Glen and the Dunes

Sounds like a children’s story, doesn’t it?  We visited Glen Lake, Glen Arbor and Glen Haven and then visited Sleeping Bear Dunes, hiked on Cottonwood dune, and drove on a scenic dunes road called Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.

Glen Lake is split into two parts by the highway  - Big Glen Lake and Small Glen Lake.  The big lake is large and very deep while the small lake is only 12 feet deep.  Both are lovely clear blue and lined with homes.  Glen Arbor is a small village at one end of the lake with numerous shops, restaurants and artist studios.  

Glen Harbor Historic Village was first a port for the steamships on Lake Michigan from 1865 - 1931 but grew with the building of a cannery for the various fruits grown in this area.  Then the US Lifesaving Service chose this spot to help rescue men from sinking ships.  This later became the US Coast Guard. Lake Michigan is very shallow along this coastline due to the sands so most of the rescues came from the shore rather than by boats.  The rescue team would haul their equipment wagon out into the surf, shoot a Lyle canon with a weighted rope out over the wrecked ship and then rig a zip line with which to haul the men into shore.

The whole village is a museum with a General Store and working Blacksmith shop, boat museum, and the Lifesaving Service house with their boats and rescue equipment from the turn of the century.

The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was a 7.5 mile loop that took us past the Dune hike where one could climb several large dunes on the side away from the coast, and then we watched lots of foolish people run down 450 foot Sleeping Bear Dune to the lake and then have to crawl back up.  But the view of the coastline was stunning.  We also took a short 1.5 mile hike into the dune field to experience the changing landscape at the edge of the dunes.