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Traveler's back is brought to you with the help of AI. Hey,
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you made it to Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan.
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The energy here is easy going and outdoorsy in a
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regular person way, and you can feel it right away.
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Down on the waterfront, You're standing at Clinch Park Beach
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West Grand Traverse Bay, stretching wide in front of you,
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sailboats clipping by, and kids launching off the swim platform.
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The tart Trail runs right behind you, a smooth path
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that lets you pedal or stroll along the water without
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thinking about traffic. Start simple. Grab a coffee at Espresso Bay,
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just off Front Street, then take that cup for a
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slow walk along the open space lawn to the marina.
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The Boardman, also called the Ottaway River winds right through town.
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You'll find footbridges and quiet corners where fly fishers flick
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lines between willow branches. If you want to be on
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the water without committing your whole afternoon, rent a kayak
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from the folks by Clinch Park and float a lazy
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stretch of the river into the bay. Then paddle back,
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hugging the shoreline where the water goes from deep blue
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to that pale, glassy green you only get with sand
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bottoms when you're hungry. Aim yourself down Front Street, the
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main drag, with storefronts tight together and the kind of
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mix you want. An indie bookstore, a gear shop that
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stocks hiking socks you forgot, and restaurants that don't make
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you guess what you're getting. For breakfast, the Omelet Shop
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is a classic, simple plates and cinnamon rolls the size
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of your palm, or tuck into a stool at jns Hamburg.
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If you want a no nonsense diner vibe for lunch,
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head to the Little Fleet, the food truck lot with
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picnic tables, string lights, and a rotation that usually covers tacos, barbecue,
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and a couple of fun outliers like a peda stand
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or wood fired pizza. It's the place you walk up,
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look around and say, yeah, I'm going to want something
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from three different windows. If you want to sit down
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somewhere a bit more buttoned up without any stuffiness. Amical
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has that reliable bestro comfort, and the cook's house goes
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hyper local with a short seasonal men you that's long
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on flavor for beer people. Seven Monks Taproom pours an
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always interesting lineup and rare Bird. Brewpub around the corner
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is a friendly, big table spot. If you're with a crew,
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you can cap it all off with a slice at
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Grand Traverse Pie Company. The fruit on top doesn't really matter,
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It's all about the crust where then grab a bench
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and watch the evening settle over the water. If you
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came to town on a summer weekend, check the schedule
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for a show or festival in the open space. It's
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the kind of spot where you can sit in the grass,
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hear a band, and still be back at your car
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in ten minutes. The nice thing about Traverse City is
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how fast you can switch scenes. Ten minutes and you're inland,
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away from the shoreline and into rolling ground that grows
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things you can taste the same day. If you've got
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a bike, hop onto the Leland Now Trail just northwest
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of town. It's a paved rail trail that drifts through
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meadows and tree lines with easy grades. Even if you
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only ride five miles out and five miles back, you'll
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feel like you snuck in something good. Aim one of
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those miles toward Farm Club that's a working farm, a brewery,
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and a casual restaurant. All in one set back from
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the road, with greenhouses and rows that stretch away behind
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the patio. You order it the counter, sit where you like,
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and then plates start landing vegetables that were in the
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ground that morning, bread with a crackly crust, and a
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beer that likely has hops grown a few hundred feet
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from your table. You won't need a white tablecloth to
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realize you just ate something special. If you're driving instead
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of pedaling, you can still stretch your legs on the
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footpaths around the property and watch the wind move through
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the fields. Another easy inland stop is the Village at
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Grand Treverse Commons, the old state hospital complex that's been
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turned into a neighborhood of shops, cafes and apartments. You
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don't have to love architecture to enjoy this place. You
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just wander the Mercado Hallway, a long arched tunnel lined
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with bakeries, wine shops, and little boutiques. Grab a coffee
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from higher grounds, maybe a loaf of something warm or
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a wedge of local cheese, and walk out onto the
