Story by Edward Pevos of MLive | epevos@MLive.com
It's one of the most scenic drives in the country with one amazing picturesque stop after another. We stopped at every spot on the Sleeping Bear Dunes scenic drive.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
You know about the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb (pictured), but many people don't know about the Pierce Stocking scenic drive located a short distance away.
Location: From Empire, take M-22 north for 2 miles to M-109, then left on M-109 for 2 miles.
Hours: It's open to car traffic May–Nov., 9:00am to 30 minutes after sunset.
STOP #1: COVERED BRIDGE
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
This covered bridge was one of the picturesque details Mr. Pierce Stocking included in the scenic drive for sightseers to stop and take a picture.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Covered bridges were built to protect wooden bridges from rain and snow, which can cause rotting of the timbers. It was cheaper to repair the roof than to build a new bridge.
STOP #2: GLEN LAKE OVERLOOK
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Glen Lake appears divided into two parts: Little Glen Lake in the foreground, which is only 12 feet deep, and Big Glen Lake, beyond the M-22 bridge, which is about 130 feet deep.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Glacial erosion carved out both lakes during the Ice Age. In post-glacial times, a sand-bar developed, separating Glen Lake from Lake Michigan.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The Hill on the north (left) side of Little Glen Lake is called Alligator Hill because of its shape. Can you see the snout by the bridge?
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The hill came about in the Ice Age and early post-glacial times. Glaciers carried a tremendous load of sand, gravel and other rock debris frozen in the ice. When the ice melted, the run-off streams deposited huge piles of sediment to form the hill.
STOP #3: DUNE OVERLOOK
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The Sleeping Bear Dunes cover an area of four square miles. This overlook is at the eastern edge, standing on top of one of the tallest dunes, about 200 feet high.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
You can see both North and South Manitou Islands, Pyramid Point, Sleeping Bear Bay, the Sleeping Bear Dunes, Glen Lake and the surrounding hills, the Little Glen Lake Mill Pond, and the historic D.H. Day farm.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
A high, barren plateau to the south grades into a lowland to the north. The plateau itself is a glacial feature, in some places covered with a thin veneer of dunes.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
People are asked to not walk out onto the dunes here. The dunes are a fragile environment. Hikers can quickly produce paths that take years to revegetate. At the next stop you will have a chance to take a walk.
STOP #4: COTTONWOOD TRAIL
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Starting at this trailhead, you can take a l.5 mile walk on the dunes.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
This is one of the few places where you can see a birch tree on the dunes. In some places, wind erosion has produced bowl-shaped dunes known as blowouts, while in other places, the build-up of sand has partially buried living trees.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The trail is strenuous in places. You will see areas with native dune vegetation such as bearberry and buffaloberry
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
You may also see some colorful wildflowers or tracks in the sand that reveal the elusive wildlife of the dunes. You are asked to stay on the designated trail.
STOP #5: DUNE ECOLOGY
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
This area shows how tough conditions are for plants on the dunes. They must survive strong sunlight, low soil fertility, drying wind action, limited soil moisture and wind erosion. This can expose root systems and build-ups of sand which can partially or completely bury plants.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The cottonwood is the only common tree of the dunes. It is well adapted to the dune environment and its fast rate of growth allows it to keep pace with burial by sand.
STOP #6: LEAVING THE SAND DUNES
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
At this stop, you are about to leave the dunes and enter the neighboring beech-maple forest.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The dunes cover just a small area because they depend on strong winds off Lake Michigan to exist. The active dune zone extends for only about a mile from the lake. Further inland, the wind loses its energy and can no longer build dunes.
STOP #7: BEECH-MAPLE FOREST
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
This area is a combined sunny environment of the dunes with the shady beech-maple forest. Plants must compete for the limited amount of sunlight.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The dominant trees are sugar maple and American Beech. Both are able to survive in the shade of taller trees. If a young tree gets enough sunlight, it experiences a burst of growth. By growing tall, it can reach the opening in the canopy of leaves.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
In addition to beech and maple, you'll see black cherry, hemlock and basswood trees here.
STOP #8: CHANGES OVER TIME
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
You have to imagine how this area looked just after the glacier melted about 12,000 years ago. It was a landscape of sand and gravel in every direction. No trees would have blocked your view. Only a few hardy plants struggled to survive.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Living communities of plants and animals have transformed this once-sterile ground into the productive forest that now surrounds you.
STOPS #9 & 10: LAKE MICHIGAN & SLEEPING BEAR DUNE OVERLOOK
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
This overlook, 450 feet above Lake Michigan, gives you one of the most spectacular views of the shoreline. Pictures may not do this justice. But, we will try.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Many people descend 450 down to Lake Michigan. The steep return climb is very strenuous. There are dozens of people each year who cannot make it back up the dune and have to be rescued. They must fit the bill of their rescue.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
There are signs that warn you not to climb down.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
On a good day like when I took these pictures, to the south you can see Empire Bluffs 4 mi. away and Platte Bay 9 mi. away. The farthest point of land is Point Betsie, 15 mi. away. To the west it is 54 miles across the lake to Wisconsin.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Lake Michigan was formed by a great lobe of ice advancing down the continent during the Ice Age. This is not pure sand. there are rocks as well. This is not a sand dune, but rather a glacial hill.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
One last view of this breathtaking spot in Michigan.
STOP #11: NORTH BAR LAKE OVERLOOK
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
The name of this lake describes how it formed. It is ponded behind a sand bar. At times, the sand bar builds up and separates North Bar Lake from Lake Michigan. At other times, a small connecting channel exists between the two lakes.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
North Bar Lake occupies part of a former bay on Lake Michigan. This ancient bay was flanked by headlands on both sides: Empire Bluffs on the south and Sleeping Bear Bluffs on the north.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
As a bonus, this is North Bar Lake up-close. It's off the beaten path to get here.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Shorelines have a natural tendency to become straighter with time. Wave action focuses on the headlands and wears them back, while shoreline currents carry sediment to the quiet bays and fill them in. Deeper parts of the bay are often left as lakes when sand fills in the shallower parts.
The same process that formed North Bar Lake also formed many of the other lakes in northern Michigan like Glen, Crystal, Elk and Torch Lakes.
STOP #12: PINE PLANTATION
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
In this area, notice how the pine trees are all about the same size and are not mixed with other kinds of trees. This is a pine plantation.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
You can estimate the age of the trees by counting the whorls of branches. These trees were planted before the land became part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Photo by Edward Pevos of MLive
Pine trees serve a number of purposes: they prevent soil erosion, provide a windbreak, yield a timber crop and provide some wildlife habitat.
We hope you enjoyed our tour of Pierce Stocking scenic drive.
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