sleeping bear dunes

[Jake&IzzyLand]

We are leaving in 2 weeks!

I have a general plan, tubing the platt river, climbing the dunes, hiking at empire bluffs.

Any recommendations? This is a budget trip because I'm paying for it all by myself! We are staying in a cabin and I will cook breakfast, or I'd rather set our a few things, haha. Dinner will be cooking on the grill and whatever sides look good at the store. Lunch will probably be the meal we eat out. Any place we should not miss? We love local favorites over tourist places.

Also, we're should I buy my kids a souvenir? I'm thinking a nice hoodie that they can use while there.

Thanks for your help!

 

[MidgeD79]

Where are you from? We are thinking about going there because my younger kids asked "what's a sand dune?" lol

 

[havaneselover]

I'm a little jealous. My parents live in Petoskey and we aren't making it up North this year

If I were staying there I'd be spending some time in Traverse City. I don't know Traverse that well so I don't have anything specific to suggest.

Last time my parents went to Sleeping Bear Dunes the flies were terrible but hopefully they are gone by the time you get there.

 

[Pembo]

We went there every year when I was in high school. We used to stay in a cabin on Little Glen. Have a great trip.

 

[moniqueand2]

I like the hoodies "Lake Michigan Unsalted"

 

[justlook3]

Bring bug spray, the flies bite and they HURT. It's been years since I was up there. My dad's childhood home is part of the park now (though the house is no longer standing, it did until well into the 90s) so we used to go up a lot as kids. So much has changed, the area was sleepy and now it's full of celebrity summer homes and trendy shops. Since you're cooking, I'd suggest going to Pleva's Meats in Cedar, been there since the 40s, still that kinda old school place. Have a good time!

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

Thanks for the bug spray warning! We will be driving from Ohio, we are in the Cincinnati area. It will be an all day drive , but no overnight required.

 

[sharbear]

My favorite place! We don't live very far and we usually spend a week there every year so I'm very familiar with the area.

In Glen Arbor (I'm not sure where your cabin is but I'm guessing it's near Glen Arbor)
We love Cherry Republic, it's a must. Everything cherry. We always buy cherry pies from there to serve for dinner. Across the street is the cottage bookstore, I always visit to look for a good book to read on vacation

We always have to eat at Arts. Lots of people like Boonedocks, you can sit out on their deck and they have people playing music on the weekends.

There is a bike trail now, it's really nice. You can rent bikes in town and ride the trail if you don't bring your own bikes. Unless you are accomplished bikers stay on the path from the dune climb to Glen Arbor and beyond. It's really hilly from the dune climb to Empire, I don't recommend it.

Visit the visitors center in Empire, do the Pierce Stocking Drive, very nice. We love going to North Bar Lake on a warm day.

Leland is really nice, they have nice shops, don't forget to visit Fishtown. If you like shopping Suttons Bay is also nice. There is another bike trail that starts in Suttons Bay and goes into Traverse City.

If you get adult time, there are tons of wineries and even a distillery.

One thing to know, the grocery store in Glen Arbor while very nice is not cheap. Things are very seasonal and it's a short season. I find that particular area to be pretty expensive but I don't live that far away so I might have a different perspective.

Have a great time, we love it there. If you have any other questions, I'll try and answer.

Oh and bring sweatshirts and pants. You might have a warm week but it gets cool in the evenings.

So much to see and do,I totally forgot about Glen Haven. It's an old fishing village, I would call it. It's between Glen Arbor and the dune climb. You must have a park pass also, they can be bought at the dune climb or at the visitors center.

 

[sharbear]

I have too much to say. Lol!

The black flies are gone. I don't think the bugs right now are too bad. But bring bug spray.

Oh and if you like hard cider, cherry republic has a cherry cider and cherry apple cider, I recommend them highly.

Right now the cherries are in season.

Oh if you go to Suttons Bay, there is a bakery on the way. 9 bean rows, it's great. They have a restaurant and a bakery. The restaurant is only open now for dinner. Mario Batali ate there last night. It's very good. But the pastries at the bakery are wonderful. If you go look up where it is because it's not next to the restaurant but out of town.

There are so many things to do in the area, you can stay right there. We don't usually go into Traverse City unless there is something we need to do there. But that's me.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

Sharbear, thanks so much for the great info! We don't plan on going into traverse either. In my opinion that would make our vacation not so much low key or Budget, haha.

I think I read about Art's, they have burgers, right? I will put it on the list!