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lawn for a picnic. It's a rainy hour, you can
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duck around the ground floor and get lost in a
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kind of indoor street of small businesses. When the weather breaks,
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there are trails in the woods behind the buildings, not
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technical or long, just enough to make you forget you're
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five minutes from downtown. If you want to keep the
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farm to mug theme going, head south of town to
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brewery Terra Firma, a farm based brewery that uses ingredients
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grown on site. The tasting room looks out overfields, and
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on a summer evening, it's a nice place to catch
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your breath for a simple produce run. Gallagher's Farm Market
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sits just west of town, with baskets of what's ripest,
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little petting area for kids, and the kind of doughnuts
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you meant to buy for later but somehow didn't make
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it out of the parking lot. Right nearby Mooers Ice
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cream scoops, right next to an actual dairy farm. You
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order a cone, lean on the fence and watch the
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source wander around the pasture. At sunset, the light on
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those pastures turns everything into a postcard. Now that you've
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eaten your way through town and inland, head up the
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spine of Old Mission Peninsula. Point your car on M
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thirty seven and it draws a line north between the
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east and west arms of Grand Traverse Bay. It's a
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simple drive that unfolds in stages orchards and fields give
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way to slopes thick with vines, breaks in the trees
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spill views down to the water on both sides. The
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thing to remember up here is that you don't need
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to rush, pick a couple of wineries that match your mood,
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and let the day expand from there. Bryce Estate has
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a big deck and a lawn area where you can
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spread out, and their patio snacks are the kind of
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simple salty things that work with whatever's in your glass.
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Two Lads sits near the tip with a modern allglass
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vibe and a lookout straight down the peninsula, and Mari
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Vineyards pours in a stone clad tasting room that feels
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cool even on a hot day. If you're into what
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happens in old schoolhouses, Peninsula Cellars is literally that chalkboard
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and all, and you'll probably end up buying a bottle
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just because the room is so charming. Make time for
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actual walking early in the peninsula. The pelas Are Natural
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Area has a loop through hardwoods and old farm lanes
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that takes under an hour. It's one of those short
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hikes that earns you your next tasting room and gives
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you a quiet pocket if the wineries are busy. Down
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by Bowers Harbor, the Jolly Pumpkin Restaurant does a casual
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lunch and dinner right across from the water. Grab a
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table outside of their space and you'll catch the breeze
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off the bay. The Old Mission General Store is a
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fun pit stop for a pickle out of a barrel
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or a handful of old school candy. If you keep
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going all the way to the top, there's a little
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park and a lighthouse from the eight and seventies. You'll
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know when you're almost there because the road narrows and
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you roll through a tunnel of trees. It's a pretty scene,
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but treat it as a quick photostop so you can
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shift your attention back to the rest of the day.
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A practical note on the peninsula, put a designated driver
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plan in place before you start pouring. There are local
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tour companies that will drive you between wineries, and on
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a sunny Saturday, that's a smart move. The shoulder of
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M thirty seven can be narrow, and you want to
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enjoy the stretch without any stress from Old mission. Your
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next wing is out to a lake, Michigan town, where
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the shoreline gets the starring roll. Aim for Leland, about
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forty minutes west from downtown Traverse City on m twenty
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two and small enough that you can park once and
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keep yourself busy for a couple of hours. Find a
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spot near Fishtown. You'll see the low slung wood shanties
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and the river channel where small boats duck under a
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little bridge. The whole thing is compact, cedar shingle buildings
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that lean into each other, a boardwalk and a handful
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of doorways with the smell of smoked fish drifting out.
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Step into Carlson's Fishery for smoked whitefish and a tub
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of patai. If you're not taking it home, grab crackers
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and eat it sitting on the dock, feet dangling. For
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something more substantial, the Village Cheese Shanty makes legendary sandwiches
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on pretzel bread. Expect a line, and know it's worth it.
