Wayside: Full of Life

"Full of Life" wayside sign along the Platte Plains Trail at Bass Lake

Quick Facts

Location:

44.7363, -86.0654

Amenities

2 listed

Audio Description, Tactile Exhibit

Main Exhibit Text

Bass Lake is one of 26 inland lakes in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Whether you paddle, fish, or just relax on the shore or dock, it’s a great place to enjoy the abundant wildlife that lives here. This vibrant community is a busy, complex network of interdependent plants and animals.

Can you hear frogs croaking? Do you see turtles basking in the sun? What can you find at the water’s edge? Bass Lake is a great place to fish; shorebirds think so too. Bass, pike, and perch all swim through these waters, while damselflies and dragonflies dart in and out of the reeds and grasses.

Background Image

The background of this exhibit is an illustration depicting an inland lake at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The illustration is done in a watercolor style and shows the plants and animals that live there, both above ground and underwater. The plants and animals labeled in the illustration include: Joe-pye weed, Marsh fern, Striped fishing spider, Yellow pond-lily, Belted kingfisher, White water-lily, Black crappie, Northern pike, Smallmouth bass, Common loon, River otter, Bluegill, Cattail, Twelve-spotted skimmer, Water horsetail, Marsh wren, Beaver, Water stargrass, Giant waterbug, Northern green frog, and Swamp milkweed.

Tactile Exhibit (top right)

In the top right corner of the exhibit is a bronze tactile of dragonfly stages including eggs, larval, and adult. It includes raised letters and braille of the words “DRAGONFLY STAGES,” “EGGS”, “LARVAL”, and “ADULT.”