Traveling from the cool forests of Yellowstone National Park to the hot sand of Cocoa Beach, I've seen some of the most beautiful views that North America has to offer. From the beauty of Ely, Minnesota, the mosquito capital of the nation, to the Smoky Mountains in Nashville, Tennessee, nothing compares to the beauty of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire, Michigan.
Views, however, are not the only thing that the Lakeshore offers. The Sleeping Bear Dunes are a very popular spot in the area and comes with a lot of sand and tons of visitors, but, in the Northern Michigan area, they're more than just hills of sand. The dunes are not just named after bears because Michigan is known to inhabit black bears, but after a legend of a mother bear and her two cubs.
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The Legend of Sleeping Bear is not only a spoken story, but has become the subject of children's books and history books about the area. The story goes like this: a mother and her two cubs lived in a forest and were going about their daily lives when a forest fire erupted. All the animals in the forest, the mother and cubs included, fled the area for safety. The mother thought the water would be the safest place for them, so they swam. They swam across Lake Michigan, searching for safer land. The two cubs being very young and not very strong, struggled, and unbeknownst to the mother, drowned in the lake. When the mother pulled herself to shore, she turned back and looked for her cubs. She sat upon a plateau and waited for their arrival. In her waiting, she slept upon the hill and the wind draped sand over her and she became the dune. This is why the dunes are named Sleeping Bear Dunes. The legend also says that her two cubs, not ever reaching the shore, erupted from the water as the North and South Manitou islands just off the coast. This is one of the most popular stories in the area and will be told to anyone and everyone who asks.
Personally, I visit the national park every year, which of course includes the dunes. I have been climbing the dunes since I could walk and it's a different adventure every time. Activities at the dunes are plentiful. Families can spend the day there, climbing the dunes as many times as they can and eating lunch at the picnic tables located at the bottom. There is also a three and a half mile round trip sand hiking trail that leads to Lake Michigan and back to the parking lot. At the top of the dune, there is a beautiful skyline view of Glen Lake and the forests surrounding it.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a place I recommend everyone visit at least once in their lifetime because it offers something amazing for everyone. Whether it be beaches, small town shops, rocking hunting or star filled skies, it's an unforgettable vacation and one of the most beautiful places in the United States.