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The trick here is to order, then wander down to
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the end of the boardwalk and peek out toward the
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Manitou passage while your sandwich is put together. If you're
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ready for a sit down, meal. The cove above the
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dam serves lunch with a view right over the falls
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and the harbor. Leland has two waters at once to
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your west, the Big Lake to your east, Lake Leland
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now sliding under the bridge. Once you eat, cross to
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Vans Beach, a quick walk from the shanties, spread a
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towel and let the sound of the waves do its
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thing for a bit. If the water's calm and you're lucky,
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you can see those stripes of turquoise near shore that
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almost make you think of the Caribbean until your ankles
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go numb in thirty seconds. Don't worry you adjust depending
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on how the day's going. You can poke through a
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few galleries and shops along main Street. It's a compact
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run of storefronts, more interesting than fancy. If you've got
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an extra day in your pocket and want something bold.
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Manitou Island Transit ferries run from the dock out to
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North and South Manitou Islands for day trips. That's a
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whole other kind of adventure, with sandy trails, old village
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sites and beaches where you'll hear nothing but wind and water.
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If you stick to town, get your car pointed south
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before late afternoon traffic. On two picks up, you'll be
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on the doorstep of Sleeping Bear Dunes before your playlist flips.
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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore is big enough that
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you want a light plan before you dive in. This
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isn't just one dune. It's a patchwork of perched sand
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hills riding the top of old glacial moraines, mixed with
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hardwood forests and little inland lakes, and then those signature
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bluffs that drop straight to Lake Michigan. Wind off the
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lake lifts sand grain by grain and rolls it uphill.
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That's why the dunes sit high, perched above the water.
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Your first move should be the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive,
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a one way loop of just over seven miles that
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threads through tall woods and pops out at overlooks. Pay
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your park fee before you turn in. You'll need a
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pass to park at most lots in the lake shore.
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At the Big Lake Michigan Overlook, you step out onto
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a boardwalk and then a viewing platform that makes your
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stomach do a little swoop. It's roughly a four f
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one hundred and fifty foot drop to the water. People
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will be towing the edge, looking down at the beach
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and thinking what if. Signs warn you not to run
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down because the climb backup is brutally steep and rescues
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are expensive and slow. Believe the signs, enjoy the view,
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feel the wind, and hold onto your hat. The other
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turnouts along pierced stocking give you different pieces sand drifting
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through jackpines, a look at the inland dunes, rolling toward
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Glen Lake, and a gentle trail that gets your feet
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into the sand without the epic misery of a full climb.
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If you came to run up a dune, the dune
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climb is the obvious classic. It's a long slope of
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sugar fine sand that starts easy and then tilts, and
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you'll be halfway up thinking this is fun, and then
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you'll realize your calves are doing all the work. If
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you're just there for the experience, go halfway up, take
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a few goofy photos, and ride your heels like little
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sleds back down. If you're aiming for the full dune
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hike out to Lake Michigan, you need to plan. The
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posted distance is roughly three point five miles round trip
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on the dunes trail, but the surface is all sand
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and it rolls. The heat off the sand adds up
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and there's no shade. This is the stretch where you
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see kids sprint out like rockets and then hit the
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wall a mile in. The smart play is to bring
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at least a liter of water per person, wear a hat,
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and put on shoes you don't mind filling with grit.
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It's tempting to go barefoot. Do what's comfortable, but remember
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the sand can be very hot by late morning in
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July and August. The payoff at the far end is
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a beach that feels like you reached it under your
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own steam, with waves that sound bigger because you know
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what you had to do to get there. Give yourself
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enough time for the return. The sign of the trailhead
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is not kidding when it calls this strenuous. For a
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hike with a big view that doesn't chew up your
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entire day, try the Empire Bluff Trail near the village
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of Empire. It's about a mile and a half out
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and back through scrub and open patches with boardwalks and
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spots to protect the dune grass. The end lands you
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on a ridge standing above the lake. White sand arcs
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to your left and right, and Glen Lake glows a
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bright blue behind you. The beauty of Empire Bluff is
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how quick and clear the reward is, and you can
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be back at your car and an hour flat, even
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with extra phototime. Pyramid Point is another option, a few
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miles north of Glen Arbor. The main out and back
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to the bluff is a steady climb through woods, and
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even though it's a little farther, it feels cooler under