Sleeping Bear posts second highest visitors total

From staff reports

Tom Ulrich, Deputy Superintendent of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, reports that 2011 won’t be the Lakeshore’s busiest year in history — despite Sleeping Bear being voted “the most beautiful place in America” by Good Morning America — and the final tally won’t come close to the 1,364,834 the Lakeshore welcomed in 1999. But 2011 will post the second highest visitors total.

Through November, 1,339,454 visitors walked through the proverbial turnstiles. “That’s a 25,000 gap to close in a month whose visitation has only once exceeded even 10,000,” says Ulrich. “And with no snow we aren’t getting good visitation (in December).”

The Lakeshore won’t have a final count until January 5.

This is the only the third year that the Lakeshore has topped 1.3 million in visitor numbers: 1999 and 1988. Last year boasted the fifth highest annual total, at 1,280,932.

This GlenArbor.com story was sponsored by the Yarn Shop, a creative force in Glen Arbor since 1955.