 

[amy1981]

I'm not sure how old your kids are, but if you have a child going into 4th grade you can get your pass to the sleeping bear dunes national park for free through the National Park Service website. We live in Michigan so we go "up north" a few times a year. I think Leland is your best bet for souvenirs and such. It's a very cute town with a bit more stores and variety than some of the others and it's usually your best bet for finding souvenirs maybe a little cheaper than some of the other places. We prefer Boonedocks to Art's...we were pretty let down with Art's in terms of food and value. We always do Boone's and thought we'd give Art's a try...it was $40 for 3 of us to have mediocre sandwiches & burgers for lunch. They are a cash only place too, so keep that in mind if you go. I have to ditto the Cherry Republic recommendation...cute store, and nice products. Definitely NOT budget friendly, but it's a nice place to get something to take home that's really unique. Plus they always have lots of samples! =)

 

[Krischaser]

Is there anywhere to rent close to there like in Traverse City? Thinking of going.

 

[dminnie]

Favorite vacation spot! Some of these were already mentioned...Kids can do the "Jr Ranger" program at the National Park Service welcome center. When you do the big dune, you can go to the top of it...or, you can walk the trail all the way over to Lake Michigan. It's a rigorous hike, but our family loves it. It's such a feeling of accomplishment! For the hike, you'll need sunscreen, plenty of water, snacks(we've brought lunch to eat when we get to the lake) and perseverance! There are lots of other shorter trails to hike on in the area too. The place to rent bikes in Glen Arbor is great. Yes, for going from about the dunes north on the trail. If you're a really strong rider you could go to Empire on it. We rented kayaks(across from the bike rental) to kayak on the Crystal River. There are lots of little shops in Glen Arbor that are fun to look in with unique items. If you go out to eat...we didn't like Boondocks...it's popular, but really greasy...good if you're into that. The shop at Cherry Republic was a fun place to get lunch and not too expensive. I'm sure I'm leaving out some things. I wish we were going there right now!

I should add the hike from the dunes to Lake MI is about 4 miles round trip, but it feels like an 8-10 mile hike since it's all walking in the sand.

We rented a condo and I cooked dinner. It was helpful to bring some things that I made at home and froze. Then it wasn't so much work on vacation. I froze chicken and brocolli, lasagne, chili, etc. The grocery store in town is kind of expensive, so we tried not to get too many things from there. We liked the pizza at Bear Paws.

 

[kathy884]

Jumping on this thread.

I'd love to hear recommendations on where to stay. I have thought about going here several different times, but when looking at lodging right near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, I found it to be really expensive. I do realize that there is a very short high season (July and August). Found cabins or condos in Estes Park by Rocky Mountain National park with same time being high season to be less expensive and went back to there an all time favorite and also found beach front condos in the Caribbean in March (their high season) to be less expensive than a two bedroom condo here. // Anyway, just looking for tips on affordable lodging right by Sleeping Dunes. // Staying a 1/2 hour away was quite economical, but if we do the trip I wanted to stay right there by the park and it seemed really pricey.

 

[megster1123]

We are leaving in 2 weeks!

I have a general plan, tubing the platt river, climbing the dunes, hiking at empire bluffs.

Any recommendations? This is a budget trip because I'm paying for it all by myself! We are staying in a cabin and I will cook breakfast, or I'd rather set our a few things, haha. Dinner will be cooking on the grill and whatever sides look good at the store. Lunch will probably be the meal we eat out. Any place we should not miss? We love local favorites over tourist places.

Also, we're should I buy my kids a souvenir? I'm thinking a nice hoodie that they can use while there.

Thanks for your help!

How old are your kids?

 

[SarahSlink]

Just got back from our annual trip to Lake Ann (just outside Traverse City). I've been going for almost 30 years, so your talking about my happy place. I second checking out Leland or some of the other lake towns. We tubed the Platt river once & my dad underestimated the sun & had dangerous sun burn, so come prepared for that. If you have younger kids there's a children's museum in Teaverse that's nice. And definitely get yourself some MOOMERS ice cream. It's sold in a ton of the little shops, but we always go to their store in Long Lake. Absolutely delicious!! They've even won several national awards for best ice cream shop. This year we "only" went 3 times

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

How old are your kids?

10 and 12

 

[megster1123]

I second just about everything the posters above have already suggested!

Was just curious about how old your kids were, the dunes can be brutal with little ones. Remember it'll take about 5 minutes to go down, but an hour to get back up. 10&12 would probably really enjoy a dune buggy ride too, but those can kind of be a budget buster.

On the way up you can hit Crystal Mountain resort. They have a really cool mountain luge slide. You have to ride the ski lift to the top and then you ride this little luge thing down a track. Kind of hard to describe, but check out their website. They also have a ropes course, rock wall...that kind of thing.

Riverside Kayak is a great place to rent from for the Platte river trip. Take the one that ends at Lake Michigan - it's a longer trip but totally worth it.