I’ll take any opportunity to ride my bike, and a 70-degree April day was enough for me to head to Glen Arbor and the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. This early in the year, trail traffic was light despite the weather. Perhaps this imminent danger held them at bay:
Still safer than biking in Detroit!
From my start in Glen Arbor, the trail ran through Glen Haven, a former cannery and Coast Guard lifesaving station. It now is a historical village with preserved buildings.
Glen Haven also has a nice beach with views of South Manitou and North Manitou Islands, as well as the dunes of Sleeping Bear. On this Saturday, there was a strong wind and you can see the grasses bent over sideways. I was facing a headwind on my south and east part of the ride, though the ride back from my ending point in Empire was easier.
Wind or not, biking the Heritage Trail is one of my favorite ways to spent a afternoon.
I hope you all had a happy New Year’s Eve and Day. At the Stoecker house, we started our year with bubbly wine from Bel Lago and many, many snacks along with sushi from Fuji.
Before the bowl games of January 1st, I needed to get out and hike, and Alligator Hill in Glen Arbor won out as my first hike of the year. When I arrived, I was happy to see no footprints in the snow, so I was the first to climb these hills for 2024. I didn’t win a prize or anything, but I could count on having the place to myself.
When I entered the parking lot, I was greeted by these brick and concrete structures. These are kilns built in the 1950s by Pierce Stocking, the man the Sleeping Bear dunes drive is named after. Pierce was a lumberman and there was quite a bit of waste wood left over, and these kilns were used to produce charcoal.
The trail soon gave me a choice, left or right. I chose right because in that direction led the advanced trail, a section of the trail I hadn’t yet hiked. I can’t claim it is any more hillier than the other trails – Alligator Hill has a lot of vertical changes – but it was stepper than most of the trail system. And it escaped most the damage of storm of eight years ago, so you will see many more tall trees.
Along the way, I saw numerous animal tracks. Animal footprints are not a specialty of mine, but my best guess was a coyote. I suppose it could have been a lone dog, but I went with the coyote theory because there were no people tracks beside it.
Much of the trail still suffers from the damage of the August 2nd, 2015 windstorm that torn through the Glen Arbor area, downing many trees and damaging buildings. It will be decades before the damage is finally erased, hidden by new growth.
My first hike done, I spent the day rooting for teams that lost in the bowl games. Nothing new there. That didn’t mar the great hiking I had done earlier. And as I only hiked four miles of the 9-mile trail system, I have many more miles to look forward to.
A lot of people head south for Spring Break. But why? Leelanau County has many beautiful beaches to choose from, such as Good Harbor:
Yes, perhaps the 40-degree temperature of last weekend was not quite what you would like, but there is plenty of space to lay out your blanket, and the views are incredible. And the peace and quiet – priceless.
As an added bonus, Good Harbor also has hiking trails nearby. It has been a little windy as of late, and several trees didn’t make it through, but you can practice your Limbo ability. Or just walk around – whatever you feel like:
Again, if peace and quiet is your thing, these trails are calling. Even in the summer they are not too busy. Just remember to bring your Sleeping Bear pass – this is part of the national lakeshore.
