you're coming from but if you can work in Mackinac Island, it would be worth it. They have a summer race up there in June also. It's a couple hours from Empire.

http://www.runmackinac.com/site3.aspx

Fat Boy wrote:

Hey Flagpole,

I'm not sure where you're coming from but if you can work in Mackinac Island, it would be worth it. They have a summer race up there in June also. It's a couple hours from Empire.

http://www.runmackinac.com/site3.aspx

Thanks for the tip. We'll be there likely the first week of August. As fun as it would be to run a race up there, I'm planning on spending all the time with the family, so hiking and heading to the different lakes and doing the dune climb -- stuff they can all do with me.

hey

i was once on my way to sleeping bear dunes, and at the last minute changed the plans and drove farther north... to pukaskwa, on the north shore of lake ontario. it is a lot longer drive north than sleeping bear, but it was the most amazing place in the world.

seriously... at least check it out. so worth it.

If you are there the second week of August you can catch/run the Crystal Lake Team Marathon. It is a VERY cool event, teams of 5 run around Crystal Lake, they sometimes get Hansons-Brooks runners, but everyone has a blast and it's gorgeous. Starts in Beulah.