Christopher F. Powell

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Trip Advice

Valleyview is a pretty spot, but is very isolated, with few trails and no lake access. The hike from the trailhead is a slightly hilly 1.5 miles. The campground is in the middle of nowhere (not necessarily a bad thing), but it's pretty, with the sites sitting at the edge of a grassy field, surrounded by gentle hills. It's a nice place if you don't mind creating your own entertainment.

White Pine is, in my opinion, the better of the two backcountry sites. The hike from the Platte River campground is a flat 2.5 miles, with lots of deer along the way. While the campground itself is not as pretty as Valleyview, the surrounding area is much nicer. Lake Michigan is only a few hundred yards from the campground, and the beach is far from any parking lot. It's just beautiful when there aren't any other people around (Weekdays or anytime October through April). The terrain in this part of the park is pretty flat, without the scenic dunes north of Empire, but there are lots of trails and creeks and lakes. This is also a good place in winter, with many ski trails. A walk along the frigid lake is sobering.

The real treasure of Sleeping Bear Dunes is North Manitou Island. The only access is by ferry (Manitou Island Transit, (616)256-9061) so it keeps the riff-raff away. The island is wilderness, with little bits of human history (graveyard, old cabins, abandoned farms) to make it really fascinating. Apple trees, wild strawberries, and blackberry bushes can make for a great breakfast or trailside snack at the right time of year, and the stars on a clear night are countless. There are lots of trails, great beaches, and you can camp anywhere. The ferry schedule can be a bit limited at off-peak times of the summer (boats only run on Fri, Sun, Wed) making trip planning around work (if you've got a real job) tricky. Water is available at the ranger station on the island, but you're going to have to filter everything after that. Definitely make reservations ahead of time.

Manitou Island (and probably the rest of Sleeping Bear, though I'm not sure) got a little more expensive to visit in 1997, due to the National Park Service's new user fees. An access fee of $7, plus $5 per night "per carload" is charged when you get to the island. They were pretty forgiving for the first year; if you don't have the money with you, you can send it in later. On top of the $19 per person boat tickets, it's not the dirt-cheap weekend it used to be, but still well worth it. Almost all of the park service fee stays within Sleeping Bear Dunes, so I didn't mind too much.

Here's a map of North Manitou Island on the Manitou Island Transit web site.

Wherever you camp up here, be sure to stop at the Empire Inn (in Empire on M22) for cheap pitchers of beer and pretty damn good pizza.

Terrain on the island is mixed. It can range from long stretches of flat trails through endless birch to some pretty tough climbs up the ridges. There are many miles of trails, but loops take some pretty good planning. Water can be tough to come by in some places, and it can get pretty hot in the interior of the island. On one 95-degree day (In June, believe it or not) Matt and I came across a couple of guys sucking water out of a drying-up mud puddle. I'd recommend carrying at least 3 liters per person if you're going down the 'backbone' of the island (Greenstone Ridge). Everything you've heard about the mosquitos on the island is true. Bring plenty of DEET repellant (I used about 3 ounces in a week) and don't count on that Skintastic or Skin-so-Soft crap, you'll be miserable. You may want to pick up a mosquito headnet for the swampy parts of the island, although wearing these things while hiking really sucks.

In my personal opinion, the nicest places on the island are along the shores of Lake Superior. The interior of the island gets pretty hot, buggy, and muddy. The campgrounds on the big lake tend to be cooler, breezier, and less buggy, and you also get the beautiful shoreline. The downside of these sites is that many of them have small boat docks, and they tend to be a bit more crowded, sometimes with boaters coming and going.

You have several options on how to get out to the island. From Michigan, you can leave either from Houghton (call the park service number above) or from Copper Harbor (Isle Royale Lines, (906)289-4437). I'd recommend the trip from Copper Harbor. The drive up the Keweenaw Peninsula is beautiful (take M-26), and it is really a neat little town. The restaurant near the lighthouse (was it the Harbor Haus?) is excellent, even by big-city standards. Spending the night in Ft. Wilkins State Park is cheap, and the park has some really interesting exhibits (also, the bears in the campground are very friendly). The boat ride from Copper Harbor is shorter (though I can't imagine anything longer), but the boat only goes to Rock Harbor (not to Windigo) so this will keep you on the north end of the island. There is a water taxi that can get you to/from different spots on the island ((906)337-4993) but I've heard it's very expensive and I've never used it (poor grad student, ya know). From Minnesota, you can go either to Rock Harbor or to Windigo from Grand Portage ((715)392-2100), but I've never done that either. There's also a float-plane from Houghton, but that's way out of my league.

If you end your trip in Rock Harbor, definitely splurge for dinner in the lodge. The lake trout and the whitefish are incredible, and the beer is definitely welcome after a week in the woods.