Dune Overlook - Stop #3 on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

A two-level wooden deck opens up over the Dune Overlook

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Quick Facts

Amenities

6 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Picnic Table, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Toilet - Vault/Composting, Wheelchair Accessible

Wow! Standing in the middle of an approximately four square-mile area called the Sleeping Bear Dunes complex, the panoramic vista from the Dune Overlook includes Glen Lake and its surrounding rolling hills, the historic, privately owned D. H. Day farm with the huge white barn, the spectacular landscape of the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and a dramatic glimpse of Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Bay, Pyramid Point, the Manitou Passage, and both North and South Manitou Islands. There's a lot to take in!

Here on this plateau, you are at the eastern edge of the sand dunes, standing on top of one of the tallest dunes, 200 feet high. Perched dunes and plant life flourish on this harsh landscape. These dunes are called "perched" because they are sitting on top of glacial moraine bluffs made of sand and gravel. Prevailing westerly winds blow the sand out of the moraine and deposit it on top of the bluff. In some places the dune fronts advance a few feet per year, while in other places the dunes are stabilized by plants and don't move at all.

Please stay off the dunes in this area. The dunes are a fragile environment, and hikers can quickly produce paths that take years to grow back.


From the Dune Overlook, you can see
Pyramid Point 8 miles to the northeast
Much of Big Glen Lake with Alligator Hill behind it
The D.H. Day Farm's large white buildings 1.25 miles to the northeast backed by wooded dunes The tops of some of the dunes near the Dune Climb which can be explored on the Cottonwood Trail and the Dune Climb Trail
North Manitou Island, about 12.5 miles to the northeast.
The horizon, about 24 miles distant
The Sun, about 93,000,000 miles away.